Spraying a pimple, this purulent nightmare encrusted on a face that has asked for nothing, can become a real passion. But why is that?
Scratching, piercing, exploding are for some people an act of pure enjoyment. This moment of satisfaction after extracting a filthy black point, who has not experienced it? This "vice" can even go very far. In a 2017 ad posted on the American site Craigslist, now deleted, but relayed by Biba, a man had made this announcement: "I thought to myself this year, I would give myself a Christmas present and break out a few pimples. But I don't have any. And this is where I need you. If you have acne. and / or blackheads and you are willing to let me pierce them, I would be very grateful to you. And I will pay you ". He then offered a remuneration of 45 dollars an hour, or 38 euros. No buttons on hand? No more need for announcements: now, games for mobile exist, as well as YouTube channels of dermatologists attracting billions of views. How to explain such enthusiasm?
# 1 have a grip on your body
Psychology can help to better understand the interest of the thing. Let's put dermatillomania aside (when people crush their skin to relieve themselves nervously), which is a psychological disorder causing real suffering, to talk about the simple act of fiddling with pimples. For Élisabeth de Madre, psychologist, "This action echoes the imperfections of our body and our desire for a perfect body. The videos of the dermatologist sessions give us the impression of having taken over our body, a certain control over it." Likewise, removing a foreign body can be seen as a metaphor for an evil, materialized by a disgusting substance, which can be ejected. What a relief !
# 2 An easy distraction
But why such a success for videos or games based on virtual buttons, exploding like Etna? This time, however, nothing to do with our own body. "It's very exciting for the brain so quite addicting. It's an easy distraction.", says our interlocutor. Indeed, it's soothing: focusing all your negative emotions on one and the same object … Well, the same principle with the viewing of anti-pimple sessions: by visualizing the action, we imagine our fingers as being the craftsmen of the Liberation.
Doctor Sandra Lee understood the principle well, and that her profession as a dermatologist could starify her. It's simple: she has become the Angelina Jolie of sebum. She even calls herself Dr. Pimple Popper ("Dr. Drill button", in French) and has nearly 7 million subscribers on Youtube, as well as 4 million followers on Instagram. The specialist also has her television show on the American channel TLC. Cysts weighing several kilos, sarcomas, keloids or rhinophymas … The menu is complete and these videos have been viewed billions of times. "Either people love it, or they hate it, or are shocked. Either way, they tag their friends," she congratulates herself. Observing other people's imperfections would also make it possible to put into perspective the few pimples that are fighting a duel on our T zone. "The more I see other people's pores, the more I like mine …"
For informed people who would like to discover the world of Dr. Pimple Popper:
# 3 a certain taste for the dirty
Since the days of the gladiators, our passions have not changed much: “gore” shows panic us. Blood, raw flesh … and even poo. According to psychoanalyst Sigmund Freud, the child develops according to three stages: oral, anal, phallic. In the anal stage, toddlers are said to be obsessed with their feces. For adults, it is not much different: one feels a feeling of satisfaction via the blackheads and the pus of the pimples. Slate quotes the doctor in information and communication sciences Justine Marillonnet, who mentions "this very childish pride, in the childish sense, in our secretions". A thesis which allows to unravel a little more the mystery of the buttons.