Why are clowns often considered as being scary?

[El Gonzo]

Hi, I'm El Gonzo.
I don't have a long crooked nose.
I'm just a clown fanboy, been like that all my life!

That is why it amazes me every time I hear talk of people being scared of clowns, starting from early childhood, developing into some kind of hatred towards clowns in adult life.

Where does such a negative vibe come from, I ask you?
something to do with freaky wizard characters with painted faces from back in the old days? Or is it just the big shoes?

Keep it up!
Gonzo

[Nettie Belle]

Small children have their own little world and anything that is NOT in that small little world of theirs is scary. They are afraid of strangers, not to mention Santa Claus, the Easter bunny, and also CLOWNS.

Then there are the older kids ... they seem to LOVE clowns. By the time they're about 3-4, they have expanded their small world to many outside things, and they love colors, funny, and pretty things. They have probably seen movies, and gone to many functions. They are happy to be around a clown (for the most port).

Then, here comes a freaky movie ("It" for example) where the clown is CREEPY and bad. All along, these kids have thought clowns were funny, but now they have a new view. Now, they think ALL clowns are scary. It's really too bad that some have to make clowns out to be bad people. In my world, clowns are just kids that never grew up, or should I say, never WANTED to grow up.

When I'm in costume, I forget all about bills, taxes, jobs, and all the unfun stuff involved with being a grown up. I just want to play, laugh, sing, laugh, and play.

At some point in the lives of those who are afraid of clowns, something has happened to make them fear us. We all have fears of some kind and, unfortunately for some, they have a fear of clowns. It's a challenge to me to get them to like me.

A perfect example is one time I did a birthday party for a little girl, and an older girl who was a guest at the party, kept hurling insults to me and telling me that "clowns were disgusting and stupid." Even though, inside, I wanted to tell her she was grounded for the rest of her life for being so rude, I just continued to talk nicely to her. All the other kids were getting their faces painted, but she didn't want to. Finally, with her little snotty attitude, she said, "I GUESS I'll get my face painted now." I smiled, tilted my head, and said, "well ... what's the magic word?" She said, "PLEASE!" It killed her to say that to a CLOWN! As I was painting her face, I was talking to her and taking a LONG time to paint her face. When I was finished, I held up the mirror, and she was thrilled and asked me if I would come to HER birthday party. I told her I would have to be invited, and gave her my business card. To my surprise, she DID invite me, and she clung to me like bark on a tree at her party. She also told all her friends that she used to hate clowns until she met "Blondie" (that's me).

So ... I guess, back to the original question ... why are people afraid of clowns? Because some ruin the fun for others and make us all look bad. We have to earn our friends. I think that applies to everyone, even if they're not clowns. Kind of like, "guilty until proven innocent."

[Flutterby]

Welcome to the group El Gonzo!

Nettie, thanks for the story - very nice! Glad that girl changed her mind about us!

I also think part of the problem is the media... Not too long ago a book came out that was a Wal-Mart exclusive... I think it was called Mr. Evil - the author of the book took a WELL KNOWN clown face and distorted it to put horns and fangs on it! Thus taking a famous circus clown and turning it into an EVIL looking clown! About this time was when the hundreds of websites starting popping up about Coulrophobia = which is the fear of clowns...

Now some people do have VALID fears of clowns, just like spiders, heights, water, etc... But most people get caught up in the media and the hype and evil/bad clowns! And some just have a misplaced ill feeling such as what Nettie describes above...

I think it is our duty as clowns to continue to promote our form of entertainment in a positive light! We will always run into people who are afraid of clowns - or at least claim to be - but as long as we continue to demonstrate that their fear of us is a misguided perception, one at a time hopefully we can help get them over that fear!

Bump a nose!

[Jolly Well]

A number of factors I guess...

First, you have the It and John Wayne Gacy examples. Either someone portraying the clown on screen or in life as a monster. It's only natural that it carries over.

You also have "bad" clowns. Maybe not bad as it a bad person, but one who takes their gig too far. I've seen it a few times. A kid scared of the make-up or costume, and the clown thinks it's funny and keeps messing with the kid somehow. Usually this is from some guy in a clown costume, and not a clown - but the end result is the same.

Make-up can be creepy for some people too. I've seen successful clowns who have a face that weirds me out now; so it has to have an effect on kids. Sometimes their perspective is different, and a clown face can be scary...

[El Gonzo]

After a quick read, I must say: these are all very informative and helpful replies. Will give them a closer read tomorrow! Thanks clowns! This sure is a jolly forum, might grab some swell ideas from this place. Read you all later!

[Happy Chappy & Daisy]

I think also there have been enough cases of bad makeup and scaring little kids (hey, Santa scares most little little guys). I've seen lots of wallpaper and toys and such that is, at best, unflattering. Very few people over age 2 are really scared of clowns, but there are just enough.

A lot of this coluraphobia is taught - I had a little girl try to run up to me for a balloon the other day, but her mother pulled her back because she was afraid of clowns. She's teaching her daughter to be afraid.

[Willace-the-Clown]

Some times the fear comes cuz of over zellis but well meaning parints that try forceing the child to the clown before they are ready to get near the big stranger with goofy clothes & face. so now alot of clowns back away & say sorry but we dont leave mental scars & let the parint know it will be better for the child to ome to us when they themself are ready

[saphireSue]

Howdy and welcome to the group

[Calavera]

Let's drag this one out of the dust, shall we? I simply cannot fathom that this didn't get more discussion.

I'm seeing a lot of references to "It" in this thread, which is indeed what many coulrophobes site as a source of fear. Being a diehard King fan (when it came time for the celebratory vandalizing of the Senior year car, I was the one writing "Pennywise lives!" in red spray paint. Other King fans will get that,) that kills me.

Whenever "It" is brought up, I always have the same reaction; It is not a clown. It is anything It wants to be. At the end of the book, It is a giant spider. Now, I will bend and admit that It most often chooses the form of Pennywise.

Still, don't be hatin' on the King. If you actually read "It" you'd probably like it.

When it comes to Gacey, coulrophobes sort of have a case. It is frightening that a happy clown could be a malicious killer, but so could anybody. If you're going to be afraid of clowns for that reason, you might as well just go ahead and be afraid of everyone.

Let me speak for myself now. I have never been afraid of clowns, and I still am not. For me, the question that decides whether or not I'm afraid of you is "can I kill you if need be?"
For clowns, that's a yes, so there's no fear. However, before I came across this forum and got a better view of this community, I was wary of clowns. If one of them ever got near me or my brother, I would flash the pepper spray. Luckily, I've only had two clowns approach me in my life.

Let me clarify something that I know will come up. When I mentioned "or my brother" I know that the finger is going to be pointed at me for encouraging him to be afraid of clown. That's not the case, he has been afraid of clown since long before I used my pepper spray. The first time he encountered a clown was when his mother took him to some little kid's birthday party. For some reason or another, he came back afraid of them. He was 2.

When I was 16 (he was 8) my mother, her new boyfriend (now her husband), his kids, and myself and my brother went out to a spring festival. With my brother, I've always felt like he might as well have been my son. From a very early age, I acted as mommy and when I was 10, my parents made the decision to divorce. Mom didn't know how to handle it and turned to drugs and alcohol, so my kid brother was pretty much forced on me, but I don't mind. Don't worry, mom got over her problems and is a much better person now.

Given those facts, I naturally took him to go with me while the others went their way. He didn't mind, it's actually what he wanted. He did not like the new kids in the picture and was closer to me than he was to his mother.
I did the mommy thing, bought him some cotton candy, obsessed over whether he was really ready to go on a tilt-a-whirl, and all those other joys. Well, eventually, guess who comes walking up to us?

That's right, a clown. This clown proceeds to interact with my brother who is obviously afraid, hiding behind me with a death grip on my waist. I was very lenient with the clown near my brother at first, as long as I had one hand on my brother and one hand on the spray. Fully aware of my brother's fear, he kept on.
Now, when clownie decided to reach out and try to touch my brother, that's when I stopped being lenient. I brought out the spray and gave him the "get out of here before I put you in the ER" talk.

Since then, I found out that most clowns make it a rule not to get in the faces of frightened children. That guy just made a mistake and was probably a newbie. Looking back on it, I could have handled it better, but that was my kid brother he was scaring and I was certain that this clown (based on his behavior) was going to kidnap him.

My reasons for being wary are mostly tied to real-life monsters who happened to be clowns. For the most part, it was the case of Spanky, a clown for Ringling Brothers, in 2004 for child pornography charges. I'm pretty sure it stems from the fact that I love kids. If someone exploits or harms a child, I have no sympathy for them.
Really, it was a matter of trust. Mind you, that wasn't all that made me cautious. As I had mentioned before, when I saw a clown, I had to ask myself "Why? Why are you, a grown man/woman, putting on that ridiculous costume and slapping on makeup?"
Sometimes, it felt like something was being hidden from me. Sometimes, I was just creeped out by the fact that an adult was dressing and behaving in such a manner.

Well, now I know why, so I don't carry that bias that I used to.


Listen up, because I have questions for all of you.

What affect do pedophile clowns and murderer clown have on your personal life? Does it outrage you? Does it make you put your head in your hand and think "Aw, not this again..."?

If you could talk to a coulrophobe, and that person would listen, what would you say to them?



Man, this is an old introduction. Did the OP never come back?
Oh, well, I just came across this topic and I simply had to revive this thread, if only for a little while.

Now sit down and talk about it. I will break out the cattle prod if I have to.

[applegirl]

What affect do pedophile clowns and murderer clown have on your personal life? Does it outrage you? Does it make you put your head in your hand and think "Aw, not this again..."?

I'll answer that by asking you a related question first.

Since you were in high school not too long ago-

How does it make YOU feel when you read about another school shooting? Or when you get looked at in a drugstore because darn it, you look young-ish, and - how dare you- you're in the makeup aisle, looking at makeup! (must be a shoplifter, right?)


My guess, as a wannabe clown- is that the best anyone can do is defy stereotypes, be positive, and not take it too personally...