Real X vs. Mental Disorders

Submission 16,511

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About

Real X vs. Mental Disorders (also worded as Actual X vs. Mental Illness and in similar ways) refers to a series of memes which parody tables of genders split into "actual genders" and "mental disorders" through similarly splitting other sets. The format achieved virality in December 2022 with a table which split types of screws into "actual screws" and "mental disorders."

Origin

Starting in 2014, an table of genders and sexual orientations split into "biological genders" and "imaginary genders" was circulated. The earliest discovered post of the table is a December 30th, 2014, Tumblr^[1] post by user playeronehasenteredthegame that gained over 210 likes and reblogs in nine years, although the origin is likely an earlier post (shown below, left).

The table is an example of There Are Only Two Genders post.

Starting in 2017, a version of the same split table tagged "actual genders" and "mental disorders" saw circulation online (shown below, right). For example, on July 20th, 2017, 9GAG^[2] user lyriumfalls posted the image, gaining over 100 upvotes on the site in six years. On August 2nd, 2017, Tumblr^[3] user mysjwdestroyer posted it, with the post gaining over 1,200 likes and reblogs (shown below, right).

On September 16th, 2019, Instagram^[4] user goodmemeingpatriot posted the earliest found parody meme based on the format, replacing the pictograms representing the genders with shitposts. The post gained 20 likes on Instagram in four years (shown below, left).

On December 26th, 2020, X^[5] user @bleppyman posted a meme that replaced the gender pictograms with birds. The post (shown below, right) has since been deleted.

Spread

On December 22nd, X^[6] user @fuggyfugger posted a meme in which a table of screw types was divided into "actual screws" and "mental disorders," and which parodied the meme. The post (shown below) received over 1,600 retweets and 12,100 likes prior to removal.

The format achieved more prominence in Summer 2023 after on July 23rd, 2023, X user @miou2192 posted a parody version about blood types. Later that day, X^[7] user @TheByeGuy quoted the post, commenting, "things heating up in the mosquito community." The quote post received over 5,800 reposts and 38,400 likes (image and quote post shown below, left and right).

In August 2023, more versions of the meme were posted and circulated on X, Reddit and other sites.

Real Nation vs. Delusional Cosplayers

Real Nation vs. Delusional Cosplayers refers to a series of memes which present former colonies of colonial empires (or countries within their geopolitical interests) as real representatives of these nations, and refer to former empires as "delusional cosplayers." Spawned by a viral Tumblr meme labeling Tunisians as real Italians and Italians as "delusional cosplayers, the format achieved popularity on Tumblr and Twitter in March 2024.