Who Is Melanie Martinez's Childhood?

Singer, Songwriter Melanie Martinez has stated that in her hit album Cry Baby, almost all of her songs were loosely based off events that had occurred in her life, and were a fantastical reenactment of her childhood. All of the songs in her album have childhood related names, yet the meaning of her songs are far darker, referring to an unfaithful father, drunken mother, and some songs allude to kidnapping and possible sexual abuse. Each song in the album could be considered individual diary entries, giving insight to Martinez’ personality and how it influenced events throughout her childhood and early adulthood.

Judging by the content of Martinez’ songs that are featured in Cry Baby, it could be assumed that her childhood was not particularly

Regression involves taking the position of a child in some problematic situations, instead of acting like an adult. This is because as it may be easier to deal with, and would result in child like behaviour, such as throwing a tantrum, having a childlike innocence, or a variety of other things. The fact that Cry Baby is primarily from the perspective of a child about events based on Martinez’ life could be a coping technique, in order to easier process the events. A direct example of this is in Play Date, where Martinez asks ‘If I share my toys, will you let me stay?’, which is what could be considered a childish way of asking for trust or acceptance from another person. Additionally, in some of her music videos, Martinez is dressed up as a young girl with a childlike

This can end in an Oedipus or Electra complex, which in turn are associated with either vanity and self obsessed behaviours, or sexual anxiety and strong sexual expression, if not both. Martinez may have an Electra complex, due to the situation that is referenced in Dollhouse, as one of the lines is ‘Mom, please wake up. Dad's with a slut,’ and the music video that accompanies the song strongly suggests that her father was mostly absent. Additionally, in the same song, Martinez states ‘When you turn your back she pulls out a flask, And forgets his infidelity.’ Between the unfaithful and mostly absent father and the alcoholic mother, it may be possible that Martinez may not have successfully passed through this stage. In her song Soap, she reprimands herself about her difficulties in relationships and her regret about it. One section in particular is ‘Should've never said the word "love", Threw a toaster in the bathtub, I'm sick of all the games I have to play” possibly implying suicidal tendencies over being too quick to say ‘I love you in relationships’.

Carl Roger’s theory is very different to Freud’s theory. It was based on two major ideas, the first being the development of personality being guided by a self-actualisation tendency, and the second