Still, I don’t know what it says about the media that the source providing the most frequent and insightful coverage about psychopathy and sociopathy may be a satirical newspaper, The Onion.

Recently, I’ve seen several examples of The Onion’s use of humor to shine a light on this still too-often-overlooked topic.

Back in October, during the United States’ presidential debate season, The Onion featured a story entitled “Nation Tunes In To See Which Sociopath More Likable This Time.” It based its satire on the premise that voters take it as a given that both of the major party presidential candidates – and, indeed, all successful politicians – are sociopaths and simply use the debates to try to decide which candidate is better at pretending to have a conscience. I shared this story and put it into the context of ponerology in a piece of my own called “Ponerology Hits the Onion.”

Then, I came across another Onion piece – this one actually published in 2009 – called “New Study Reveals Most Children Unrepentant Sociopaths.” The story surveys many actually normal characteristics and behaviors of children and, by comparing them to those on the Hare Psychopathy Checklist, manages to portray healthy kids as antisocial monsters. I found the article brilliant on several levels.

Almost all children who exhibit the traits and actions mentioned are simply reflecting appropriate developmental milestones. But, there are those in our culture who really do think of children, either consciously or unconsciously, for various reasons, the way the article portrays them. Such a view of children may both stem from and underlie some of the unhealthy parenting styles that, in our society, are accepted as worthwhile or even necessary to bring children into line. The article uses satire to bring this perspective to light more effectively than a child psychologist giving a lecture could probably ever do.

The article also, by focusing humorously on children rather than seriously on adults, lowers people’s defenses enough to make them aware that sociopathy and the Hare Psychopathy Checklist really do exist.

At the same time, there may be a small percentage of children who are psychopaths or sociopaths. This is a very controversial and deeply important topic and debate rages over whether such children really do exist and whether we should be screening children for such conditions. This is discussed at some length in this post from a couple months ago and in books like Savage Spawn: Reflections on Violent Children. The Onion article may provoke people to think about child psychopathy and its implications.

The relevance of this particular Onion article was brought home to me recently when I came across a piece by blogger Lyz Lenz entitled “Toddlers Are the Real Psychos,” in which she wonders whether her two-year-old daughter might be a psychopath. She even answered the questions on the Levenson Self-Report Psychopathy Scale, Hare Psychopathy Checklist and Lynam’s Childhood Psychopathy Scale using her daughter’s traits and behaviors as a guide, almost exactly as was facetiously done in the Onion article with the PCL. I later showed Lenz the Onion article, which she had not seen before.

Well, yesterday, The Onion did it yet again. And, this time, they’ve returned to the political aspect of ponerology. Picking up where they left off when considering sociopathy in the presidential debates, they now consider its presence in the legislative branch.

The video is called “Authorities On Alert As Hundreds Of Crazed Sociopaths Enter Congressional Chambers.” As you might guess, the “crazed sociopaths” in question are the Members of Congress themselves, who are also described as “manipulative,” “extremely dangerous,” and “lunatics, many of whom are believed to suffer from severe personality disorders.”

I hope the folks at The Onion have indeed come to such an understanding. I eagerly want to see more public education about these topics occur. And the ingenious people at that satirical newspaper are great ones to have contributing to that cause.

Well, it just came to my attention over the weekend that now there is a way that you can!

“What is it?” you ask.

Well, it’s Narcissist cologne.

That’s right, Narcissist cologne.

The January 2013 Mensa Bulletin features a profile, on page 18, of Kim Taylor, its creator. In the article, Kim describes how, while living in Paris and traveling the French countryside, she was inspired to create a cologne.

Narcissist for Men Cologne Admiring Itself
(Used with permission of Kim Taylor)

As for the cologne’s name, she says:

“The image for the brand comes from the classical character Narcissus, who fell in love with his own reflection in a pool of water. A men’s cologne just seemed like a good vehicle for a comical depiction of the classic narcissist, who just happens to be male. It’s tongue-in-cheek, but it comes from years of experience dealing with people, learning languages, and trying to make sense of it all. Sometimes the simple answer is: Narcissist.”

Even more comical: there is now a Narcissist fragrance for dogs.

The full fancy French name of the cologne for men is Narcissist: Eau de Toilette pour Homme.

The full name of the cologne for dogs is Narcissist: Eau de Toilette pour Chien.

For those concerned about sexism, Taylor says that she is considering a women’s fragrance, as well.

The description on the About page of the cologne’s website says:

“Narcissist pour homme is developed especially for the man whose ego is unsurpassed…in other words…homme vainglorious, half-awake in his limited awareness, self-absorbed victim of flattery, ruled by pleasure, drenched in scent, basking in hedonism.

Give the gift of self-love.”

Taylor also sells a Narcissist t-shirt through the main site.

The cologne has a Facebook page, as well, which blends promotion of the product with humor and education about narcissism.

I think this is, overall, a brilliant idea. Ponerologic topics are intense so sometimes you just need some comic relief. They can also put people on the defensive and humor can help relax those barriers to learning and understanding.

With just under 1000 likes on Narcissist’s Facebook page as of this writing, it appears that, even as she helps make the world smell a little better, Taylor is making people laugh and, at the same time, actually spreading some knowledge and encouraging people to learn more about this quite serious character trait.

Perhaps the best part is that Taylor seems to truly care about the ethics involved in this issue and to be a strong advocate for compassionate and just interactions. An article in the Savannah Morning News quotes Taylor as saying:

“My themes seem to return to the message of fair play. I’d like to be remembered for that message and for never letting anyone off the hook who doesn’t play fair.”

And, about that, she isn’t just kidding. She is the author of Play Fair! The Art of Relationship and Friendship and the company through which she runs her cologne business is called Fair Play Products.

I must say that when I started this site to help educate people about the science of “evil” and the role of pathological conditions in our systems, I never dreamed I’d be writing about men’s cologne, much less cologne for dogs. But count this as yet another of those fun, unforeseeable twists in the road that you encounter whenever you boldly journey into a subject as vast and complex as ponerology. And kudos to Kim Taylor for using a creative and fun approach to try to contribute to improving the world at what is actually quite a key leverage point.

It was all I could do to refrain from titling this article “Woman Makes Scents of Narcissism”