Pop Culture Tuesdays V

Sexuality and gender is such a taken for granted fact of life that when something is brought up that reveals just how much we take it for granted, and we are forced to think about it, it is one of the most uncomfortable experiences a person can go through.

Yet it is these disturbing 'exceptions' that also reveal the fact that there is nothing 'natural' about gender and sexuality.

Personally, I'm of the opinion that gender is best thought of as a continuum, with masculine and feminine on opposite sides of this spectrum, but they don't necessarily exist as either-or options. An individual will likely fall closer to one pole than another, but because it is a continuum there is nothing to prevent a person from moving back and forth (as a likely-inflammatory side note, I think sexuality works the same way; ie gay/straight).

The real fun is not to be found on the poles of the spectrum, but it's in the middle where things get interesting. In the case of the gender spectrum, the middle is that fun, wild-west frontier known as androgyny.

For reasons that I won't even being to speculate on, Japanese society seems to be a society much more comfortable with the whole androgyny thing.

Surely, you want visual examples, of course! It wouldn't be a Tuesday post without some eye-candy!(?)

OK. Bonus internet points to those who correctly guess the genders of the people in the following pictures (For the sake of simplicity, you only get to choose male/female, in reality everyone in the pictures would not be so easily labeled male or female, and would better fit into the magical category of Androgynous.).


Who's male? Female?


A little more difficult...


What's hiding under the dress?


A freebie...but in my opinion, the best example of androgyny.


Think carefully on this one.



So, you surely want answers.

They're all male. Or rather, all would be categorized as male by sex. As for gender, that's a whole different (potentially confusing, in more ways than one) issue.

Where you a little attracted? Just a little? Don't lie, yes you were.

It's OK, don't fight it, androgyny is hot.

Topics Found on JET Forums

5) Questions of the feasibility of bringing over in-line skates and skating to work.

4) The usefulness of the Kindle.

3) Best places to paraglide in Japan.

2) Questions on becoming a JET with Aspergers.

1) Wondering whether “Life drawings (books and sketches)” are forbidden.

If these people are so on top of things that their only concern is where to paraglide, whether to bring in-line skates (and as a minor digression; how the fuck can you plan on skating to school when you know neither a) where you will be living and b) where you will be working), or whether they will have customs problems by bringing over “Life drawings”, then more power to them.

I’d be willing to bet that this is a classic case of cart-before-horse.

And “Life drawing” guy: Seriously? Seriously?!? Get a less creepy, less Davinci, and more social pastime.

Pop Culture Tuesdays IV

Giant, glassy eyes?

Check.

Super high pitched voices?

Mmmhmm.

Uncomfortably sexual outfits?

Yup!

It must be a Japanese anime!



I've even included the translated version of this anime's opening credits so you can appreciate the always popular messages of 'Gender stereotypes are cool!' and 'Working hard and being obedient is the best!'

Whoa! Let's Slow Down A Little

Omiyage. Visas. Contacting co-workers and predecessors.

This going-to-Japan thing is suddenly becoming very concrete and real. There is no panic like the 'Oh shit, this is moving from very abstract to very concrete' panic.

The reality of it suddenly hit me when I was contacted by my predecessor this week. While I'm still slightly disappointed by my Okinawa placement, I've found out that I'll be in the capital city of Naha, which makes things much more tolerable (A real city! With people! And things to do!). Just as exciting, I'll be teaching at (allegedly) the best/most competitive high school in Okinawa. I was also contacted by the person I'll be working with. She's Canadian. But that's OK, no one's perfect.

And on a somewhat related note, omiyage is horseshit. I'm not really a huge fan of condensing a city, much less a country, into a trivial gift. It combines the fun of buying a gift for someone you don't know, with a price limit too low to get anything worthwhile, along with the added excitement of the fear of breaking some cultural taboo!

For those of you unfamiliar with the rules of omiyage I'll be doing a post on what I believe to be the critical rules at a later date.

Pop Culture Tuesdays III

Part of my love of Pop culture is its ability to take another culture or element from High culture and use this element for its own purposes or adjust it to 'the way it should be'. This element goes through several layers of filtering/translating and by the end of the process the meaning of the element in the new culture may be totally different from its meaning in the original culture.

Yet it is not just elements of a culture that can become filtered, it can be an entire culture.

"Kill Bill" is one of my favorite movies. Partly because it's intensely watchable, but also because it is truly a case study in Pop Culture. I'm still discovering the references found throughout the movie, from the cinematography, to the lines, to the music. And in a step in Pop Culture evolution that really turns me on, Lady Gaga's music video "Telephone" references "Kill Bill" on several occasions, bringing the cycle full circle and putting "Kill Bill" in the same category of the films it referenced. God that's sexy.

Anyway "Kill Bill" also, I believe, is/was critical in subtly bringing Japanese culture into mainstream American culture. The Japanese culture in the film has been filtered and fitted as the purposes of Pop Culture required and the result was not really Japanese culture represented, but Quentin Tarentino's version of Japanese culture. It resembles the original, but it is also something completely unique. It is rooted in Japanese culture, but stylistically very Quentin Tarentino, and this melting pot to create something original-but-not is distinctly Pop Culture.

And for that, "Kill Bill", its interpretation of Japanese culture, and its role in propagating Japanese culture without the public really realizing it (aka propagating Japanese "soft power" for all you PoliSci/Sociology scholars out there), earns a spot in Pop Culture Tuesdays:




And this entrance is probably one of the best in movie history:



Seriously. Pure Sex.

Pop Culture Tuesdays II

Did you know Arnold Schwarzenegger really enjoys his instant ramen? It gives him the strength to life cars and row boats really fast!

I never understood why American celebrities did Japanese TV commercials (besides the obvious financial motivation). If I saw a Japanese celebrity pitching some product I doubt it would make me want to buy it, and that's assuming I would even know who the hell they are. In fact, it would probably have the opposite effect--I would assume this celebrity has seen better days, and I would space out during the commercial wondering what crazy sex scandal they got themselves into that they can't advertise for companies in their home country.

So why is it assumed that having an American celebrity do a Japanese commercial will somehow work?

Anyway, I post this montage of commercials because you don't need a degree in Communication to appreciate the clashing/blending of Japanese and American Pop cultures in this commercial.

But seriously, this assclown is now the governor of one of the most important states in the country. Why didn't his pornstar opponent play these commercials during the campaign, it would have guaranteed her instant victory (like those instant noodles the Governator seems to enjoy so much).

Pop Culture Tuesdays

This is the start of what will (hopefully) be a regular feature on this blog. Every Tuesday a post will be dedicated to some aspect of Japanese Pop/Mass Culture; music, fashion, society, whatever. Some posts will be lengthy and offer some sort of background or explanation on the subject, while others will just be a music video or picture--it depends on my motivation and whether I feel I have any business talking at length about the subject.

Why Tuesday you ask?

Because we all know Tuesday is the shittiest day of the week, that's why.

So, let's get started!

It only seems appropriate to begin a series on Japanese mass/pop culture with a band that I believe epitomizes not just Japanese pop culture, but Pop Culture in general.

Pop Culture is easy, mind-numbing, pretty, fast, and generally pleasant, and so is the visual kei band 'SuG'.

Please don't think this post is me validating the music of SuG--it certainly isn't, their music is catchy, but it's also sickeningly simplistic and saccharine. I don't respect them for their musical ability, but for their (I believe conscious) charge to become Pop Culture personified. The band melds all elements of Pop Culture; its fashion, music, and aesthetic, and for that I definitely do respect SuG. This song in particular also has that underlying tinge of nostalgia and synthetic-ness (in the form of the vocals) that is characteristic of Pop Culture.

The other alternative is that the band is simply a passive product of the evolution of Pop Culture, rather than being one of the pioneers at the frontier of the evolution. That is an impossible question to answer, and this is a post dedicated to Pop Culture, so thinking about such Chicken-and-The-Egg questions is way out of line.

Anyway, without further delay, Pop Culture personified: SuG.

(Do yourself the favor and only watch the first 40 seconds, I think you'll get the idea.)