JAPANESE ANIME &
Additionally, I find it concerning that these images of romanticized anime characters are exported as a problem across the world. When I meet new people in the West, I sometimes feel like I am compared to an unrealistic character born of imagination simply because I am Japanese. My sexuality and nationality alone should not put me in such uncomfortable situations. Although anime is not to blame for all problems related to female fetishization, it is evident that the lack of social awareness in anime prominently feeds into the reinforcement of Japanese gender roles. While anime is artistically unique and culturally significant, the art form should be celebrated and drawn in a way that separates the hypersexualization and fetishization of girls from its artistic values.
FEMAL SEXUALIZATION ISSUES
By: Nene Hamada Picture a teenage girl in a Japanese school uniform with big, sparkly eyes that take up half of her face, disproportionately large boobs, and a slim physique with legs and arms so long that she appears almost sickly—these unrealistic depictions of girls only exist in the fantasized realm of Japanese anime.
Combined with kawaii “cute” culture, anime commonly objectifies and fetishizes women for their physique, both on and off-screen. Anime is recognized as one of the most celebrated aspects of Japanese culture around the world and is symbolic of Japanese art and entertainment. As an individual with roots in Japan, I was introduced to anime at a very young age. Like many other Japanese children,
6 History and Contemporary Culture
I remember watching family-oriented series like Sazae-san and Detective Conan (Case Closed) at my grandparents’ house before dinner, and I loved binge-watching more mature anime like Attack on Titan and Kingdom as I grew older. However, why many anime characters looked, sounded, and acted similarly always remained a question for my young mind. It was not until later in life that I truly realized why. Although stereotypes depicted in anime are sometimes recognized by Japanese society as untrue, the prominence of anime as an art form ultimately leads to the failure of many to condemn the problematic social constructs projected in front of them. Relatively common but very inaccurate portrayals of Japanese social behavior that are unobservable in real life include excessive politeness, use of cliché phrases like aishiteru (I love you), and the taboo love between teachers and students.
Yet, a more grave issue that is deliberately dismissed and under-addressed is the sexual connotations that anime subtly relays to its audience; combined with kawaii “cute” culture, anime commonly objectifies and fetishizes women for their physique, both on and off-screen. Girls, especially young teenagers, are commonly drawn with short skirts and tighter clothes that sexualize the female body: they are overly skinny and have body parts that barely mirror those of a realistic and healthy girl. School uniforms and maid costumes are also sexualized styles that are catered towards the male gaze for a visually provocative and pleasing experience. The way girls are drawn in anime becomes the definition of the sexy and perfect body for many anime lovers, causing young girls in Japanese society to be fetishized and the target of sexual attacks. Although more recent anime like
Jujutsu Kaisen paint more realistic and less sexually allusive female characters, gender norms such as male dominance and female social roles are recurring themes that can still be seen in anime. It is especially problematic as anime is a part of Japanese people’s lives from a very young age, so people do not grow up learning that gaps between anime and reality exist. Female characters like Nami and Nico Robin from One Piece are good examples of animated girls that embody the “perfect” but unrealistic feminine look—skinny and glamorous with big eyes. This anime is widely popular amongst Japanese children, especially elementary boys, so this type of fetishization being projected onto the developing minds of young boys is very dangerous, as some grow up with the belief that all girls in real life look and act like these hypersexual anime characters. READ OUR BLOG
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Unfortunately, it is not rare for Japanese women to feel uncomfortable in the presence of males who take advantage of anime culture and force their fantasized image of animated girls onto girls in real life. As someone who went to school in Japan with a uniform throughout middle and high school, young girls being seen as fetishized anime characters was a problem I personally lived through. I
Gender norms such as male dominance and female social roles are recurring themes that can still be seen in anime.
Nene Hamada is a junior from Japan studying Media, Culture, and Communication & Economics at NYU Steinhardt/CAS.
would sometimes feel the unwanted male gaze while wearing my uniform in public and would be left feeling like my mere existence was reduced to nothing but a sexualized image that lives on the screen.
How Anime Feeds into Japan’s Female Sexualization Issue 7