Female Body Image in Japan
Images of very thin women like model Emi Suzuki are often seen in the media.In Japan, there is a rampant social pressure for women to be thin. There is an intense culture of competition that applies itself to all aspects of life, including individuals’ body weights. Women are especially subject to critiquing each other based on their outward appearance and sizeism, or discrimatory behavior against people based on their physical size, is prevalent throughout the country. In commenting about females’ tendency to judge each other based on weight, child psychiatrist at Tokyo’s Keio University of Medicine, Hisako Watanabe, says: "They want other people to be fatter than themselves. It is complicated, competitive and so subtle. The critical eye is ubiquitous."
Moreover, in 2007 the government mandated that doctors begin to measure waistlines be during yearly physical check ups in order to combat the obesity epidemic and lower healthcare costs. Men age 40 to 74 whose waists were larger than 33.5 inches and women of the same age range with waists larger than 35.4 were encouraged to diet and exercise. These individuals are referred to as “metabo,” which people have used en lieu of “obesity” in order to reduce the stigma of being overweight and motivate people to become healthier. Still, the stigma and sizeism persist. Kimiko Shigeno, a nurse, says: “Nobody will want to be singled out as metabo... It’ll have the same effect as non-smoking campaigns where smokers are now looked at disapprovingly.” The government hopes to reduce the overweight population by 25% over over seven years and has stated that it will fine any healthcare providers, namely companies and local governments, should these goals not be met. In addition, women’s magazines and the media, like that of America, are constantly showing glamorized images of very thin people to the general population, establishing that thinness is necessary to be beautiful.
Moreover, in 2007 the government mandated that doctors begin to measure waistlines be during yearly physical check ups in order to combat the obesity epidemic and lower healthcare costs. Men age 40 to 74 whose waists were larger than 33.5 inches and women of the same age range with waists larger than 35.4 were encouraged to diet and exercise. These individuals are referred to as “metabo,” which people have used en lieu of “obesity” in order to reduce the stigma of being overweight and motivate people to become healthier. Still, the stigma and sizeism persist. Kimiko Shigeno, a nurse, says: “Nobody will want to be singled out as metabo... It’ll have the same effect as non-smoking campaigns where smokers are now looked at disapprovingly.” The government hopes to reduce the overweight population by 25% over over seven years and has stated that it will fine any healthcare providers, namely companies and local governments, should these goals not be met. In addition, women’s magazines and the media, like that of America, are constantly showing glamorized images of very thin people to the general population, establishing that thinness is necessary to be beautiful.
- Over the course of the next 30 years, a 40 year old Japanese woman will gain an average of 4.5 pounds whereas an average American woman will gain 25.
- Young Japanese women in their 20s are thinner than they have ever been before. Now, 1 in 5 women is overweight as opposed to twenty-five years ago when it was 1 in 3. Their excessive dieting and strict caloric intake have damaged their metabolisms and reduced the average birth weight of infants.
- The Japanese waistline restrictions for men and women respectively are 33.5 and 35.4 inches. In comparison, the average American waistlines for men and women respectively are 39 and 36.5 inches.
- Twenty-nine percent of Japanese women are underweight.
Sizeism in Manga
Thin female characters, regardless of whether or not they are seen as beautiful in their respective series, are the norm in manga and reflect Japanese female body image and Standards of Beauty. There are virtually none overweight or plus size female main characters aside for series that are purposefully centered around these females’ weight. What plus sized women are included in manga are brushed to the side as supporting characters to thinner leads and have very little time in the spotlight. For example, the entire premise of Yamato Nadeshiko Shichi Henge (translated as The Wallflower) is that a group of four handsome young men have to give main character Sunako Nakahara a complete makeover and change her personality. Sunako is a hikikomori, or a shut-in, who prefers to stay inside her room rather than participate in any social activities. She is fascinated with morbid things such as death, skulls, and gory movies and is what people would categorize as goth. Because of her indifference in regards to her physical appearance, her rich aunt hires four dapper boys to make her beautiful and help her integrate into society. What’s interesting is that Sunako’s aunt hired four men to aid with her niece’s looks as opposed to four women or even doing it herself. This decision implies that the main reason for looking beautiful is to attract guys because the four will tailor Sunako into what they, being good-looking men, find appealing.
In this series, men are literally setting the precedent for beauty. For example, at one point in the manga, Sunako binge eats Valentine’s Day chocolate, eventually becoming pimply and overweight. The boys are instantly outraged, partially because Sunako’s appearance will incur the wrath of her aunt, but also because they equate beauty with thinness and clear skin. They comment unabashedly about her weight, speculating that she’s gone up a whopping 10 kg (22 pounds), even saying “Although she kept her three body sizes in proportion, you couldn’t stand watching the ‘real version.’” This means that the boys found the process of her weight gain unbearable to watch and something meant to be disgusted with, reflecting societal stigmas against overweight people. This disgust is dehumanizing and makes it seem like heavier people are inferior to thin people, though in the end they are all human. Sunako is forced to exercise with her friend, Noi, who is working out madly because her waistline increased by a mere 2 cm (0.79 inches). From larger weight gains like Sunako’s to minute ones like Noi’s, there remains at all times a pressure to be thin, be it coming from the direction of the people around you or yourself. Noi represents the portion of the female population that counts calories and exercises for the sake of beauty, and it shows--she is the most popular and beautiful girl in the entire series. After Sunako loses weight, all the boys rejoice and say how beautiful she’s become, but by then she’s become addicted to working out and continues to do so until becoming very muscled. This moment in the series also reveals that muscular females are not attractive attractive to men, exemplified by when they call Sunako a “body builder” and her aunt weeps into a handkerchief.
In this series, men are literally setting the precedent for beauty. For example, at one point in the manga, Sunako binge eats Valentine’s Day chocolate, eventually becoming pimply and overweight. The boys are instantly outraged, partially because Sunako’s appearance will incur the wrath of her aunt, but also because they equate beauty with thinness and clear skin. They comment unabashedly about her weight, speculating that she’s gone up a whopping 10 kg (22 pounds), even saying “Although she kept her three body sizes in proportion, you couldn’t stand watching the ‘real version.’” This means that the boys found the process of her weight gain unbearable to watch and something meant to be disgusted with, reflecting societal stigmas against overweight people. This disgust is dehumanizing and makes it seem like heavier people are inferior to thin people, though in the end they are all human. Sunako is forced to exercise with her friend, Noi, who is working out madly because her waistline increased by a mere 2 cm (0.79 inches). From larger weight gains like Sunako’s to minute ones like Noi’s, there remains at all times a pressure to be thin, be it coming from the direction of the people around you or yourself. Noi represents the portion of the female population that counts calories and exercises for the sake of beauty, and it shows--she is the most popular and beautiful girl in the entire series. After Sunako loses weight, all the boys rejoice and say how beautiful she’s become, but by then she’s become addicted to working out and continues to do so until becoming very muscled. This moment in the series also reveals that muscular females are not attractive attractive to men, exemplified by when they call Sunako a “body builder” and her aunt weeps into a handkerchief.
Double Standards Facing Female Characters
A scene from the "Hyakka Ryouran: Samurai Bride" anime in which the character, Yukimura Sanada, laments her modest bosom. Both women are clad in only aprons and represent two interpretations of the ideal type of woman: curvy and sexy v. cute and child-like. Neither can be the other, but society demands that women and female characters be both at once, hence Yukimura's lamentations.
Patriarchal influences in manga reflect the nature of women’s relationships with each other. Female relationships are generally subdivided into the group of supportive girls who are friends with the main character and the “other” girls who, more often than not, are bullies. Slut-shaming, or the discrimination against women who engage in sexual activities that go against conventional standards or gender norms, is a common occurence in manga. It is looked upon as something that normally happens in high schools and throughout women’s lives because society necessitates that Japanese girls be demure and innocent. This allows for the justification of slut-shaming and women or girls who have had sexual experiences are villified or objectified by the community. In contrast, boys have the freedom to openly express their sexual desires. For instance, a common trope in manga and anime is that, when aroused, people will get nosebleeds. The nosebleed phenomenon is almost exclusively limited to boys and treated as a gag. When girls happen to get nosebleeds, though, they are singled out as abnormal and perverse.
The need to be innocent brings to light a contradiction in the expected behavior of women in manga and in Japan. As shown in the shōjo manga section, women’s main goal in life is to find love and get married. Yet they are so heavily sexualized in shōnen series and other manga geared towards a male audience that it is difficult to say which version of female characters are expected to emulate. On the one hand, the buxom sex objects from male manga would be shunned in female manga. On the other, the pure women from female manga would be seen as prudes and unpopular in male manga. Other genres of manga are no better--as discussed before, the harem genre is inherently misogynistic. A male in an all female harem has much more sexual freedom than a woman in an all male harem. In real life, the frequency of sexual harassment is high and the same goes for manga (see Rape Culture). In real life, Japanese pop stars like the girls of AKB48 or Morning Musume must act cute and moe but also wear skimpy outfits and look sexy. Maid Cafe employees must be moe as well, but the entire idea of a maid cafe stems from the idea of female submission and the maid fetish (see Fetishes As Shown In Manga). But if women are encouraged to dress conservatively and to be submissive, then why are men attacking them? Because, socially, they are not in the position of power. Women are given the task of doing and being everything at once, but this task is impossible and binds them even more tightly to male ideas of female perfection.
The need to be innocent brings to light a contradiction in the expected behavior of women in manga and in Japan. As shown in the shōjo manga section, women’s main goal in life is to find love and get married. Yet they are so heavily sexualized in shōnen series and other manga geared towards a male audience that it is difficult to say which version of female characters are expected to emulate. On the one hand, the buxom sex objects from male manga would be shunned in female manga. On the other, the pure women from female manga would be seen as prudes and unpopular in male manga. Other genres of manga are no better--as discussed before, the harem genre is inherently misogynistic. A male in an all female harem has much more sexual freedom than a woman in an all male harem. In real life, the frequency of sexual harassment is high and the same goes for manga (see Rape Culture). In real life, Japanese pop stars like the girls of AKB48 or Morning Musume must act cute and moe but also wear skimpy outfits and look sexy. Maid Cafe employees must be moe as well, but the entire idea of a maid cafe stems from the idea of female submission and the maid fetish (see Fetishes As Shown In Manga). But if women are encouraged to dress conservatively and to be submissive, then why are men attacking them? Because, socially, they are not in the position of power. Women are given the task of doing and being everything at once, but this task is impossible and binds them even more tightly to male ideas of female perfection.