Who Is Yuniya Kawamura's Fashioning Japanese Subcultures?

This set of photographs shows couples from the project “Switcheroo.” The clothing in which the couple wears expresses defining gender qualities. Dresses are viewed and labelled as feminine while pants and dress shirts represent masculinity. These photos contribute to Margo DeMello’s perspective on the gendered nature of men’s and women’s clothing. Both models can express their gender through their facial expressions, stance, and posture.

“Girly-girls” are being judged more harshly than the “tomboys.” Girls often watch the behaviors of other girls by how they dress, makeup, bodily presentation, and even their diet. Nowadays, girls are often occupied with sports and they are not being regarded as being a “tomboy.” A “girly-girl” are girls that are being depicted as always getting their hair done, wearing a lot of makeup, always afraid to get dirty, and are mostly the popular ones. Whereas, “tomboys” are less popular, dress more masculine, and can get

The Kim Sisters, Wonder Girls, and Girls’ Generation, and Nicki Minaj reveal the same aspect of gender ideology: sexualized female commodities. However, through the process of globalization, they are represented in different contexts in terms of time and place. Also, feminine sexualities are depicted in different theme in regard with the level of cultural adaptation, appropriation, or subversion in the process of globalization. Koichi Iwabuchi’s concept of cultural odor and fragrance and Sun Jung’s concept of transculturality as hybridity help understand the similar but different aspects in each music video.

The carefree attitude of the younger generation was attributed to the psychological trauma caused by the unprecedented casualty level of the war. This generation had the theory that each day might be the last, therefore lived it to the fullest. This mental change was accompanied by a change in the physical styles of women. Fashion trends that were held in high regard by tradition were challenged to demonstrate the new risqué way of life.

With America's contribution in World War II came wartime ordering of design materials, for example, silk, nylon, and garments color. Females' clothing in this manner inclined toward practicality, with basic blouses and un-elaborate coats becoming prevalent. women even got directions on the best way to tailor the unused suits of men away in battle, revamping them into ordinary women wear. What's more, rather than the incline boyish flapper style, women now aspired to become more curvaceous and emphasize their feminine figure. Specifically, ads now told ladies how they could stay away from an a too-skinny

Toys and sports also promote gender appearances. Male appearances are characterized by being physically fit, strong and aggressive whereas females are to be beautiful, feminine and nurturing. Jane Smiley describes Barbie as being slender, stylish and most of all popular. Barbie is often dressed in pink and wears make up. Models in today’s society fit this description which makes other females want to achieve the same look. The appearances for females set by society‘s norms are presented in toys that gives off the message that ‘if you do not look like this’, it is considered unattractive. “Frilly, sexy, pink, purple, bedizened, and bejewelled were the preferred Barbies,” (Smiley 238) shows that females should have these characteristics in order to be seen as

To discover the traditional beauty of a Japan which is disappearing; to emphasise the importance of industrially produced clothes by using synthetic materials; to demonstrate the secret beauty of Japanese women. I am striving to create clothes which give paramount importance to the movement of the body. Rather than fashion that one puts on, I want to produce fashion that one takes off...for that is where the beauty of man’s primitive spirit is found. (Tokyo Vogue p44)

Does fashion blogging reify certain norms of femininity, or challenge them? What does the act of selling cupcakes have to do with gender? What does the popularity of 50 Shades of Grey say about women’s desires? How do these cultural forms tell us anything about gender at all, and why are they deserving of our attention?

To feel valued while being pressured by both men and other women, women have the newest trend, like owning a nice Stanley Cup or wearing the newest Chanel or Louis Vuitton. This changing of the dolls is a nearly identical showing of how social standards can affect women's appearance and how they change themselves to fit this social

In Creighton 's Edutaining Children and in Allison 's Obento, they both discuss the important of married woman devoting their time toward making their children the best; however, in Kinsella 's Cuties in Japan, she discusses that Japanese uses kawaii to escape from conforming to Japanese culture. Children are considered very important to the Japanese society. There are many restriction as mother are suppose to make their children best. Women are conformed through making obento, a lunch box, for their children as they need to devote themselves into motherhood work. In Japanese culture, the society consists of needing to conform. A new trend Kawaii (cute) appeared to rebel against conforming to the society. Thus, Japanese women are heavily discriminated against through gender and employment where women are devoted into their own children, obento making, and the new style kawaii.

Imagine you’re going back in time. Then, THUNK, you’re plopped down in a street. You look at newspaper and find you’re in 1903. Then, this happens again, and again, going into 1910s, 1920s, 1930s, 1940s, and all the other decades in the 20th century. You see flapper dresses, bell-bottom pants, suits, dresses and even crazier stuff! Finally, you plop down one last time, back in 2015. You saw how womens fashion changed many times, and in many ways in 20th century America.

During our life we construct many different identities of who we want to portray ourselves as to the rest of society; fashion plays a vital role in generating who we are. With the ideas from Storry and Childs they state that “the way that we dress can either serve to confirm or to subvert various facets of our identities, such as our gender,

With that there has been an increasingly large demand for more women oriented culture, a place where they can express themselves and learn about their gender culture, and not that of men. “That is to say, if women share something in common, it is not the result of a universal bodily maturational process but of mutually experienced interpolations of race, class, and sexual

Fashion-conscious teenage girls are fond of wearing pink and other super-feminine clothes whereas older women, being brought in the workforce during the peak of Japan’s bubble economy during the 1980’s, have become fond of luxury designer items and high fashion, which can sometimes be noted through the suits they wear for work. Women who have high positions in global corporations usually wear designer suits, the designer usually being either European or American.

The Years between the 1950’s and 1960’s was an explosive time in fashion. The 50’s represented an out coming of the new generation. People began to gain their own personal style and appearance, influenced by films and singers (“Vintage Fashion”). Their styles incorporated leather, jeans, corduroy, and the ballet shoes for the girls. Men’s wear began to drastically change. Men would wear a leather jacket, with jeans that narrowed at the bottom, and a simple t-shirt (Peacock 210-211). This was the first time in history that jeans were not just worn by the working class but by all men (“Brief History”). The man’s lust for flesh grew during this time, so women’s skirts began to get shorter and the bikini was invented. Clothes were made to glorify the female body and emphasize every curve. It wasn’t until the Barbie doll was created in the late 50’s that young girls began to have a separate fashion from their mothers. Young girls would wear sweaters with full skirts or pants