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sechan19So, as many of you know, I'm a pretty big fan of Gackt. I love his music, which often reads like poetry, and I delight in his appearances on the various variety and music programs where he promotes his work. He's got a very weird, and very hilarious, sense of humor; he's the eternal straight-man to Japan's funny-man brand of over-the-top comedic antics.
However, he periodically does or says things that piss me off.
(Actually, I think that he and I would not like each other at all if we were ever to meet. See, I'd say something. He'd tell me that what I'd said was kind of unbecoming for a woman. And then I'd tell him to suck my cock, and that would be it.)
Anyway, he recently did something that made me seriously rethink whether or not I wanted to pay any more attention to him as an artist.
In response to the growing "crisis" of masculinity in Japan, Gackt decided to give a boys-only concert for his male fans. This was done so that Gackt might create a forum in which his male fans could be real men together (i.e. take off their shirts), thus rethinking certain detrimental unmasculine fads that have become popular of late.
Now, I realize that a number of you are thinking either a) Gackt masculine? or b) Gackt has male fans? But let’s put that aside for the purposes of this essay. (Short answer: a) it depends on who you ask and b) it would seem so.)
The purported purpose of this concert was to enable Gackt’s male fans to be burly and manly away from the prying eyes of devious females. Gackt is worried about Japan’s young men – particularly in connection with the growing trend of soshoku danshi (herbivore men), a euphemism that refers to young men who have no obvious interest in women or dating. He wanted to give a concert wherein male fans could view Gackt and his band in all their masculine glory, thus reinforcing a sense of manhood that has been slowly seeping out of the lives of today’s young men.
Women were strictly prohibited, and search measures were set up to prevent any underhanded infiltration. Although, of course, sixty lucky girls were able to buy tickets to watch the concert on tv screens in the lobby. And, of course, the one young man who showed up in drag wasn't eligible to enter either, as he had clearly violated the tenets of manhood that Gackt cares so passionately about.
(Tenets of manhood about which Gackt has such a passionate interest in that he felt no compunction whatsoever in doing promotion in drag about a year ago. But I mean that was a year ago, and men have degenerated a lot in that time.)
I've posted about this so-called "crisis" of masculinity before, mainly in tones of derision, but I'm really starting to get worried about it, frankly. I’m not worried about the "crisis" per se, but about the mainstream media's persistent obsession with it. In the last year, I’ve seen television segments practically shrieking in terror over the issue of Japanese men who pee sitting down, Japanese men who wear skirts or dresses, and Japanese men who could never hope to compete with the awesome manliness that is Taylor Lautner.
[sneezes]
Clearly, having absorbed Western stereotypical conceptions of masculinity, some Japanese have begun to somewhat believe the bullshit about their men being effeminate and wussy. They need to stop it.
And Gackt needs to fucking stop, too. He's a pop star, and he's a chameleon, and he's selling a product. And no one should give two shits about what he has to say about anything - particularly given that he's a total hypocrite on this one.
But that's exactly the problem. There are some young people in Japan (and elsewhere) who do care about what he has to say, and while I've always admired his business sense (the man is a brilliant marketer no doubt about that), I cannot condone his latest sell. It piggybacks on far too dangerous a message.
Gender policing is bad. It's outmoded, repressive, and can do a lot of psychological damage.
Gackt, and people like him, should be aware of their unique social position, and not wantonly engage in this kind of potentially harmful posturing.
Anyway.
[sigh]
Yet one more thing that makes me feel totally comfortable about my use of bit torrents. The Internets are giving us all the freedom to love the art without supporting the douchebag artist. Heh.
However, he periodically does or says things that piss me off.
(Actually, I think that he and I would not like each other at all if we were ever to meet. See, I'd say something. He'd tell me that what I'd said was kind of unbecoming for a woman. And then I'd tell him to suck my cock, and that would be it.)
Anyway, he recently did something that made me seriously rethink whether or not I wanted to pay any more attention to him as an artist.
In response to the growing "crisis" of masculinity in Japan, Gackt decided to give a boys-only concert for his male fans. This was done so that Gackt might create a forum in which his male fans could be real men together (i.e. take off their shirts), thus rethinking certain detrimental unmasculine fads that have become popular of late.
Now, I realize that a number of you are thinking either a) Gackt masculine? or b) Gackt has male fans? But let’s put that aside for the purposes of this essay. (Short answer: a) it depends on who you ask and b) it would seem so.)
The purported purpose of this concert was to enable Gackt’s male fans to be burly and manly away from the prying eyes of devious females. Gackt is worried about Japan’s young men – particularly in connection with the growing trend of soshoku danshi (herbivore men), a euphemism that refers to young men who have no obvious interest in women or dating. He wanted to give a concert wherein male fans could view Gackt and his band in all their masculine glory, thus reinforcing a sense of manhood that has been slowly seeping out of the lives of today’s young men.
Women were strictly prohibited, and search measures were set up to prevent any underhanded infiltration. Although, of course, sixty lucky girls were able to buy tickets to watch the concert on tv screens in the lobby. And, of course, the one young man who showed up in drag wasn't eligible to enter either, as he had clearly violated the tenets of manhood that Gackt cares so passionately about.
(Tenets of manhood about which Gackt has such a passionate interest in that he felt no compunction whatsoever in doing promotion in drag about a year ago. But I mean that was a year ago, and men have degenerated a lot in that time.)
I've posted about this so-called "crisis" of masculinity before, mainly in tones of derision, but I'm really starting to get worried about it, frankly. I’m not worried about the "crisis" per se, but about the mainstream media's persistent obsession with it. In the last year, I’ve seen television segments practically shrieking in terror over the issue of Japanese men who pee sitting down, Japanese men who wear skirts or dresses, and Japanese men who could never hope to compete with the awesome manliness that is Taylor Lautner.
[sneezes]
Clearly, having absorbed Western stereotypical conceptions of masculinity, some Japanese have begun to somewhat believe the bullshit about their men being effeminate and wussy. They need to stop it.
And Gackt needs to fucking stop, too. He's a pop star, and he's a chameleon, and he's selling a product. And no one should give two shits about what he has to say about anything - particularly given that he's a total hypocrite on this one.
But that's exactly the problem. There are some young people in Japan (and elsewhere) who do care about what he has to say, and while I've always admired his business sense (the man is a brilliant marketer no doubt about that), I cannot condone his latest sell. It piggybacks on far too dangerous a message.
Gender policing is bad. It's outmoded, repressive, and can do a lot of psychological damage.
Gackt, and people like him, should be aware of their unique social position, and not wantonly engage in this kind of potentially harmful posturing.
Anyway.
[sigh]
Yet one more thing that makes me feel totally comfortable about my use of bit torrents. The Internets are giving us all the freedom to love the art without supporting the douchebag artist. Heh.
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no subject
Date: 2010-04-17 08:46 pm (UTC)I am very much confused by the Japanese culture, it however doesn't need to be the same as mine and I don't know why they feel it does either unless they feel some meta-cultural force based on the tenets of their culture that they need to follow ours, stuff from Japan is weird(reiteration: weird≠bad),
no subject
Date: 2010-04-18 08:28 am (UTC)I agree with you, though, that other cultures need not be either the same as mine or fully understood by me.
I think, though, that this particular example goes beyond a simple lack of cultural reference. At least, it does for me. As I noted below, if this were just a thank-you to male fans I wouldn't really care, but I think that Gackt crossed the line in how he marketed this concert in tandem with a wider cultural backlash that is currently ongoing.
[shrug]
no subject
Date: 2010-04-18 06:52 am (UTC)Gackt knows where his bread is buttered, right now, a more rugged masculine style is becoming more appealing to women in Japan. I don't equate a single live event with Gackt being part of a wider movement, or taking part in gender policing.
no subject
Date: 2010-04-18 08:24 am (UTC)I've heard some suggestions to the effect that this concert was intended as a thank-you to the growing number of men in Gackt's fan base, and I would be hard pressed to argue that there's anything wrong with that. But in media statements Gackt described this event as a rallying cry for men - as a specific attempt on his part to subvert gender trends that he personally finds distasteful. That to me is a very irresponsible thing to do. It sends a bad message to young people who are struggling with their identity.
And it's even more reprehensible, in my book, when you consider that Gackt has contributed significantly to the gender norms that he suddenly claims to oppose.
You, of course, are under no obligation to agree with that perspective. And if you wanted to call me out for going too far in categorizing a person I've never met before as a douchebag (if not by direct statement then at least by inference), I think that'd be fair. I sometimes go over the top when I get on a rant.
Thank you for taking the time to read and comment. =)
no subject
Date: 2010-06-09 09:17 pm (UTC)http://amaiakuyume.livejournal.com/145713.html
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