Otaku culture & gender "neutrality"
Japanese otaku culture subverts gender more than you'd think.
Video thread that went viral on Japanese Twitter of Otakus dancing at idol shows
One of my earliest memories as a wee idol was performing at Hello! Project night at a nightclub in Ikebukuro. I was 18 and because of internet-induced globalization, I had grown up on Hello! Project. The Y2K idol phenomenon otherwise known as H!P was a cartel of mass-produced pop idol groups. Think Motown, The Spice Girls, and Britney Spears. Their lyrics are cheerful, they reference Japan’s economic depression with an air of hope. Puppy love and songs about friendship are all mixed with energetic dance moves. In the world of Hello!Project—all is well. Members are regularly shuffled to keep the group “fresh” and are often trained from childhood to early adolescence. They typically peaked in the latter half of their teen years. Sometimes they were forcibly removed for not following the rules—no smoking, no drinking, and no dating.
What many find troubling is the die-hard fans of such groups. Plenty of young women are fans of idols but the group with the disposable income are the die-hard male otaku fans. That night that I performed, the club was full of them.
In America when men are super fans of pop stars it’s assumed that they are gay. Pop stars are stupid and vapid. The antithesis of what men should be interested in. In the case of Japan, idol “otaku” fans are often seen as inept man-children at best and loner perverts at worse. Yet that would be not scratching beyond the surface. Something far more complex is happening here.
To my shock, the group of college-aged men(and a small minority of women) danced along to the song. As idols do. Although this isn’t super common at idol shows as male fans have their own forms of dancing along to the music, it still is not unheard of for idol fans to learn to dance cutesy like their favorite band members.
So are idol fans perverts or are they using idols to express themselves in ways that traditional masculinity does not allow? Much of Japan’s idol industry takes a voyeuristic approach many idol fans use idols as an avatar to express their own femininity. In Otaku for Queer Theory & Media Theory (2013) Moon asserts that Otaku culture has had an element of gender subversion since the 1960s. He draws heavily on Saito’s Beautiful Fighting Girls which introduces the narrative of otaku’s consumption of femininity as multi-faceted. American comic book fans also love strong women but Saito argues that this portrayal of strength does not have the kawaii angle. So otaku fans consume the Beautiful Fighting Girls as they desire femininity. Either to objectify it or to embrace it for themselves.
This is not just for the guys. There’s an entire group of young woman Manga super fans dubbed the sexist “Fujoshi” which means “rotten young women”. Their rottenness stems from their enjoyment of sultry comic stories, often featuring gay young handsome men. This consumption also teeters between wanting to be with the object of desire and wanting to be them. Some people theorize that same-sex relationships in Manga offer a safe avenue for young women to explore their own sexuality in a way that doesn't feel too close. Others have critiqued fujoshi for fetishizing gay men.
I have issues with Japan’s idol industry for a myriad of reasons. However, when it comes to other cute things like Hello Kitty or anime I’m inclined to think that men should be able to enjoy it too. What do you think?