February 6, 2010 • 8:07 pm 0
Filed under: Uncategorized
January 27, 2010 • 8:10 pm 0
Filed under: Uncategorized
January 21, 2010 • 8:11 pm 0
Filed under: Uncategorized
October 27, 2009 • 7:15 am 0
SO ANGRY.
Japan TV is not lacking in so-called “transformation shows.” These are shows that invite women in their twenties with low self-esteem and who are not particularly physically attractive. These girls come on, give their sob stories, and you cry with them, blah blah blah. But oh, look—they go through some transformation, and voilà! Now they are gorgeous.
And how. Most of these “transformations” are attributed to some form of bizarre (sometimes extreme) dieting, and/or plastic surgery. Plastic surgery may still have its critics in the States, but it’s a fact of life in Asian countries like Korea, where every girl gets a little nip and tuck gift pre-college, or like in Japan, becoming much more accepted.
Wada Akiko has some show on right now where they invite girls who have had tough adolescent periods because of some awful physical “defect.” This one girl has extremely small eyes. I won’t mince words: she’s not a pretty kid. Her eyes are extremely tiny, even for small Asian eye standards, to the point where you can barely see the whites of her eyes. In high school, kids used to pour salt on her and brutally tease her for her looks.
Sad, yes, especially in Japan where teasing is a huge problem. (Some may say these kids just need to grow a backbone and fight back, but that’s another story.)
The hosts cry, we have sad music, and Akiko is not the type to be simperingly sweet to the girl either. “I’m sorry to be so frank,” she says, “but your eyes are REALLY very small, aren’t they. They’re very small.” As a TV viewer, it’s tough to here and watch this. Don’t you think the girl knows?
They ask the girl what she really wants to do regarding her situation.
The girl replies simply, “I want to learn how to apply make-up properly.”
That’s all. This completely breaks the celebrity panel’s hearts, because, well, as Akiko puts it: Wouldn’t you expect her to say she wants bigger eyes, or get plastic surgery or something? Instead, this girl responds so innocently that she wants to know how to put on make-up better, to make herself look better.
This would be fine and nice… but what is the show’s solution?
Give her plastic surgery and make her eyes bigger!
Does she look better? Sure, her eyes aren’t as small. But they have also completely realigned her jaw, adjusting her facial bone structure. Unnecessary vanity surgery. Cue sympathetic music. Ah, so this is the beauty of plastic surgery! Look how much happier this girl’s life will be! We have saved another ugly person!
What makes me angrier is that they always ask these girls if they have had boyfriends. Turns out most of these girls who appear on this show haven’t, because you know, their physical appearance is that big obstacle.
And you know, I’m not so naïve to say that looks don’t matter. Wake up if you think so. Looks matter a LOT in this world, whether you want to acknowledge it or not. But the way these kind of transformation shows tackle that topic seems to be: Looks are ALL that matters. There is a specific way you must look. Skinny, straight teeth, big eyes. Anything else is less than acceptable—the proof is right there, in how these girls got cruelly teased.
You can’t tell me that’s NOT the main message. Why else would these girls not just get corrective surgery (supposedly) but also full-on makeup, hairstyle change, more fashionable clothing… to the point where they look like every other Japanese girl in a magazine, not anything like their former selves. And that’s the point, I guess, isn’t it? Your old self wasn’t good enough, it was never good enough. This is the widely accepted norm—so align yourself with it.
The issue of what establishes self-esteem and these transformation messages is SERIOUSLY warped in this country. As someone who had a flailing sense of self-esteem in high school—like everyone else, I’m sure—it worries me that young kids are watching this and are extracting the absolutely wrong message. I’m so glad that stage is behind me…
October 17, 2009 • 8:30 am 0
Halloween is fast approaching, and I remember fondly my taste of not having a costume prepared until the very last minute last year. Okay, actually, it’s not that fond of a memory, because I stood outside for OVER AN HOUR in line at the costume shop in Greenwich Village, freezing my ass off and wondering why the hell I hadn’t gone earlier. Apparently everyone in Manhattan decided that they too were just gonna say “Fuck it” and buy a costume on October 30. Thanks, guys. (For the record, I was a French maid.)
A friend gave me a great idea: Max from Where the Wild Things Are. Relatively easy, as long as I find a full-length bodysuit… and I am in the land of such possibilities. But I figure there must be some more tips on how to make this a truly stellar costume, so I figured a little Google search wouldn’t hurt.
Well, the search didn’t hurt, but the results did.
Because what does Opening Ceremony think it’s doing by selling their version of a Max costume, and charge a whoppin’ $610 for it?!?!
Actually, I suppose the more important question is: WHO IS THIS MARKETED FOR? Who in their right mind is going to spend $610 for a costume?!?! Especially this one?! (Dude, it doesn’t even look like Max, man.) [via Geekologie]
