Today we will talk about gyaru - a Japanese youth subculture, in which thousands and thousands of girls from the Land of the Rising Sun have been involved for about thirty years. Those who became gyaru in the late 80s - early 90s of the last century have long gone beyond the required age, but they were replaced first by younger sisters, and now daughters.
FUCK TRADITION
It all started, as usual, with a rebellion against age-old traditions. She's like this for young people: don't feed them bread - let them rebel against traditions. And not only in Japan, by the way. And what, in fact? The entire progressive world is marching forward with leaps and bounds, throwing off the burden of the past on the move, and only we can hardly lag behind. To hell with yamato-nadesiko ("Japanese carnation" is an idiomatic expression denoting the patriarchal ideal of a Japanese woman, for whom the interests of family and husband come first)! So or something like that young Japanese girls began to reason in the early 80s of the last century. Immediately after the first issue of the teen fashion and lifestyle magazine Popteen came out on October 1, 1980. Actually, it became the first gyaru edition. Then others appeared, and the movement of young sexually liberated fashionistas,began to rapidly gain strength. The very word "gyaru" - comes from the distorted English girl - "girl". Or gal, which means the same thing. The slogan for the gyaru was the advertising slogan of the jeans brand "GALS", popular in the 70s and 80s of the last century, which reads: “I cannot live without men”. And men, of course, fell for it! In any case, the men's magazines in Japan of those years very actively covered the Tokyo nightlife with the participation of gyaru, which contributed to an unprecedented growth in the popularity of these lovers of wearing mini-skirts with high boots, listening to American and domestic, but similar to American, pop music, sunbathing in tanning salons and receive expensive gifts from men. The slogan for the gyaru was the advertising slogan of the jeans brand "GALS", popular in the 70s and 80s of the last century, which reads: “I cannot live without men”. And men, of course, fell for it! In any case, the men's magazines in Japan of those years very actively covered the Tokyo nightlife with the participation of gyaru, which contributed to an unprecedented growth in the popularity of these lovers of wearing mini-skirts with high boots, listening to American and domestic, but similar to American, pop music, sunbathing in tanning salons and receive expensive gifts from men. The slogan for the gyaru was the advertising slogan of the jeans brand "GALS", popular in the 70s and 80s of the last century, which reads: “I cannot live without men”. And men, of course, fell for it! In any case, the men's magazines in Japan of those years very actively covered the Tokyo nightlife with the participation of gyaru, which contributed to an unprecedented growth in the popularity of these lovers of wearing mini-skirts with high boots, listening to American and domestic, but similar to American, pop music, sunbathing in tanning salons and receive expensive gifts from men.what contributed to the unprecedented growth in popularity of these lovers of wearing mini-skirts with high boots, listening to American and domestic, but similar to American, pop music, sunbathing in solariums and receiving expensive gifts from men.what contributed to the unprecedented growth in popularity of these lovers of wearing mini-skirts with high boots, listening to American and domestic, but similar to American, pop music, sunbathing in solariums and receiving expensive gifts from men.
FASHION
Pleated (and not only) mini-skirts, high boots and tanning from a tanning bed became fashionable among the gyaru after the super-popular Japanese singer Namie Amuro began to demonstrate all this in the mid-90s. By the way, her songs still take first places in the charts, and twenty years ago, Japanese youth (primarily girls, of course) literally went crazy with her. However, there is a nuance. Some researchers of the gyaru subculture argue that the direct followers of the pop diva are just a type of gyaru, called amuro(by the name of the singer) and now almost disappeared. Nevertheless, the fact remains: miniskirts, high platform shoes and tanning are still an indispensable attribute of gyaru. What else. Cosmetics and perfume, of course. In large and varied quantities (in special honor - foundation). Hair - dyeing and highlighting without fail. Can be in mind-blowing colors. Eyes - let down strongly (more expressive! More expressive!). Lips are also painted, in light, almost white tones. Manicure and pedicure (the more imagination, the better). Blue and green contact lenses. Epilation. Bijouterie. Louis Vuitton and Chanel bags. Exclusively European and American style. Pop music. Discos. Evening clubs. And, of course, parties, parties and parties again. A lot, often, every night. Have fun while you're young. Take everything from life. Consumeconsume and consume again. This world belongs to the young, beautiful and free from conventions. And on everything else - do not care!
Familiar, isn't it? A similar ideology was once professed by the American beatniks, our dudes, and many others. However, the same beatniks and dudes have long been in the past, and the gyaru continue to exist and there are no signs of extinction of this subculture of "making parents cry" and "degenerate schoolgirls", as they are also called, are not yet observed.
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For money and gifts
Gyaru took off and flourished in the late 90s and early 2000s. The subculture, which originated in the Shibuya area of Tokyo (the area is famous for fashionable shops and serves as a place for meetings and a variety of parties), has spread to all major cities in Japan. Just in the 90s, a major scandal related to gyaru, which lasted for years, arose. The fact is that the young gyaru girls, who proclaimed the motto “I cannot live without men!”, Had the second one: “Long live me!”. And it is not yet known which of the two was the main one. This means that even on dates with men, most of whom were (and are) much older, gyaru agreed for money or gifts. There was even a special term "enjo-kosai" ("paid dates"). Do not think badly at once - those gyaru who practice "enjo-kosai" do not necessarily provide their clients with intimate services (although there are some),which means they are not prostitutes. Their task is to accompany men, participate in their entertainment, maintain a conversation. We can say that to some extent the gyaru took over the duties of traditional geisha, which by the end of the 20th century were almost nonexistent in Japan. Nevertheless, thanks to the attention of the media, the practice of "enjo-kosai" became associated with prostitution among ordinary people, and the Japanese society for a long time resented the gyaru subculture, putting the representatives of the latter on a par with female sex workers, both legal and underground (in Japan, prostitution officially banned, but there is a legal sex industry that does not imply intercourse as such).that, to some extent, gyaru took over the duties of traditional geisha, which by the end of the 20th century were almost gone in Japan. Nevertheless, thanks to the attention of the media, the practice of "enjo-kosai" became associated with prostitution among ordinary people, and the Japanese society for a long time resented the gyaru subculture, putting the representatives of the latter on a par with female sex workers, both legal and underground (in Japan, prostitution officially banned, but there is a legal sex industry that does not imply intercourse as such).that to some extent the gyaru took over the duties of traditional geisha, which by the end of the 20th century were almost nonexistent in Japan. Nevertheless, thanks to the attention of the media, the practice of "enjo-kosai" became associated with prostitution among ordinary people, and the Japanese society for a long time resented the gyaru subculture, putting the representatives of the latter on a par with female sex workers, both legal and underground (in Japan, prostitution officially banned, but there is a legal sex industry that does not imply intercourse as such).both legal and underground (in Japan, prostitution is officially prohibited, but there is a legal sex industry that does not imply intercourse as such).both legal and underground (in Japan, prostitution is officially prohibited, but there is a legal sex industry that does not imply intercourse as such).
Over time, however, when it became clear that gyaru and yujo (as prostitutes are called in Japan) were not at all the same, the indignation subsided. In addition, the gyaru themselves have changed.
Split but not decay
At the beginning of the new millennium, it finally became clear to Japanese society that gyaru is serious and for a long time. As already mentioned, the subculture "went to the people" and spilled out far beyond both Shibuya and Tokyo. Not only those whose parents did not experience problems with money wished to be fashionable and liberated (initially girls from wealthy and wealthy families went to gyara), but also the children of proletarians. The new gyara fiercely imitated the "old" gyara, trying not to lag behind in anything. But how to do it if you don't have enough money? And the new gyaru (they began to be called ganguro, which means "black face" in Japanese) followed the same path that the notorious Ellochka the Ogre from the immortal novel "Twelve Chairs" by Ilf and Petrov took - albeit cheaper, but brighter. Ganguro's faces are darker from tanning and foundation (hence the "black face"). Hair color and manicure have acquired the most incredible shades. The skirts have become even shorter, and the platforms at the boots are higher …
The years passed. Gradually, some part of the young male population of Japan joined the gyaru. They called themselves gyauro, dyed their hair, were fond of tanning in a solarium and club music. Later, the so-called metrosexuals grew out of them - men who pay a lot of attention to their appearance …
The second decade of the 21st century is drawing to a close. Today's gyaru are no longer like those who went out to hang out in Tokyo's Shibuya district thirty years ago. But they still call themselves gyaru and claim to protest against the traditional way of life. Not noticing that they themselves have long become a tradition. Let it be not yet secular, but already very stable.
Akim Bukhtatov