Vogue is an American fashion magazine published since 1892. It usually features features on major fashion brands, for example Christian Dior, Prada, Chanel, gucci, D&G, Valentine, fendi and addictivehowever, on other occasions they also share some opinion pieces, and it was one of those that recently gave people something to talk about.
With more than a century of history, of course Vogue he has already published sections around the world, one of which is Japanese. This section published an article on the occasion of the International Women’s Daywhich will take place on March 8, criticizing the sexism that lives on in Japanese culture and is “carried” abroad in the form of manga and anime.
The article is quite long, but we can narrow it down if we only focus on the part that mentions the manga and anime industry. The rest talk about the low participation of the female sex in government in Japan and in other positions of power in the territory. Anyway, let’s review what brings us together today:
«It’s an undisputed fact that Japanese anime and manga culture is very popular abroad, but there is one aspect of it that young Americans are very concerned about. In April 2022, a full-page ad for the manga “Tawawa on Monday” appeared in the morning edition of the Nihon Keizai Shimbun newspaper and became controversial. Anime News Network, a popular news website for anime fans, was the first to pick up the news in the United States.».
«The article introduced a comment from a Young Magazine official, who explained the purpose of the ad by saying that the cartoon featuring a high-breasted girl was meant to inspire and ease the anxiety of employees on their way to work. He also mentioned Kae Ishikawa (石川雅恵), Director of the UN Women’s Office of Japan, who protested against this production.».
«Ishikawa said: “This ad only reflects the men’s attitude of ‘this is what I want schoolgirls to do’ and gives schoolgirls the idea that ‘the only way to please men is through sexual attraction’. By advertising anime that clearly portrays underage women as male sex objects, there is a risk of promoting stereotypes that place women in these roles.“».
«Meanwhile, the popularity of Japanese animation and manga, with its high quality and wide variety of genres, has taken the world by storm, with the first Expo Japan held in Paris in 2000, and anime conventions held in the States United. throughout Asia. In this context, Fair Planet, known for its human rights journalism, says that “now that the popularity of Anime has spread throughout the world, this is not just a problem in Japan”».
«“In Japanese manga and anime, underage female characters are sexualized, career women are turned into villains, and there are many sexual themes, such as scenes of sexual assault that are allowed as expressions of affection.“, they explain. Furthermore, citing an example from a 2017 study, he said “manga and anime, often portraying deeply rooted gender stereotypes, clearly promote the public’s perceptions of sex“. They express that too The hypersexualization of female characters in Japanese anime and manga has contributed to “Asian female fetishism” in the West».
«In 2014, Japan officially banned the possession of child pornography. The United Nations later requested that the ban be expanded to include manga and anime, but the Japanese government did not comply. Furthermore, this lack of regulation means that, even now, cartoon ads with sexually explicit content unexpectedly appear on smartphone screens. Critics argue that classifying manga and anime as child pornography violates people’s freedom of speech, an issue that needs to be discussed.».
Fountain: Vogue
