Wednesday, April 4, 2012

Assignment 10: Final project -->Gyaru Fashion!! :]

For my final project, I will research on Gyaru fashion. Not many people may know of Gyaru, but if they were to see an image of a gyaru girl they would have an idea what it is.  Gyaru is simply a transliteration of the English word "gal".  It is the very hip and trendy, fashion conscious movement in young women.  Women typically dye their hair lighter and tan their skin; it is described as being "girly-glam" style.  Although that is the typical look, gyaru has many subcategories and other subcultures are influenced by gyaru as well.


I will be focusing on the Western influence and consumerism in gyaru subculture.  I chose this topic because I always found Japanese women in this subculture so unique and interesting.  They look so different from the traditional Japanese woman and they look somewhat Caucasian, but not really.  It was interesting how the women go through so much effort to look the way they do every day.  Gyaru was really popular in Japan, but now is spreading around the world.

For now, here are some possible sources:
http://neojaponisme.com/2012/02/28/the-history-of-the-gyaru-part-one/
http://tokyofashion.com/shibuya-gyaru-culture-in-decline/
http://www.japanlinked.com/Japanese-Culture/gyaru-gal-styles.html
http://209.68.50.46/nakamura/courses/japan/readings/NYT_971019.pdf
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4 comments:

  1. Eli KinegApril 8, 2012 at 2:40 PM

    Hey! This is really cool, I've never actually heard anything on this before, nor heard that term "gyaru" before. A look at the different portrayals of these ads might be coupled well with considering the social effects of these images. Maybe you'd just want to focus more one it's global expansion like you mentioned, up to you!

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    1. HelenApril 10, 2012 at 7:47 AM

      Hey thanks for your advice! I think that's a really good advice and will definitely consider it.

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  2. MMApril 15, 2012 at 6:39 PM

    Helen,
    This is definitely a great topic. When you are conceptualizing it, do think about what Laura Miller wrote. Whatever one thinks of her approach (I displayed my ambivalence towards it in class), it has become rather mainstream in the realm of cultural studies. She also references a lot of important thinkers in this area of cross-cultural/transnational influences and constructions. You don't need to go overboard in this area, but do please think about issues of cultural essentialism, influence, and transnational mash-ups.

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  3. Emily ShortApril 17, 2012 at 6:24 AM

    Seems like a good project idea. :) You could definitely work in a lot with this, and maybe not just analyze the look but also how it came about, where it's going now, and the subcultures centered around it. Also, as Mizenko Sensei said, there's definitely a lot to tie in from what we're doing in class.

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