There seems to be not just a little gender stereotyping in this article, eh?Two phrases have been coined to describe them: soshokukei danshi or “herbivorous males”, and Ojo-man – or “girly men”.
Definitions vary, but the new herbivores could be described as metrosexuals without the testosterone. Although most of them are not homosexual they have in common a disdain for the traditional accoutrements of Japanese manhood, and a taste for things formerly regarded as exclusively female. Girly men have no interest in fast cars, career success, designer labels and trophy women. Instead, they hold down humble jobs, cultivate women as friends rather than conquests and spend their free time shopping at small boutiques and pursuing in Japan what is regarded as a profoundly feminine pastime: eating cakes.
And hey, is eating cake REALLY that "profoundly feminine"? I do love me some cake, but I also love me some steak. How do you figure that? What about you?
3 comments:
In Japanese culture, sweets are considered unmanly. Most middle-aged or older men, in my experience, rarely eat any kind of cake, candy, cookies, etc. It's loosened up a bit, but men in their 20s and 30s still tend to just have a bite or two of cake or whatever instead of a full-sized dessert. Of course, in Japan "full-sized" has a different meaning than in the US.
"Ojo-man" is funny for several reasons. "Ojo-san" is roughly like "young lady," so maybe the nuance is more like "prissy man" than "girly man," but the Chinese character for it (嬢) is definitely feminine. The 'man' must have been taken from English.
The number one hit for Google in Japanese is a book called "Herbivorous Male 'Ojo-man' Change Japan" by Megumi Ushikubo (a female name). ('Ojo-man' would be singular and plural; should we say 'ojo-men' maybe?) The cover's cute:
http://www.amazon.co.jp/%E8%8D%89%E9%A3%9F%E7%B3%BB%E7%94%B7%E5%AD%90%E3%80%8C%E3%81%8A%E5%AC%A2%E3%83%9E%E3%83%B3%E3%80%8D%E3%81%8C%E6%97%A5%E6%9C%AC%E3%82%92%E5%A4%89%E3%81%88%E3%82%8B-%E8%AC%9B%E8%AB%87%E7%A4%BE%E3%83%97%E3%83%A9%E3%82%B9%E3%82%A2%E3%83%AB%E3%83%95%E3%82%A1%E6%96%B0%E6%9B%B8-%E7%89%9B%E7%AA%AA-%E6%81%B5/dp/4062725355
(I hope that link works!)
"Prissy-man"! That sounds like some kind of Onion-style superhero parody.
Funny about gender-y cake-eating. In my circles, EVERYBODY's gobbling down cakes. Except for the Cine-Sib, but that's just because he doesn't like sugar.
What about Taiwanese society? Do Taiwanese men eat sweets as much as (more than?) the women?
In reference to steak, I can't think of anything Japanese women avoid like men avoid sweets. While sweets are considered feminine, I can't think of any food that is similarly masculine.
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