In her article “The Gender Dynamics of the Japanese Media
Mix”, Mizuko Ito takes an interesting position of analyzing the gendering seen
in gaming culture and animated content among children in Japan. She talks a lot
about “media mix”, which is not a term I had heard of before, but it simply
means the varied products through which consumers can interact with a
franchise. This concept is present in America, but is particularly prominent in
Japan (Ito 2). For example, Pokemon
would be a strong example of this concept, as the Pokemon franchise spans over
60 separate series of comic books, over 800 TV episodes, 17 movies, nearly 70 video
games on both handheld and console platforms, a wildly popular trading card
game, and countless other products, from toys to candy to apparel and
stationary. She talks about how Japan is unusual in that the serialized comic
books or まんが(manga) are often at the center of a
given mix, introducing the characters and developing long narratives that are
eventually translated into video games(2).
She next
explores kawaii and otaku cultures. These are sort of equal but opposite in my
reading. Kawaii, meaning cute, products seem marketed towards young girls, but
in reality people of all ages and genders consume these items (3). I have
pictures from Japan of a zoo shuttle painted to look like an enormous panda
(complete with winking headlights and a bow),
smiley faces on every food items
imaginable, and kitties doodled on my Starbucks cup by the barista to say thank
you. Even a tower I went to visit had a
cute-ified cartoon version of itself posted all around — kawaii culture is
everywhere. Otaku culture is a similar obsession, but more associated with
video games and technical knowledge. It is acceptable for a boy to be this
deeply interested in media, but for a girl it is seen as a bit unusual, unless
they draw manga.
In general, Ito presents facts on a
different gender culture from America’s, not her opinions on it (as she warns
in the beginning of the article). The body of her research was comparing the
followings of Hamtaro (a typically girly media mix) and YuGiOh (a typically
boyish media mix). She found that there was crossover in each, with boys
showing interest in Hamtaro and every student in a third grade class she
surveyed owning YuGiOh cards, but that neither reached the level of integration
that Pokemon had as far as incorporating networked game play, simultaneous
story lines, and creating Pokemon themselves that widely appealed to both boys
and girls. I think the success of Pokemon, as previously illustrated by how far
reaching the series is, is indeed due to its appeal to not only just young
girls and boys, but really people of all ages. To be honest, I bought myself a
3DS this summer so that I could play the new Pokemon games, and I’m sure I’m
not the only one in the class, nor am I by far the oldest active Pokemon
player. I would challenge anyone in the comments to think of an American
franchise that has been quite as popular or widespread. , I agree with the one
opinion Ito does share: by creating an adventure series with both cute and
tough monsters, games that you could eventually play as a boy or a girl
character, and spreading their fingers as far as possible into all forms of
media, Pokemon really has come to exemplify what all producers should strive
for when creating a show for maximum popularity. (Just don’t ask what I think
about the last 300 or so Pokemon.)
I agree that Ito is trying to present a different gender culture than that we see in America, and that we should try not to compare it as better or worse than the American culture that most of us in class are most familiar with. Obviously this culture is not entirely separate from American culture because of imperialism and globalization, but it is distinctly different in some ways. This struck me especially in class when we were speaking about Kawaii culture and the sexualization of what appear to be young girls. Of course, this is not a concept that does not occur in America. However, I felt as though some of the dialogue made it out to be a bad and jarring aspect of Japanese culture. American culture sexualizes young girls to what is probably a similar extent, we just happen to not really do it through comic books. Other cultures may be different without being inherently "better" or "worse" than American culture. In that vein, I would be interested to see someone recreate Ito's research on Hamtaro and YuGiOh with similarly popular characters or products in America. For example, my 12 year old sister (along with most of her friends, and the kids that I babysit) love Minecraft. There are even Minecraft action figures/dolls, Minecraft legos, costumes, and obviously the computer game. Does Minecraft manage to transcend the gender split that is supposed to appear in children's toys? If so, does it do so in a different way than Pokemon? How does the culture in which a game or toy appear determine whether that toy will appeal to boys, girls, or both?
ReplyDeleteAfter our class discussion on Tuesday, I have been struggling to reconcile the discomfort and distaste that Lolicon left in me with my own problematic Western-centric perspective. I certainly agree with you, Kayleen and Isabel, that Japanese gender culture differs from that of America's, and that making broad comparisons between the two would be reductive and over-simplifying. I am definitely not a proponent of the idea of Western/American exceptionalism; I know there is a systemic, culturally-embedded, rampant and normalized sexualization of young girls in the U.S., and this sexualization not only encourages (and naturalizes) sexual objectification of young girls and women, but I think is also explicitly connected to wider misogyny, violence against women, and rape culture in the U.S. My strong feelings about this subject led me react with instinctive negativity to the Lolicon images we saw in class. Yet I agree with you, Kayleen -- it is unfair of me to take my own Westernized view of sexualization of young women and broadly apply it to Japanese culture and society. I'd be interested in reading more scholarly work written about Lolicon and how it operates within Japanese culture.
DeleteMy own searches for such work were not so fruitful, though when I was looking for articles I found that it's pretty evident how Lolicon appears to a Western mainstream audience -- "Pharrell Released an Insanely Pedophillic Video (which features Lolicon imagery(" and "Lolicon: The Reality of 'Virtual Child Pornography' in Japan," and "Japan's Kiddie Porn Empire" were some headlines that I came across. I did find this New Yorker article (again, though, written through a Western lens) http://www.newyorker.com/culture/culture-desk/pharrell-williamss-lolicon-girl that I thought was somewhat helpful as it's trying to explain why Pharrell's music video "makes sense" within a cultural context. This article led me to an interview with a Lolicon artist Takashi Murakami. I found this passage that describes him to be interesting, as it offers reasons for enjoying Lolicon from the perspective of the Japanese artist himself :
"Admitting to a Lolita complex—though he says he doesn't act on it—he maintains the line between fantasy and reality by realizing his fantasies through the medium of his work. All the while, his subject matter is both intensified and chastened, its dark desires illuminated by a sheen of cuteness, posing questions about the limits of acceptability, the boundlessness of imagination and the perversions hidden within all cultures, whether otaku or otherwise."
Anyway, I'm still trying to grapple with it all. Lolicon still unsettles me because of how deeply problematic I find the sexualization of young girls to be, but I'm really trying not to get so stuck in my own Westernized views.
I think it is really difficult for toys to "transcend the gender split that is supposed to appear in children's toys" because of the way that toys are marketed and sold in stores. In most stores that sell toys, toys are divided into separate aisles for girls and boys: girl aisles are full of pinks and pastels, dolls and accessories, while boy aisles are full of blues and primary colors, action figures and vehicles. I think that considering the "media mix" and toys derived from other mediums pose a particular problem to the United States' (and some other countries') strictly gendered toy divisions. While in stores boys may be drawn to the "boy aisles" and girls may be drawn to the "girl aisles," they may not find what they are looking for based on their exposure to characters in other arenas such as television, movies, and video games. As discussed in class, boys may have enjoyed watching Sailor Moon, and girls may have enjoyed watching Power Rangers, and while they may even "play" those characters when playing pretend, they may feel alienated from purchasing toys for their favorite franchises because they are not "for them." It is interesting to see how gendered toy marketing will play out in the future in the US and worldwide; In the U.K., a successful "Let Toys Be Toys" campaign recently convinced the executives of Toys R Us UK to end gender marketing in their stores, but this trend has yet to take off in the US (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/09/08/toys-r-us-uk-gender-marketing_n_3890599.html).
ReplyDeleteWhile I was intrigued by Ito’s observations of gender roles within Japanese popular culture, I mostly found this notion of media mix fascinating; I think it’s a strategy that is attempted to some degree within the United States but not nearly to the extent that Japanese culture (whether originating with manga, trading cards, TV shows, etc.) does. Perhaps the most compelling aspect of Ito’s piece for me was the idea of simultaneity within media mix culture. The integrated release of so many different products surrounding a single cultural narrative is so unique, and I believe different from marketing strategies within the United States. While merchandising is obviously extremely important to the viability of American popular culture (especially that aimed at children), each distinctive element takes a backseat to the original cultural product and is often released at a later date. The media mix culture of Japan (that Ito uses the example of Pokemon to illustrate) is fully integrated and each marketable product operates synergistically, creating this all-encompassing world around a single narrative that, like Pokemon, has the potential to consume every aspect of mass culture.
ReplyDelete