But I can't let it go just yet. I'm sorry universe. I am going to be a very negative yin right now.
So arguably the most read newspaper in the whole Republic of Argentina just released this note on their online version, titled "Teenage girls undergo surgery to look like an anime".
In case anyone is curious and knows how to read Spanish, here is the link. At least it's there until they take it off their website. Which they should.
If the title wasn't ignorant enough, here is what it reads in the first few lines...
"They spend hours in a surgery room to obtain enormous eyes and occidental features. They live beneath a facade of perfectly straight hair and school uniforms, which make them into true anime heroines come alive. A tendency that borders between sexy and morbid."
I won't bother translating the entire article because just reading the words is nauseating me. But basically it's something along the lines of "Hey Argentina, I present you Dakota Rose, who looks like a freaking cartoon character, and Japanese aesthetic clinics have been receiving thousands (?) of patients that want to look like her, so they just undergo surgery on EVERYTHING, isn't Japan crazy?"
I cannot believe this racist fictionalization could ever be published in a newspaper. Even if it is just the online version... it's horrifying.
This person, this... journalist, even if that title is way too much for a lowlife of this calibre, simply looked at Koti's photos throughout the internet. And because they had an article due for the day, they decided, "Well, let's just write something about this girl. This should prove interesting."
And so in five minutes, they banalized AN ENTIRE COUNTRY.
Oh noooo you didn't. You didn't just mess with the love of my life (Japan). This is the part where I kind of wish I was more of a well-known blogger, so I could TRULY make them ashamed of themselves.
That won't stop me though.
Let's address this article by points...
First off, dragging Dakota into all of this.
I don't know this girl, OK. But I have seen her videos and photos. She is simply STUNNING and gorgeous and speaks good Japanese. She is not Asian, however. This should be obvious to all of us, but apparently this Argentinian newspaper seems to treat her as though she was Japanese, because obviously you can't be caucasian, blue-eyed and blonde and speak Japanese. Because you obviously CAN'T study languages, you only speak the one you are born into. And moreover, you are blonde, so what are you even studying for?! Weren't you dumb, anyway?
*rolls eyes*
So apparently Dakota is Japanese. I speak a little Japanese too, so I must be Japanese as well. This logical nonsense is really interesting.
Then, assuming Dakota has had surgery. And also then saying that every Japanese girl is now craving to undergo surgery because they want to look so much like Dakota.
I don't really know if Dakota Rose has undergone any surgery. You know what? WHO CARES. For so long people have been telling us girls what we shouldn't or should do. It seems to terrorize men and women alike that, maybe, uhm, GIRLS CAN DO WHATEVER THEY WANT WITH THEIR BODIES.
They can undergo surgery. They can add prosthetics of any type or form. We can do anything as long as it's not dangerous for us. And it shouldn't be dangerous for us. We have the right to safe procedures.
So why is it such a terrifying though that some Japanese women, or any nationality of women, have surgeries? It sounds OK to me.
The article says, quote, "These two girls [oh yeah because they also dragged ANOTHER girl into this s***] are role-models for Japanese teenagers who would give anything to look like them. And Japan's surgery clinics are receiving endless calls for rhinoplasties, cheek implants and eye-lifting"
How exactly does the person who wrote this know that? Have they surveyed teenage girls? Do they know?
I also cannot believe how Kota is treated by the media. They are making her into this monster who is actually a fraud because no one could ever be that beautiful, so they must expose her and bring this beautiful alien back to Earth where she belongs, as a mundane human being.
Why does the media take perfectly gorgeous girls and use every chance they can into charging against them, exposing their every flaw?? Why is it so important that we get to see Dakota's flaws? The answer: It is NOT important. She is so gorgeous and I don't know why it is anyone's business what she does or doesn't do with her make-up.
This really upsets me... when society takes beautiful girls and shames them like that. All this pictures, "before and after", "come look at this model without her make-up"...
I KNOW THERE IS A DIFFERENCE BETWEEN MAKE-UP AND NO MAKE-UP. We all know this. Hell, I know this. I just hate it that people are calling her a fraud because she wears make-up. She can do whatever she wants. Girls are entitled as much. We are entitled to wearing 5kg of foundation or not wearing any at all. We are entitled to having legs on our legs or shaving them.
WE DO WHAT WE WANT.
This is true feminism.
But uh, back to the article...
Third point: Racism, racism everywhere.
Then, the crowning point of this stupid crap... the blatant racist and fear of the Different Other this article boasts all around.
I quote again... even though it is really painful for me to even read this, let alone translate it... "In the Occident world, this type of fashion [I guess they're referring to scary-sexy-cute?] would provoke uneasiness because it's in the boundary of sexy and morbid. But in Japan... living dolls are what men look for".
(note: this is an approximate translation because I just wanted to get the real meaning of the words across, not what it actually literally says)
There is something I won't deny about this - yes, Japan is well known for its love of cuteness.
Models are very tiny and huge, doe eyes are preferred, sought after. I won't deny this is part of their culture. Just look at a few mangas, magazines, or whatever, and you'll find out.
Japan has a different conception of beauty than ours. In a more traditional sense, Japan's beauty comes from balance and measure. Beautiful women are intelligent, graceful women. In modern times, it could be said that Japan also considers cuteness and sweetness to be their ideal of beauty.
It is so different than our way of seeing things... but we have no right to call it morbid.
Let's see. It's only morbid if it's morbid, do you know what I mean? If we're talking about gore, yeah, it is kind of morbid. I can see where this is coming from. We assume Japan likes little girls, and then we see the models do kind of look like little girls, so we say, OK, Japan is morbid. But we forget... liking innocent grown women is not the same as liking little girls.
We have a saying in Argentina. Every time someone critiques another person for doing the same thing they are ALSO guilty of, we say, "Uhm, so, how are things back home?" - Y por casa, ¿cómo andamos? This means, "why don't you look back into your own private stuff, and you'll see you are guilty of the same crap"
Argentina is also morbid. We also sexualize women, and specially teenagers, calling them demeaning terms like "lolita", "nena" (little girl), "bebota" (big baby), etc etc
I can't believe I'm saying this, but...
I know Japanese models look super young and innocent. But they are not. They are grown women. Japan just likes cuteness. It's not a bad thing. It's just different. Here in Argentina we have all these women being extremely sexual at like, 3 PM, in minor's protection hour, and no one bats an eyelash at them. Here, the ideal is being hot, having curves, being desirable. In Japan is different. But it's not MORBID.
Both cultures, both Japan and Argentina, are extremely patronizing with their women. There's no denying that. I don't want to get into this subject because this would be endless.
But how dare we accuse Japan of sexualizing innocence. DON'T WE DO THE SAME THING?
Don't we have thousands of pictures of Argentinian models dressed in schoolgirl outfits and licking lollipops?
And how dare we accuse Japanese women of undergoing surgery!! Just look at one of Argentina's most famous media icon...
I'm not saying this is right nor wrong... but this person above undergoes surgery to look cuter/younger. So if Japanese women do it, it's morbid, right? Please bring the "THAT'S RACIST" meme here.
This is beyond the point that everything the article says is... bullshit. I don't like cursing, but sorry, it is. No investigation whatsoever was made... this is just another article destined to promote the message that "OMG LOOK AT JAPAN, THEY ARE SO CRAZY, WEIRD AND MORBID, THEY'RE FREAKS, LET'S LAUGH AT THEM"
Every culture has its good and bad points. But this article banalizing the entire Japanese culture into a surgery fanatic blob of KAWAII DESU. And the worst thing is, they don't even know what they are talking about. They don't know who the hell Dakota Rose is, what is kawaii, what is an anime, or who is Sailor Moon. They just Googled random crap and wrote a five minute articled in which they pooped on an entire culture.
Tell me, Argentina...
How are things in our homes?
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