It turned out that she wasn't referring to dietary preferences. "Grass-eating boys", or herbivorous guys is a term used to describe a new generation of guys in Japan possessing inherently different qualities and outlooks (in life) from the previous generation, and has been gaining increasing salience in pop culture literature. Essentially, it refers to guys who are apparently lacking in sexual appetite (comparatively), less competitive, and prefer leading a quieter life. It seems that the decade (now 2 decades) since the bursting of the bubble economy in Japan has led to an increasing sense of disillusionment and much soul-searching amongst the population, especially the males, who were the hardest hit by the effects of the economic malaise. Jolted from their bastion of dominance (no doubt padded by the huge swarthes of money swimming around during the bubble era), it seems that the new generation has realized that satisfaction, and happiness can indeed be derived through other channels apart from money. Interestingly though, rather than praise the more enlightened characteristics of these guys, various social commentators have instead labelled this as a sign of increasing"weakness".
Correspondingly, with the emergence of a new herbivorous creature on the gender food chain, a new group of younger women have also evolved accordingly to balance it: "meat-eating girls" or carnivorous females. It doesn't take much to figure out the characteristics of these females: they are generally more assertive, sexually, emotionally and relationship-wise. Given a world where gender equality rapidly gaining traction and widespread attraction, this term seems rather derogatory, and somewhat ironic.
You can read more about them in the following pages: Herbivorous males: Here, here, here, here; Carnivorous females: here, here; Both: here
Is this is a new trend, and is it something unique to just Japan? I'm not too sure; it seems excessively similar to an existing term in the lexicon known as "sensitive new age guy", better known as the SNAG. Perhaps the turning vegetarian is one step further in the evolution (devolution?) of the male gender species.
As for me, I still love my mix of meat and veggies, thank you very much.
This is interesting. In a way, I can understand the varied forces that may cause such a shift in values and outlook between the generations. I can also see it as a development of androgyny. And perhaps, the grass-eater boy and men-eating girls are two distinct phenomenons related but not necessarily a cause/effect of one another.
ReplyDeleteI am intrigued by the "panic" caused by the change in Japan's image of man and their masculinity - such as Japanese actor Tsuyoshi Kusanagi wearing lipstick and make-up. As the Slate article states, it can be seen as a rebellion against the earlier masculine values.
It makes me wonder, when men dismiss the traditional or conventional definition of masculinity, do they subsequently relinquish the power associated with being a men? Or, does this blatant rejection merely re-assert his role as the more powerful gender?
If rejection is equal to emasculation, then I wonder what women think about this? Why do some women, like Midori Saida in the CNN article, dislike this shift?
I see you're another nightbird like me. :)
ReplyDeleteIn any case, you brought up some good points. I'll probably have to research more into the androgynous figure thing, but I suspect it started way before the herbivore/carnivore phenomena. Case in point: X-Japan. But you're right in saying that the herbivore and carnivore phenomenon might not necessarily play off each other, though its hard to deny that it helps to create a spiral.
Interesting point: mind explaining how this allows the male to reassert his role as the more "powerful" gender, especially seeing that women are now eventually turning into the dominant force, especially when it comes to dating and relationships.
Lastly, to extrapolate your last point, given that women dislike this "new" image of men, which seems to be counter-intuitive (especially after reading all the articles about feminism and gender equality), is there perhaps some truth after all to these stereotypes?
I was drawing from Robin Lakoff where she reasons that men are allowed stronger means of expression than women. And this effectively reinforces their position of authority in the world.
ReplyDeleteIn the way, rejecting masculinity is a very strong expression and I was considering that perhaps this rebellion doesn't in fact make men appear weaker but rather stronger.
Hope that makes sense...
About the last point, I do think that stereotypes do hold some truth. The problem with stereotypes is not that they are wholly inaccurate but rather they are imprecise. They are generalizations further simplified. I agree it seems counter-intuitive...maybe the gender dynamics has been so established in society that we dislike it when there is shift in power...