Gwen Stefani's lame Japanese-girl fetish

[tzemingdynasty]

Good Salon article here by MiHi Ahn, linked of course from Angry Asian Man.

http://www.salon.com/ent/feature/2005/04/09/geisha/index.html

Stefani has taken the idea of Japanese street fashion and turned these women into modern-day geisha, contractually obligated to speak only Japanese in public, even though it's rumored they're just plain old Americans and their English is just fine. She's even named them "Love," "Angel," "Music" and "Baby" after her album and new clothing line l.a.m.b. (perhaps a mutton-themed restaurant will follow). The renaming of four adults led one poster on a message board to muse, "I didn't think it was legal to own human pets. But I guess so if you have the money for it."

[Grasshopper]

I'm OUTRAGED by this!! I'm so incredibly angry at this Orientalist fetishization of women from Nippon!! :mad:

Um, ah..........you wouldn't happen to have more photos and maybe some mpegs would ya? :tongue:

http://www.salon.com/ent/feature/2005/04/09/geisha/story.jpg

[SunWuKong]

i don't know how much into Japanese culture/pop culture Gwen Stefani is, but it seems to me more like a gimmick than a fetish.

[TB4000]

If she was a rich girl, la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la....
she'd have all the money in the world, if she was a wealthy girlllll....
That video of the song is basically one big sailor moon live action fiasco.

[BigLew]

^But damn Eve looks hot in that video.

[Irezumi Kiss]

I love Gwen six ways from Sunday, but isn't she like, eight years too late for the whole Japanese quirky-girly fashion-fetish scene thing? Or is this "neo" Japanese fetish now?

And couldn't she afford real Japanese "Harajuku" girls to pimp in the background instead of Japanese-Americans? Ah, whatever! This is probably the "springboard" career move for either Love, Angel, Music or Baby! It's a good thing she didn't acronym-name them V.E.N.I.S.O.N...

[Faithless]

Well, I know one thing -- she could try to sound it out a little fucking better -- (she says:) hair-a zjookoo.

But, yeah, the chicks putting on the coy, cutsie thing is annoying as well.

Pop music. Pop as in the sound of your brain cells "popping" while listening to it. :rolleyes:

[TB4000]

I'm OUTRAGED by this!! I'm so incredibly angry at this Orientalist fetishization of women from Nippon!! :mad:

Um, ah..........you wouldn't happen to have more photos and maybe some mpegs would ya? :tongue:

http://www.salon.com/ent/feature/2005/04/09/geisha/story.jpg
The caption for that picture should just be, "HEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHE"

[PropellerheadCP]

It's not exactly cool for the girls to agree to that contract, in the first place. I mean, they're really turning themselves into weird mascots/pets.

Perhaps it's all about perspective. They could have figured:
"We're Japanese dancers and we're always being turned into part of someone's fetish, anyway. Why not get a steady pay check, while we're at it?"

or

"What? It's just work."


I really think it's a gimmick, in the first place. Not a "fetish". Maybe some producers have that "fetish" and said that would be a good idea. Either way though, it's damn offensive.

[TyroneK(prettypretty)]

"Cause I'd have all the money in the world, if I was a wealthy girl
I'd get me four Harajuku girls to
Inspire me and they'd come to my rescue
I'd dress them wicked, I'd give them names
Love, Angel, Music, Baby"

Personally, I'd name them Precious, Fido, Spot, and Japanese Slave Muse #4.

[sinisterpanda]

Well, I know one thing -- she could try to sound it out a little fucking better -- (she says:) hair-a zjookoo.

But, yeah, the chicks putting on the coy, cutsie thing is annoying as well.

Pop music. Pop as in the sound of your brain cells "popping" while listening to it. :rolleyes:

that's funny, cuz at first i thought she said, "your hair is sugar girl."

[rotrab]

No point in getting mad at Stefani. This shit will go on for as long as Asian women allow it to.

[Grasshopper]

No point in getting mad at Stefani. This shit will go on for as long as Asian women allow it to.

It's not about "Asian" women. It's about using a particular image/type unique to JAPANESE society - the Japanese school girl look.

It is not a reference to the overall massive Asian world.

It's silly kid stuff.

P.s. I'm still waiting for any other photos, vids, etc.........I'm a big kid I guess. :biggrin:

[golden_buns]

I love Gwen six ways from Sunday, but isn't she like, eight years too late for the whole Japanese quirky-girly fashion-fetish scene thing? Or is this "neo" Japanese fetish now?


Not really, the video for "spiderweb" featured a marriage between an asian coouple, and everyone in that video was asian except for her and her band members

[deez nuts]

bwahahahahaha neon colored knee pads.

[applehead]

she's using people as accessories.

[Banana]

It's not about "Asian" women. It's about using a particular image/type unique to JAPANESE society - the Japanese school girl look.

It is not a reference to the overall massive Asian world.

It's silly kid stuff.

P.s. I'm still waiting for any other photos, vids, etc.........I'm a big kid I guess. :biggrin:

No point in getting mad at Stefani. This shit will go on for as long as Japanese women allow it to.

[SunWuKong]

no point in getting mad at Stefani? she's the one that's got the money and the influence to do this. those girls that follow her around are probably getting more exposure now than they've ever gotten, and are just trying to get somewhere in their entertainment careers. i just hope they're getting paid well.

[ahsingjai]

No point in getting mad at Stefani. This shit will go on for as long as Asian women allow it to.

lol, wut does the entire contient of asian women have to do with Japan's anime looks.

[rotrab]

It's not about "Asian" women. It's about using a particular image/type unique to JAPANESE society - the Japanese school girl look.

It is not a reference to the overall massive Asian world.

It's silly kid stuff.

P.s. I'm still waiting for any other photos, vids, etc.........I'm a big kid I guess. :biggrin:

And what kids are they trying to reach?? What kind of image is this for Japanese-American girls? Or do we once again only care how white people are affected and to hell with everyone else?

[ahsingjai]

No point in asking that, rotrab.

American society like asian women because they believe they are... ugh, you know...

It's a fetish, Asiaphiles...

[Irezumi Kiss]

I dunno if it's in being fair or for parity's sake, but contemporary Japanese society carries most of the blame for perpetuating the female infantilism obsession...

I think it was early springtime last year when some significant contemporary Japanese art show came over this way — I forget the name of the show, maybe Ism knows what I'm talking about —and the main draw was that all the artists were women and showing their supposedly feministic viewpoints. A review noted that nearly all the figurative works more or less continued the image of J-girl=cute mascot-y Hello Kitty-ish babydoll stuff and there wasn't anything "new" or groundbreaking being shown. Not that there's anything wrong with that thematically as is, but when it's ALL you ever see and ALL you ever can expect, well...Gwen's just doing what sells, I guess.

Natch, most of hipster America who's not in the deeper know will just lap it up cuz if it's Japanese, it's either gotta be really really cute or really really bizarre. I'm just tripping out cuz I thought the Japanese "boom" over here was pretty tepid these days.

[Faithless]

that's funny, cuz at first i thought she said, "your hair is sugar girl."
I think Stefani has a song dedicated to Harajuku girls -- to go along with that one song were she references them.

I think Irezumi Kiss mentioned the idea of using some real women from the Harajuku district (or whatever you call that). I didn't know there was anything particularly special about the ladies from there. It's just some fashion hot spot, right?

[Irezumi Kiss]

I think Stefani has a song dedicated to Harajuku girls -- to go along with that one song were she references them.

I think Irezumi Kiss mentioned the idea of using some real women from the Harajuku district (or whatever you call that). I didn't know there was anything particularly special about the ladies from there. It's just some fashion hot spot, right?
Yeah, basically. Every city's got one, I guess. Gwen's just latching onto a Tokyo equivalent, but in a sense, I'm reminded of the Pet Shop Boys' "West End Girls," too!

[deez nuts]

maybe gwen's harajaku hunniez can hang out with madonna's mandingo men she had running around back in her slut-whore days. it almost sounds like a black dicks in asian chicks porno in the making. i'll buy that for a dollar.

[thaite]

Except for Gwen, those chicks are hot.

[TB4000]

Except for Gwen, those chicks are hot.
You know you'd hit that.
http://www.music-atlas.com/images/gwen_stefani_1.jpg

[deez nuts]

Except for Gwen, those chicks are hot.

don't count your eggs before they hatch. you haven't seen their pearly whites yet. maybe there might actually be a reason why they're covering their mouths when they're smiling in that pic.

[Faithless]

Yeah, basically. Every city's got one, I guess. Gwen's just latching onto a Tokyo equivalent, but in a sense, I'm reminded of the Pet Shop Boys' "West End Girls," too!
How's this definition out of a recent article?

Where the catwalkgot its claws (http://www.courier-journal.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050326/FEATURES/503260338)

"Harajuku Girls," the newest single from Gwen Stefani's "Love Angel Music Baby," is a somewhat obsessive ode to Japan's cutting-edge fashion queens that has left many a fan wondering what Harajuku is and what's so special about these chicks whom fledgling fashion designer Stefani refers to throughout the album.

The Harajuku district, located in Tokyo's Shibuya City, is a surreal shopping mecca accented by dramatically costumed teens who do not take their clothing cues from the Gap. Instead, the industry looks to them. Girls dress like Hello Kitty Lolitas in clothing combos that mix such high-fashion labels as Comme des Garçons and legendary punk designer Vivienne Westwood with home-sewn pieces. Accessories include stuffed animals and funky plastic toys. Every day in Harajuku looks like Halloween. With their skyscraper platforms, metallic makeup and costumey attire, the style stars resemble animé characters, French maids and frightening cosmic goth creatures.

This unique form of Japanese street style started flourishing in the late '80s as a reaction to and rebellion against the country's conservative culture. In 1994, Japanese photographer Shoichi Aoki started FRUiTS, a magazine devoted to Japanese street style. For a crash course in Harajuku style, pick up the "FRUiTS" book, a Phaidon Press compilation of Aoki's street snaps through the years. Sayonara.

According to this article... (http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=JPost/JPArticle/ShowFull&cid=1110857196898)

...Stefani gives props to the unique trend-setting girls who hang out in the Harajuku district of Tokyo.

Is there a fear of stereotyping Japanese women or something?

The style is real (whether it's silly is another story)... (http://www.charlotte.com/mld/charlotte/living/style/11163450.htm)

...
Not that Stefani was the first celebrity to call attention to Gothic and Lolita fashion: Amy Lee, lead singer of Evanescence, wears black lace dresses favored by some GLs, and last year Courtney Love was co-writer of a Japanese-style comic book about Princess Ai, a character based loosely on Love who dresses in Gothic and Lolita style.

Neither Lee nor Love, though, has drawn the ire Stefani did. She has incorporated the style into her act, traveling with a troupe called the Harajuku Girls, named after a trendy Tokyo neighborhood where girls who wear the style gather on weekends.

Gothic and Lolita got its start in the early to mid-1990s among Japanese schoolgirls inspired by the band Malice Mizer. Mana, the band's effeminate guitarist, wore black and white ruffled dresses, elaborate bows, false eyelashes and white makeup.

The look caught on as part of Japan's "cosplay," or costume play, culture, in which young people dress up like iconic pop figures, many of them popular cartoon characters.

In 2000, publishers of the Japanese fashion magazine Kera started publishing the Gothic & Lolita Bible, which has grown to a circulation of 80,000. Part catalog, part fashion magazine, it has patterns for making costumes as well as recipes for bite-size chocolate cakes with powdered sugar crosses that Goth-Lolis, as they are known in Japan, can serve at tea parties.
...

[ahsingjai]

Amy Lee, lead singer of Evanescence

wtf? Is she asian? Or those white people with the lee last name?

[thaite]

You know you'd hit that.
http://www.music-atlas.com/images/gwen_stefani_1.jpg


I'd hit anything that moves. But I still don't think she's hot.

[moJo]

wtf? Is she asian? Or those white people with the lee last name?
she's white. as far as i know. perhaps she's part asian but i've not heard anything about that in the media.

[PropellerheadCP]

wtf? Is she asian? Or those white people with the lee last name?

Actually, "Lee" or sometimes "Lea", or "Leigh" is an English/Irish surname. It refers to the woods, or a clearing in the woods... or something like that. Look it up.

[deez nuts]

I'd hit anything that moves. But I still don't think she's hot.


small breasteses women with their aroused perky hard nipples.

/flick**flick**twist**twist**tweak**tweak**/

[Fireblade]

who here thinks this shit will die by next year? I'm hoping it does.

[DragonKnight]

who here thinks this shit will die by next year? I'm hoping it does.
*raises hand*

Oh, oh...me, me!

[Deadpool]

Her music sucks.

[applehead]

i bet her no doubt band members
are embarassed to even be associated
with her at this point.

[s1eve]

Via Angry Asian Man:

Free the Gwenihana Four!

http://gwenihana.blogspot.com/

http://www.weskim.com/gwenihana/gwenihana.jpg

[heykitten]

Mwuaha I've always thought she looks like a drag queen, now with the green overtone, a witchy drag queen. And not even bewitching at that. I assumed her latest songs were more about fashion, with the reference to Vivienne Westwood and Harajuku girls, where the girls from that area wear the lastest of whatever.

[robotic]

an article posted in this (http://www.bitchmagazine[/url) magazine:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v104/Anuma/article002.png

[rotrab]

No point in asking that, rotrab.

American society like asian women because they believe they are... ugh, you know...

It's a fetish, Asiaphiles...

Yeah, I guess.

[applehead]

did you all see the stupid ass camera
that she designed.
damn it gwen. i was a big fan of no doubt too.

now she's just becoming a parody.
and it's sad that she's taking this so seriously.

http://www.engadget.com/entry/1234000457026625

[TB4000]

Quit acting like you wouldn't rock that camera, Meena.:p

[applehead]

Quit acting like you wouldn't rock that camera, Meena.:p
HAHAHAHAHHA
well. i'm not going to get all mad
if you buy it for me.
wrap it up nicely and don't forget the card!!
kekekeke.

[Faithless]

A book review that looks at this fetish, as well, and knocks Stefani for missing the point of one her own songs -- "Just a Girl" -- by relegating the Harajuku Girls to "mute props".

Harsh! But I see your point Ms. Graham. Thank you.

Engaging 'Mystique' challenges Asian stereotypes (http://www.boston.com/ae/books/articles/2005/06/06/engaging_mystique_challenges_asian_stereotypes/)

By Renée Graham, Globe Staff | June 6, 2005

The Asian Mystique: Dragon Ladies, Geisha Girls, & Our Fantasies of the Exotic Orient * By Sheridan Prasso * Public Affairs, 437pp, $27.95

Anyone who has seen singer Gwen Stefani lately has noticed the gaggle of giggling Asian women silently shadowing her at various red carpet appearances and performances.

They're supposed to represent Harajuku girls from Tokyo's fashion-forward shopping district of the same name where they personify radical, hip insouciance. Yet Stefani, who once sang of her own frustrations at being undermined because of her gender in ''Just a Girl" and should know better, has reduced them to mute props, Oriental dolls who exist only for her own glorification.

Neither Stefani nor her Harajuku girls are mentioned in Sheridan Prasso's ''The Asian Mystique," but the undoing of such stubborn images of Asians as submissive are the foundation of this dogged book. A former senior news editor and Asia editor for Business Week, Prasso contends that Western misconceptions about Asia ''affect everything from international relations to business negotiations to cross-cultural relationships." Asian men have been branded as ''vulnerable and emasculated," when they aren't considered sneaky and inscrutable. Women, meanwhile, are either passive and sexually obtainable geishas, or cruel, domineering Dragon Ladies.

While Western culture has allowed other races to balance out similar patronization with more positive representations, Prasso argues, ''We have not yet begun such scrutiny on behalf of Asians."

After a compelling historical view, Prasso is at her most obligatory in detailing Hollywood images of Asians. She recalls the tribulations of Korean-American comedian Margaret Cho, who was told by network executives to act ''more Asian" on her short-lived sitcom ''All-American Girl," though Prasso mistakenly calls the series ''American Girl." She also cites TV's much-praised, long-running ''M*A*S*H," which, though set during the Korean War, never had a recurring Asian character until its final season.

More intriguing are Prasso's conversations with contemporary Asian women, including Mineko Iwasaki, who inspired Arthur Golden's wildly popular bestseller ''Memoirs of a Geisha." Iwasaki later sued Golden for misrepresentation, received a settlement, and also wrote a rebuttal book, ''Geisha, A Life." Occasionally, Prasso gets in the way of telling other people's stories, such as when she mentions how Iwasaki ''comments on my fine manners as a foreigner" for her proper use of chopsticks. It's presented as an example of how she won Iwasaki's trust, but plays as if Prasso is eager to prove she's not as culturally insensitive as the rest of us crass Westerners. Later, she has her photo taken while done up as a geisha ''to try to experience what a geisha must endure," but it seems less a moment of insight than a chance for Prasso to play dress up.

Fortunately, she shows more restraint in visits to Bangkok's notorious girlie bars, lambasting the Western men who frequent such places in hopes of finding sexually compliant Asian women. Certainly, Prasso could devote an entire book to damaging perceptions of Asian women, but she argues that Asian men, characterized as weak, have endured an even worse time, with more serious repercussions. Still, her arguments are sometimes shaky. While it's true, as Prasso contends, that US officials have underestimated the military might of Asian leaders and nations, it's a troubling tendency among American military leaders to underestimate every opponent -- witness the ongoing bloody insurgency in Iraq.

Still, whatever its flaws, this is a persuasive, timely book. Unwavering and pointed, Prasso makes clear the destructive nature of stereotypes about Asia and the social, cultural, and political ramifications of allowing them to fester unchallenged.

[asvenus]

thats a very interesting article...i mean it is disturbing when women start reiterating and perpetuating the same sick perverse stereotyping of fellow women that men freely display...
i am disappointed in Gwen..it is blatant racism dollied up to look like something 'cool' or unique when really what we are seeing is four asian women in their supposed role, of being submissive and in the shadows and then this blonde white woman doing all the puppetering..its quite disturbing really...what really is strange is that Gwen herself does not appear particulary tall but in her album cover she depicts herself as this giant amazon dwarfing the little Japanese women...its offensive really...

[Grasshopper]

http://us.movies1.yimg.com/movies.yahoo.com/images/hv/photo/tv_pix/grammys/grammy_award_arrivals_2005_photos/gwen_stefani/grammy05m2.jpg

Gwen Stefani with the Harajuku Girls

The 47th Annual GRAMMY Awards - Arrivals
Staples Center - Los Angeles, CA - 2/13/05

http://www.ananova.com/images/web/243385.jpg

http://news.bbc.co.uk/media/images/40812000/jpg/_40812235_gwen_ap.jpg

http://blog.drecom.jp/kkunihiko/img/346/img20041121_3.jpg

http://beautifulatrocities.com/images/gwapr5.jpg

[applehead]

A book review that looks at this fetish, as well, and knocks Stefani for missing the point of one her own songs -- "Just a Girl" -- by relegating the Harajuku Girls to "mute props".

Harsh! But I see your point Ms. Graham. Thank you.

Engaging 'Mystique' challenges Asian stereotypes (http://www.boston.com/ae/books/articles/2005/06/06/engaging_mystique_challenges_asian_stereotypes/)

By Renée Graham, Globe Staff | June 6, 2005

The Asian Mystique: Dragon Ladies, Geisha Girls, & Our Fantasies of the Exotic Orient * By Sheridan Prasso * Public Affairs, 437pp, $27.95

Anyone who has seen singer Gwen Stefani lately has noticed the gaggle of giggling Asian women silently shadowing her at various red carpet appearances and performances.

They're supposed to represent Harajuku girls from Tokyo's fashion-forward shopping district of the same name where they personify radical, hip insouciance. Yet Stefani, who once sang of her own frustrations at being undermined because of her gender in ''Just a Girl" and should know better, has reduced them to mute props, Oriental dolls who exist only for her own glorification.

Neither Stefani nor her Harajuku girls are mentioned in Sheridan Prasso's ''The Asian Mystique," but the undoing of such stubborn images of Asians as submissive are the foundation of this dogged book. A former senior news editor and Asia editor for Business Week, Prasso contends that Western misconceptions about Asia ''affect everything from international relations to business negotiations to cross-cultural relationships." Asian men have been branded as ''vulnerable and emasculated," when they aren't considered sneaky and inscrutable. Women, meanwhile, are either passive and sexually obtainable geishas, or cruel, domineering Dragon Ladies.

While Western culture has allowed other races to balance out similar patronization with more positive representations, Prasso argues, ''We have not yet begun such scrutiny on behalf of Asians."

After a compelling historical view, Prasso is at her most obligatory in detailing Hollywood images of Asians. She recalls the tribulations of Korean-American comedian Margaret Cho, who was told by network executives to act ''more Asian" on her short-lived sitcom ''All-American Girl," though Prasso mistakenly calls the series ''American Girl." She also cites TV's much-praised, long-running ''M*A*S*H," which, though set during the Korean War, never had a recurring Asian character until its final season.

More intriguing are Prasso's conversations with contemporary Asian women, including Mineko Iwasaki, who inspired Arthur Golden's wildly popular bestseller ''Memoirs of a Geisha." Iwasaki later sued Golden for misrepresentation, received a settlement, and also wrote a rebuttal book, ''Geisha, A Life." Occasionally, Prasso gets in the way of telling other people's stories, such as when she mentions how Iwasaki ''comments on my fine manners as a foreigner" for her proper use of chopsticks. It's presented as an example of how she won Iwasaki's trust, but plays as if Prasso is eager to prove she's not as culturally insensitive as the rest of us crass Westerners. Later, she has her photo taken while done up as a geisha ''to try to experience what a geisha must endure," but it seems less a moment of insight than a chance for Prasso to play dress up.

Fortunately, she shows more restraint in visits to Bangkok's notorious girlie bars, lambasting the Western men who frequent such places in hopes of finding sexually compliant Asian women. Certainly, Prasso could devote an entire book to damaging perceptions of Asian women, but she argues that Asian men, characterized as weak, have endured an even worse time, with more serious repercussions. Still, her arguments are sometimes shaky. While it's true, as Prasso contends, that US officials have underestimated the military might of Asian leaders and nations, it's a troubling tendency among American military leaders to underestimate every opponent -- witness the ongoing bloody insurgency in Iraq.

Still, whatever its flaws, this is a persuasive, timely book. Unwavering and pointed, Prasso makes clear the destructive nature of stereotypes about Asia and the social, cultural, and political ramifications of allowing them to fester unchallenged.

thanks for this article.
i recently read a review about this book
in the audrey magazine and the author
said that it was hard trying to get the book published
because publishing companies said that asian americans
aren't a big book buying group and was fearful this
book won't sell.

she asked us to prove them wrong.
=)

[TB4000]

Few times I been around that track
Cause it ain't just gonna happen like that
Cause I ain't no hollaback girl
I ain't no hollaback girl

[kimpossible]

Yesterday I saw the Hollaback Girl video and up until now I've been rather neutral about Stefani's Japanese thing. She treats the Hararuku shit like a foreigner would so I could easily ignore it.

But back to the Hollaback video. What the fuck is with the Asian cheerleaders screaming "Bananas" and having a big "Bananas" all over the outfits? I didn't give a crap about the mute dolls angle but now that they have to shout and wear outfits about bananas it's a different ball game to me.

[deez nuts]

they are proclaiming that they are twinkies?

[Banana]

I don't blame Stefani's ignorance and racist attitudes but rather choose to blame the girls themselves. Have a little self respect.

What makes matters worse is that I heard these girls are actually Asian Americans and not Asian where the excuse of being ignorant might be a little more valid.

[TB4000]

The "urban" stations are now playing Hollaback Girl. Gwen has officially crossed over.

[Arex]

^-- They've been playing that song in Los Angeles for a while on our hip hop station. Not sure why. It's not very hip-hoppish if you ask me. That song annoys the hell out of me.

RX

[kimpossible]

And you've got to be shitting me with the SUPA KAWAII. That's right. Gather the group of Asian girls together for a picture and say SUPA KAWAII. I'll be so glad when this phase is over. She can't maintain it too long since she's already in her mid 30s.

[hooligan]

Someone said that they're actually Japanese Americans. My friend who's a Cherry Blossom princess was down in SD for their Cherry Blossom thing and they said one of the Gwenihana Girls was a judge.

[Banana]

We interrupt this thread to bring everyone an important news bulletin.

I also condemn Asian and Asian American males had they chosen to play the racial minstrel like these Japanese American women did for Stefani. Justin Lin better not act the fool or he might get a "curbing" death a la American History X.

We not bring you to your thread which is already in progress.

[deez nuts]

We interrupt this thread to bring everyone an important news bulletin.

I also condemn Asian and Asian American males had they chosen to play the racial minstrel like these Japanese American women did for Stefani. Justin Lin better not act the fool or he might get a "curbing" death a la American History X.

We not bring you to your thread which is already in progress.

no, you don't.

you're sexist. lol.

[Napoleon Chynamite]

do doo doo doo do doo doo dooo~ it's ma shit, it's ma shit~~ :tongue:

[TyroneK(prettypretty)]

And you've got to be shitting me with the SUPA KAWAII. That's right. Gather the group of Asian girls together for a picture and say SUPA KAWAII. I'll be so glad when this phase is over. She can't maintain it too long since she's already in her mid 30s.

What are you talking about? Don't you say "super kawaii" before pushing the shutter button? I know I do.

They play this song on urban stations because of the Neptunes beat. It mixes in pretty well with all of the other mediocre mainstream hip-hop and R&B dominating the airwaves.

If we all listened to Smilez and SouthStar, we wouldn't have this problem, now would we?

[TB4000]

You already know this is going to be the new "grrrrrl power" song when feminist-themed events take place.

[Faithless]

bwahahahahaha neon colored knee pads.
That's it people.

Rag on her.

Then fantisize about doing her at the same time. (In that outfit, no less!) :rolleyes:

(Oh, it's just me? Sorry. :frown: )

[hooligan]

Wtf

[haplesshobo]

i love the asian girl in the video with that big fro. that's cute.

[TB4000]

I heard that u were talkin' shit
And u didn't think that I would hear it

If that's not a ghetto girl I don't know what is. Now picture that phrase being spoken fast as hell in mexican or chinese by a girl with fishnet stockings on and way too much makeup.

[hooligan]

i love the asian girl in the video with that big fro. that's cute.

Why would someone Chinese, in a thread talking about the Gwenihana Four, point out that we're talking about the Asian one?

[ahsingjai]

don't you find it ironic when her remixes are filled with male self describled pimp rappers.

[mr. x]

We interrupt this thread to bring everyone an important news bulletin.

I also condemn Asian and Asian American males had they chosen to play the racial minstrel like these Japanese American women did for Stefani. Justin Lin better not act the fool or he might get a "curbing" death a la American History X.

We not bring you to your thread which is already in progress.

It's Banana! B-a-n-a...sorry, I hate the song but listen to it from time to time for some reason. stupid stupid woman's blonde roots go way too deep

[nola]

A book review that looks at this fetish, as well, and knocks Stefani for missing the point of one her own songs -- "Just a Girl" -- by relegating the Harajuku Girls to "mute props".

Harsh! But I see your point Ms. Graham. Thank you.

Engaging 'Mystique' challenges Asian stereotypes (http://www.boston.com/ae/books/articles/2005/06/06/engaging_mystique_challenges_asian_stereotypes/)

By Renée Graham, Globe Staff | June 6, 2005

The Asian Mystique: Dragon Ladies, Geisha Girls, & Our Fantasies of the Exotic Orient * By Sheridan Prasso * Public Affairs, 437pp, $27.95

Anyone who has seen singer Gwen Stefani lately has noticed the gaggle of giggling Asian women silently shadowing her at various red carpet appearances and performances.

They're supposed to represent Harajuku girls from Tokyo's fashion-forward shopping district of the same name where they personify radical, hip insouciance. Yet Stefani, who once sang of her own frustrations at being undermined because of her gender in ''Just a Girl" and should know better, has reduced them to mute props, Oriental dolls who exist only for her own glorification.

Neither Stefani nor her Harajuku girls are mentioned in Sheridan Prasso's ''The Asian Mystique," but the undoing of such stubborn images of Asians as submissive are the foundation of this dogged book. A former senior news editor and Asia editor for Business Week, Prasso contends that Western misconceptions about Asia ''affect everything from international relations to business negotiations to cross-cultural relationships." Asian men have been branded as ''vulnerable and emasculated," when they aren't considered sneaky and inscrutable. Women, meanwhile, are either passive and sexually obtainable geishas, or cruel, domineering Dragon Ladies.

While Western culture has allowed other races to balance out similar patronization with more positive representations, Prasso argues, ''We have not yet begun such scrutiny on behalf of Asians."

After a compelling historical view, Prasso is at her most obligatory in detailing Hollywood images of Asians. She recalls the tribulations of Korean-American comedian Margaret Cho, who was told by network executives to act ''more Asian" on her short-lived sitcom ''All-American Girl," though Prasso mistakenly calls the series ''American Girl." She also cites TV's much-praised, long-running ''M*A*S*H," which, though set during the Korean War, never had a recurring Asian character until its final season.

More intriguing are Prasso's conversations with contemporary Asian women, including Mineko Iwasaki, who inspired Arthur Golden's wildly popular bestseller ''Memoirs of a Geisha." Iwasaki later sued Golden for misrepresentation, received a settlement, and also wrote a rebuttal book, ''Geisha, A Life." Occasionally, Prasso gets in the way of telling other people's stories, such as when she mentions how Iwasaki ''comments on my fine manners as a foreigner" for her proper use of chopsticks. It's presented as an example of how she won Iwasaki's trust, but plays as if Prasso is eager to prove she's not as culturally insensitive as the rest of us crass Westerners. Later, she has her photo taken while done up as a geisha ''to try to experience what a geisha must endure," but it seems less a moment of insight than a chance for Prasso to play dress up.

Fortunately, she shows more restraint in visits to Bangkok's notorious girlie bars, lambasting the Western men who frequent such places in hopes of finding sexually compliant Asian women. Certainly, Prasso could devote an entire book to damaging perceptions of Asian women, but she argues that Asian men, characterized as weak, have endured an even worse time, with more serious repercussions. Still, her arguments are sometimes shaky. While it's true, as Prasso contends, that US officials have underestimated the military might of Asian leaders and nations, it's a troubling tendency among American military leaders to underestimate every opponent -- witness the ongoing bloody insurgency in Iraq.

Still, whatever its flaws, this is a persuasive, timely book. Unwavering and pointed, Prasso makes clear the destructive nature of stereotypes about Asia and the social, cultural, and political ramifications of allowing them to fester unchallenged.More on the author from angryasianman. Some of the interview is interesting:


A Conversation with Sheridan Prasso, the author of "The Asian Mystique" - Part I

Prasso, a former news correspondent and editor in Asia, is currently travelling in our region to promote "The Asian Mystique: Dragon Ladies, Geisha Girls & Our Fantasies of the Exotic Orient". The book covers lots of stuff my sisters and friends and I discuss all the time. I got to talk to the author in a posh Tokyo restaurant.

On "Asian fetish" and fantasies of a back-scrubbing Japanese girl

As a Japanese woman who's never scrubbed anybody's back, I want to know: What's with the fascination with back scrubbing? It pops up a lot in the book.

I think it's a symbol of a fantasy of what Asian women should be - for Western men. There is the idea of grasses are always greener, you know, if you don't get what you are looking for on your own yard, you'll find it elsewhere. So the image is symbolic of a fantasy that perpetuates in the Western culture.
I don't even know if it feels that great.

I don't either. But of course it's not the only one. It's the service. It's the Singapore airlines girls with cleavage, bending down, to take your order, on their knees, in front of you. It's one of the many images of the Western male fantasies. It pops up a lot in the Western culture.

There's another saying we have: If you find some one to peel your grape, it's a dream. It doesn't apply to Asian, but with Asians, back-scrubbing, tea-serving, massaging the feet-that sort of thing.

What's the difference between "Asian fetish" and "preferences"? Why Asian fetish - guys with which chase and marry Asian women - more offensive than other types of preferences? Some gentlemen prefer blondes. Some like big breasts.

Everybody has preferences. I have my own preferences, and you have your own preferences. We like what we like, of course. The problem is when what we like comes with an expectation of behavior, and when an expectation of behavior is based on stereotypes about race. Whenever you expect some one to behave according to their race, or their cultural background, instead of as an individual, that's where the problem is, that crosses the line, and that's where I take issue. I take no issues with preferences, I have my own preferences.

I hear the phrase "Asian fetish" more and more recently.

It's being perpetuated because of the Internet. The Internet is giving it the power that it didn't have before, the power to these groups of people who foster these fantasies, foster this fetish. What happens is, that people who were in isolation before, people who were in a small town in, maybe, Ohio went to Asia by himself. And wow, he's so excited. And on the Internet, he can find many people who share that experience. And together, they have power they can't have as an individual. So the Internet is a way to build a community and giving it strength.

This will come out obnoxious, but I'll ask you anyway. Some Western women feel isolated, even neglected, while living in Asia, because Western men chase Asian girls, and Asian men are too scared of American women. Was that your experience, too, and perhaps part of the reason why you wanted to write the book, to blow the cover of the mysterious Asian women?

Not at all. Actually for me, I felt like I am the perfect person to write about this, because I have such a different experience myself. I'm 5-foot-2, I'm very small. I'm smaller than Japanese women, smaller than Japanese men, I'm not intimidating. So therefore I don't experience the same kind of thing, but I can see -- I'm a perfect observer really, because I can often experience the same kind of attention that from Asian men other American women can't.

I lived in Hong Kong for several years, and had long-term relationships with Asian men, which a 6-foot-tall American woman can't really experience. So I felt like a cultural interpreter, for both sides, I can see everything really clearly.

This is the second of a two-part interview with Prasso, the author of "The Asian Mystique: Dragon Ladies, Geisha Girls & Our Fantasies of the Exotic Orient". The first installment of the interview is below.

On "Memoirs of a Geisha" and Hollywood stereotyping of Asian women (a.k.a. an Asian/whore ratio on prime time TV)

What did the book, "Memoirs of a Geisha," do? I mean, just about every American read it.

Many, many people read it. The book reinforced the stereotypes, the number one stereotype for Japanese women, which is, an undying love for a man, this kind of perpetual devotion. When in fact, as any Japanese woman would know, it's not like that, at all.

Why was the book such a huge hit?

Because it's an American story. It's a Cinderella story. The movie, "Pretty Woman," was the same story, that a woman can be like that. It was also Pygmalion, another version of the same story. You can find the same story at many different places, just bring it to Japan, and Wow, it's so beautiful, so interesting, but, you know, so untrue.

Now, the movie version of "Memoirs of a Geisha," starring Chinese action stars, will open in December. What will that movie do?

I'm not optimistic. Steven Spielberg has been careful to say that this is not a realistic portrayal, that he's taken fictional license with the movie. However the book itself took so many fictional licensees that how can you have anything that resembles the reality? What it'll do is, it's likely to continue to exoticize Asian women in the Western culture.

From recent random TV watching, I saw on "CSI," a guy who works at a burger joint explains why he got cash from an ATM: "I sell this tight little Asian chick a $3 Tasty Meal, and she says, for $300, I can get a very tasty meal."

In another show, "Joey," the hero is an actor, who gets interviewd by People magazine. He says: "Wow, People magazine. My mom is gonna be so excited. If you just get me into Playboy with an Asian on the cover, my dad can read about me too!"

These things come up all the time. Every day in America, on TV, you can find stereotypes about Asian women. Every day.

What if Joey said, "If you get me into Playboy with a blonde on the cover..."?

It doesn't have the same power. It doesn't have the same other-ness, the same eroticism. There are much more blondes in America-people are used to it. Also, it doesn't have the same sexual connotation. There's an equation of Asian women with sexuality in the Western culture.

After awhile, you know.... at first as an American, you don't realize this. But once, as I did, you realize what's going on, you can't stop seeing it. You see it every day in America. If you said the same things about African-American, Al Sharpton would be on your doorstep with... it's completely a double standard.

You said that in your book. So, is it a litmus test? If you said the same thing about African-American....?

Yes, that's right. "Can you say that about African American" should be a litmus test. "Can you say that about Jewish people?" "Can you say that about any group..." If you can't, then don't say it.

Why is it okay to do that about Asian women on TV?

It's not okay, it's not acceptable. That's my point. I'd like to see an Al Sharpton from the Asian American community. I'd like to see that.

But number one, the Asian community is not unified. And they hold stereotypes about each other. Anybody who lives in America, anybody who's grown up in the American culture, is affected by stereotypes. Even if they are Asian Americans.

For example, when I'm traveling in Vietnam, I meet Vietnamese American men, looking for Vietnamese women, because they think Vietnamese American women are too assertive, too tough.

Another TV thing, because I run a Japanese blog about American TV, with a section called "Asian Sightings." I've been watching the first season of "Six Feet Under." So far I saw only one Asian character, and it was Sandra Oh, before her break, guest starring as a porn star.

Of course she's a porn star. But if you see "Sideways," she's the one who's most promiscuous, and the only character who's not given any resolution for her story. All the others can love again, can get married. But for her, we just let her go, we don't care about her story.

Right--she's promiscuous, and then she gets violent.

And that's all. Right. Just because she's Asian, I argue.

And she didn't even get nominated for an Oscar.

No, she didn't. There's been only one Asian woman who won an Oscar, Miyoshi Umeki. She went on to play Mrs. Livingston in "The Courtship of Eddie's Father," on which she kept saying, "Yes, Mr. Eddie's Father," and that's what she is best known for.

Here, I reprint a bit from "The Asian Mystique" about Lucy Liu in the promo posters and DVD/video covers for "Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle."

In them, Liu is dressed more provocatively than the other two (Drew Barrymore and Cameron Diaz). Shown from the front, Liu is the only one in a low-cut top. Shown from the back, she is the only one in spaghetti straps revealing a bare upper back. The other two wear high-necked, short-sleeved T-shirts.

People say Ming-Na has a great character as a doctor on "ER," which is evidence of progress of Asian actresses. But she's just one doctor on one show.

She, too, kind of plays a promiscuous dragon lady, you know. But there's no other roles for Asian actresses. Have to be seductress, promiscuous, or a dragon lady. And there hasn't been any change. You hear people say, oh, it's great, Asian women made such a progress, Lucy Liu is playing these roles. But in reality, there hasn't been any change.



Here is the author:

http://sheridanprasso.com/bio.htm

[applehead]

But back to the Hollaback video. What the fuck is with the Asian cheerleaders screaming "Bananas" and having a big "Bananas" all over the outfits? I didn't give a crap about the mute dolls angle but now that they have to shout and wear outfits about bananas it's a different ball game to me.

okay so i recently saw her doing
an interview and she kept
yelling out BANANAS
so i don't know what the hell that is.

[ahsingjai]

You gotta admit. It's a catchy song. I got myself drunk enough to sing it at karaoke. BANANANANANASSSSSSSSSSS.

[nonamerasian]

okay so i recently saw her doing
an interview and she kept
yelling out BANANAS
so i don't know what the hell that is.

It's brainwashing!

I notice more people saying "bananas" on and off tv since the song came out.

Even heard someone say "supa kawaii" once, but now I'm not sure if that is related. If people said that much before the song.

I didn't even know it was a real phrase until I just googled it. :redface:

[haplesshobo]

Well, at least, on her last video, she doesn't have those japanese girls along. I guess it would have messed up with that whole Italian vibe in the video.

After watching that video, I don't know why she dyes her hair blonde. She looks so much better as a brunette.

[deez nuts]

gwen's boobies looks bigger nowadays. i think she got implants.

b-a-n-a-n-a-s.

[Faithless]

gwen's boobies looks bigger nowadays. i think she got implants.

b-a-n-a-n-a-s.
My three year old doesn't know how to spell his name, but he sure knows how to spell bananas. :rolleyes:

Course, he also thinks shit is bananas. "Just leave it in the turlet, 'kay...!"

[Faithless]

It's Stefani's 'extraordinary world,'and we just live in it (http://www.orlandosentinel.com/entertainment/music/orl-gwen1605dec16,0,1888109.story?coll=orl-calmusictop)


John Soeder | Cleveland Plain Dealer | Posted December 16, 2005
...
She also has a song titled "Harajuku Girls," an ode to Japanese fashionistas.

On her Harajuku Lovers Tour, four female Japanese dancers share the stage with Stefani, who has come under fire on the Internet for exploiting Asian culture and perpetuating stereotypes of submissive Asian women.

"It upsets me," Stefani says of the flap. "I mean, the whole point of 'Harajuku Girls' is glorification. It's me screaming, 'This culture is incredible!' "
...

[Banana]

My bloodlust and urge to kill someone rises as soon as one of her crappy songs comes up.

[Irezumi Kiss]

My bloodlust and urge to kill someone rises as soon as one of her crappy songs comes up.
Don't speak...I know what you're saying. Don't tell me...'cuz it hurts.

[nonamerasian]

Don't speak...I know what you're saying. Don't tell me...'cuz it hurts.

I love that one.

Vexed No Doubt Gwen was awesome.

[mr. x]

Don't speak...I know what you're saying. Don't tell me...'cuz it hurts.

I cant wait for The Onion to have some article about the other bandmates finding bare-breasted African groupies "fascinating"

perhaps miss "Dont Speak" hollaback girl can have a shushing contest with David Bowie ala Family Guy

[TB4000]

Luxurious is the jam though, I don't care what you say.

Working so hard every night and day
And now we get the pay back
Trying so hard saving up the paper
Now we get to lay back

[Faithless]

Reprise.

Oh so keeeyooot, Stefani named those little Harajuku tarts.

Sassy hits such as Hollaback Girl and What You Waiting For? (http://www.smh.com.au/news/music/gwens-sweet-ride/2007/03/25/1174761263359.html) sounded unlike anything else on the radio, yet became permanent fixtures on it, redefining the pop landscape along more experimental lines than anyone had expected.

Stefani's ubiquity inevitably started to rankle with some. She was criticised for wearing fur, and the album's Harajuku-girl theme led to accusations of near-racism. The real Harajuku girls are the hip Japanese teenagers who inhabit one of Tokyo's shopping districts.

Stefani borrowed their bubblegum style and employed four Japanese dancers - whom she named Love, Angel, Music and Baby - as Harajuku girls to fawn around her on stage and in videos. One Asian-American writer suggested Stefani had "swallowed a subversive youth culture in Japan and barfed up another image of giggling, submissive Asian women".

[Player 0]

Meh, what's new, so a celebrity is using an ethnic stereotype to advance her own career, hardly news.

[sageb1]

I love Gwen six ways from Sunday, but isn't she like, eight years too late for the whole Japanese quirky-girly fashion-fetish scene thing? Or is this "neo" Japanese fetish now?

And couldn't she afford real Japanese "Harajuku" girls to pimp in the background instead of Japanese-Americans? Ah, whatever! This is probably the "springboard" career move for either Love, Angel, Music or Baby! It's a good thing she didn't acronym-name them V.E.N.I.S.O.N...

out of the 4 girls, one is japanese-america.

love, music and baby are japanese nationals who escaped oppression and are excellent hoofers like madonna used to be.

[sageb1]

I cant wait for The Onion to have some article about the other bandmates finding bare-breasted African groupies "fascinating"

perhaps miss "Dont Speak" hollaback girl can have a shushing contest with David Bowie ala Family Guy

i believe all the bare-breasted groupies in swaziland have to wear private school uniforms now.

[AsianEgg]

Even without this problem, don't you find her annoying in general?

[popculturepooka]

What's funny is, girls do the SAME EXACT THING here, in Japan, as the "Harajuku" girls.

But put them behind a white girl back in ole USA....hahahah, yes!!

I love America. :rolleyes:

[TB4000]

http://youtube.com/watch?v=K-5HhN0_75A

[mr. x]

http://youtube.com/watch?v=K-5HhN0_75A

Isn't this a tad overdue? Not that MadTV always has the pulse of the nation