I read your post on AKB 48, I can’t tell you how much I agree. They’re everywhere! and for what??? because they’re cute and that’s it?? what a terrible message to send to young Japanese girls, that all they need to be successful is to be pretty and docile and kawaii and that’s it. ugh.

manycardigans asked:

I read your post on AKB 48, I can't tell you how much I agree. They're everywhere! and for what??? because they're cute and that's it?? what a terrible message to send to young Japanese girls, that all they need to be successful is to be pretty and docile and kawaii and that's it. ugh.

It is a terrible message. And I always think, ‘apart from getting angry and arguing with Boyfriend about the vapidity of society, what can I do?’

For now, I have banned the word ‘cute’ in my classroom. So often, when I am talking to girls or when they write essays or perform English role plays, they will say they like someone / something because it’s ‘cute’. I ask them, ‘but WHY do you like it? WHY is it cute? Do you think it’s cute because it’s a nice colour or do you think that actress is cute because she has kind eyes or you like her fashion sense?’

Surely there are better or more personal word choices for liking something? Something being ‘Cute’ alone is certainly not reason enough for it to have a meaningful existence.

But what else can I do? I have tried teaching about things I know (apartheid, genocide). I have given lessons on poverty and discrimination. I have taught debate classes on the death penalty. Nothing I have done, so far, has interested any of my students to go on and start doing their own research or making opinions formatted by their personal beliefs and not dictated by society.

I think, for me, AKB is a physical manifestation of the one thing that bugs me most about living here.