Lately I was watching yet another anime (yeah, I watch way too much animes) and noticed an episode that really hit me right between the eyes regarding the issue of bullying or ijime as it is called in Japanese.
For those who are interested to watch that very interesting episode, here's the link.
So anyway, after watching that episode and together with another anime, I've suddenly become very jaded of Japanese culture which I thought was something that I could like. It seems that Japanese culture have these ideals of conformity and "staying within a group". Creativity and individualism is suppressed, conformity and mob mentality is encouraged.
Targets of ijime are basically ANYBODY who differs from the "group" as judged by the bullies of the group, and harassment can range from verbal abuse such as name calling, to mental abuse of silent treatment and alienation, to physical abuse of destroying the victim's properties (bags/shoes/table/clothes)or physical violence itself.
According to studies done, there has been an alarming number of teenage suicides over such cases of bullying in Japan. So why is it that this phenomena has been continuing? The key few plausible causes that keep popping up: the conformity ideals of Japan, resulting in indirect encouragement of the continuation of ijime by the parents and teachers; the fear of becoming the next target of ijime if one steps in to help the victim; and last but not least, a simple lack of empathy.
So, let's discuss this. Conformity ideals of Japan and how that results in the indirect encouragement of ijime.
The idea of conformity is a difficult one to explain. It is hardly that Japanese citizens are identical to each other in personality, actions and viewpoints, but they are encouraged to interact and socialize as much as possible in a group. Flying solo is seen as being something that is uncommon and plain weird, and immediate assumptions of one who flies solo and is independent is that of being an outcast, whether or not the person is actually ostracized or not.
So in cases of ijime, the targets, as per mentioned before, are different from those within the group, although the differences may be petty and subjective (such as having better grades or looks or the direct inverse, having worse looks/grades). As each and every target has their own widely varying reasons for being targeted, the adults (teachers, parents) see it as being: 1) part and parcel of growing up, an experience that everyone should grow through to make them stronger; 2) a way to make the outcast return to the group; 3) something that should be stopped. Unfortunately, the percentage of those who hold the first 2 views significantly outweigh those who hold the latter view. In fact, most parents remain complacently unaware, or unwilling to be aware, of ijime, until their own child takes a long walk off a short pier, so as to say.
Fear of becoming the next victim.
This is not an unreasonable fear, but what I really wonder is, what happens if the rest of the class gathers together and stands up against the bullies? It is quite doubtful that bullies would make up the majority of class, so then if the bullies make up the minority, I don't think they would dare to do anything against the rest of the class if the class is united in such a stand against bullying. Bullies are, quintessentially, cowards themselves, after all.
So then why does this phenomena of solidarity against bullying not occur? The reason is simple. The rest of the class too, are complacently thinking that which adults think, that ijime is a way to return the outcast to the group and that it is a natural process of growing up. And on top of that complacency, they simply do not grasp the seriousness of the pain and the suffering of the victims until they can actually experience it themselves. The mental harrassment can sometimes be more punishing than even the worse beatings, because it goes on continuously, like a torture that never ends. So even if the other students do not contribute to the actual bullying process, the fact that they do not help and avoid the victim like a leper adds on to the mental stress and pain that the bullied suffer.
Simple lack of empathy.
This reason is a follow up from the previous. Some students may not actually fear becoming the next victim, but rather, they simply don't care about the victims. To them, other people's lives are as insignificant as the passing of a mayfly, their survival or death means not an iota to them, only they themselves matter. It is not uncommon to get responses of "s/he was not close enough to me for me to bother to do anything for him/her" when interviewing classmates of those bullied.
This lack of empathy is the one that bothers me the most out of all the reasons that there could be for not helping the targets of bullying. If one fails to understand the reasons to help or fears helping, it can still be said as being reasonable within a limited range of tolerance. Misunderstandings or failure to comprehend is not something that is deliberate, fearing involvement is but an animal's instinctual method of survival. But understanding the need to help and not helping simply because of a lack of care and concern? It is the greatest de-humanization act ever.
Thursday, April 30, 2009
Wednesday, December 12, 2007
Humor or Spam? Uptight or Right?
*Note: this may make no sense at all to those who has never played an MMORPG and never visited an online forum before.
Just last night, I was playing my latest MMORPG, due to the implementation of the cash shop, the server experienced a massive overload of bugs and had to close down for maintenance. In the last 30 mins before server shutdown, a particular GM, called GLaDOS, was spamming endlessly for the WHOLE 30 mins about some "CAKE" and a whole host of other stuff that simply didn't make sense. Not to me, not to my friends who were playing together with me, nor to many other players as seen from the general chat.
Abit disturbed by this, I posted a thread in the game forums, asking if it was appropriate for a GM to be flouting their own TOS (terms of service) regarding spam. Immediately, the thread was accosted by flamers-cum-bootlickers who claimed the nonsense to be humorous and that they were quotes from another game (a game which is totally unrelated to this company hosting the MMORPG, by the way). In their posts, the flamers claim that the GMs were humans and had the right to have fun, especially since it was just before server close down. They further warp my OP, insinuating and sometimes even directly claiming that I was "whiny" and "pointlessly attacking" a GM.
Perhaps it was funny to them, although it wasn't to me, but my question holds. Spam is spam after all, so is it even appropriate for a GM to be spamming, especially on a System Broadcast channel, where it cannot be turned off in any way? So if I'm following their tissue thin arguments, I suppose it makes it alright for someone to crack racist/sexist/religionist/whatever-ist jokes, as long as X number of people finds it hilarious? They further claim that to be professional while giving System Annoucements would make the GMs sound like robots and lose their friendliness and connectivity that they have with the player base. Now THAT's odd too. Since when has professionalism been equated and used in the same breath as robotic? I've met plenty of customer service agents who let me have the chance to describe them as being both professional and friendly. Are they really so small minded such that they cannot even imagine the merger of the two, that one is either professional or friendly and not both ways? The most disappointing thing even, was that another GM also posted in this thread, and judging by his comments, he seems to think that the GLaDOS person's actions were acceptable.
I wonder, if there would come a day where people in authority would escape all judgement and punishment because of the existence of such bootlickers; and if there'd be a day where contemptible acts like spam/racism/bigotry would be excusable simply because it entertains a small group of people.
Just last night, I was playing my latest MMORPG, due to the implementation of the cash shop, the server experienced a massive overload of bugs and had to close down for maintenance. In the last 30 mins before server shutdown, a particular GM, called GLaDOS, was spamming endlessly for the WHOLE 30 mins about some "CAKE" and a whole host of other stuff that simply didn't make sense. Not to me, not to my friends who were playing together with me, nor to many other players as seen from the general chat.
Abit disturbed by this, I posted a thread in the game forums, asking if it was appropriate for a GM to be flouting their own TOS (terms of service) regarding spam. Immediately, the thread was accosted by flamers-cum-bootlickers who claimed the nonsense to be humorous and that they were quotes from another game (a game which is totally unrelated to this company hosting the MMORPG, by the way). In their posts, the flamers claim that the GMs were humans and had the right to have fun, especially since it was just before server close down. They further warp my OP, insinuating and sometimes even directly claiming that I was "whiny" and "pointlessly attacking" a GM.
Perhaps it was funny to them, although it wasn't to me, but my question holds. Spam is spam after all, so is it even appropriate for a GM to be spamming, especially on a System Broadcast channel, where it cannot be turned off in any way? So if I'm following their tissue thin arguments, I suppose it makes it alright for someone to crack racist/sexist/religionist/whatever-ist jokes, as long as X number of people finds it hilarious? They further claim that to be professional while giving System Annoucements would make the GMs sound like robots and lose their friendliness and connectivity that they have with the player base. Now THAT's odd too. Since when has professionalism been equated and used in the same breath as robotic? I've met plenty of customer service agents who let me have the chance to describe them as being both professional and friendly. Are they really so small minded such that they cannot even imagine the merger of the two, that one is either professional or friendly and not both ways? The most disappointing thing even, was that another GM also posted in this thread, and judging by his comments, he seems to think that the GLaDOS person's actions were acceptable.
I wonder, if there would come a day where people in authority would escape all judgement and punishment because of the existence of such bootlickers; and if there'd be a day where contemptible acts like spam/racism/bigotry would be excusable simply because it entertains a small group of people.
Sunday, May 20, 2007
About Annabel Chong's Craziness
Just to intro Annabel Chong to those who haven't heard of her and her antics.
Annabel Chong, real name Grace Quek, is (sad to say) a RGS and HCJC alumnus and is currently a web designer living in California. In 1995, she orchestrated a major gangbang involving herself and over 70 men, culminating in a world-record (which was broken soon after) of 251 sex acts, all done, supposedly, in the name of feminism and gender subversion (doesn't make that much sense, but whatever she says).
The rest of this post would relate mostly to her antics and her claims in an interview that she did.
Annabel Chong and her antics
An Interview with Annabel Chong, by Amy Goodman, 1999
The first and foremost thing that baffles me the most about her claims. That she can use pornography as a form of expression of feminism and gender subversion, that she's actually a feminist and not just a slut. Maybe the bit about gender subversion is possibly true, I certainly have not seen any other sensible woman (or even man) did what she did. I mean 251 sex acts in 10 hours? Did she even process that in her head of how it appears? I don't know about her, I don't know about you, but all that brings to mind for me is that of a lusty shameless woman spreading her legs for 10 hours to welcome all 70+ of those men to do as they wish with her. In a very ugly term to describe her, it's called "toilet". And apparently, she is confused about what true feminism should be about. Feminism goes beyond just challenging set notions of what a woman should do and behave. Feminism should also be about reversing such set notions by actions (which Annabel thought she grasped by indulging in pornography) of actually HELPING women who need help. Did her antics ever did any good to the women in Taliban? Did it ever make a difference to women in Afghanistan? No, it didn't. What she did made not an iota of difference to those who really mattered. All it did was create a scandal for herself and everyone else involved with her.
Her second claim offended me the most.
Annabel Chong: "All my life I've wanted to get out of Singapore and to be not a Singaporean. It's the idea of how far I can run away from home. Not home as in my parents, but home as in Singapore and all it stands for and all the things about Singapore that upset me."
She said she didn't want to be a Singaporean and all that Singapore represented. Well, a little newsflash for the self-centered lass. I, as a proud citizen of Singapore, can say without an ounce of regret that we don't want her as a Singaporean and to give us a bad reputation abroad either. It is not one's birthplace that makes one a true-blue citizen of a proud nation, but one's actions and attitude that does. She is neither part of Singapore nor representative of the community that makes Singapore Singaporean. It's true that we are conservative, but since when has conservativeness become a negative? Since when has sensibility and rationality become something undesirable?
My sympathy for her gang-rape incident is limited only to the trauma she experienced after the incident. After all, a rape is a violation of freedom of choice, which I'm sure is important to everyone, not just her. However, I have little to no sympathy at all for her for the incident itself. There's a saying that defines my stand on this clearly. You reap what you sow. Getting dead drunk and following an unknown stranger to a back-alley for consensual sex is just asking to get raped and robbed. I really wonder if all those drinking, smoking and drug use has lowered her IQ to that of a fool.
Another thing that she mentioned in her interview that convinces me of her self-centeredness and ignorance.
Annabel Chong: "There are a lot of words in English that do not have a Chinese equivalent. Like "feminism," for example. Try explaining feminism to a Chinese person from that generation. We don't have a term for it. "
Well, to burst her happy bubble of living in her own deluded universe, there is actually a term for feminism in Mandarin, just that she didn't know it, that's all. It's called 男女平等主义. Had she bothered to check a dictionary, she would know better than to put her heritage down like that. On the flip side, there are many phrases in Chinese that would never ever have a suitable English equivalent.
As an ending to her interview, she mentioned: "sometimes I get affected when I read bad reviews, where they say everything I say is bullshit and I'm completely crazy and have no self-esteem." The bad reviews are completely right, except for the part about the "no self-esteem". She has too much of it.
Well, for me, as an ending, it's good to report that she has realized the folly of her past and ended that chapter of life on Annabel Chong. At least there's hope for Grace Quek yet, though not so for Annabel Chong.
Annabel Chong, real name Grace Quek, is (sad to say) a RGS and HCJC alumnus and is currently a web designer living in California. In 1995, she orchestrated a major gangbang involving herself and over 70 men, culminating in a world-record (which was broken soon after) of 251 sex acts, all done, supposedly, in the name of feminism and gender subversion (doesn't make that much sense, but whatever she says).
The rest of this post would relate mostly to her antics and her claims in an interview that she did.
Annabel Chong and her antics
An Interview with Annabel Chong, by Amy Goodman, 1999
The first and foremost thing that baffles me the most about her claims. That she can use pornography as a form of expression of feminism and gender subversion, that she's actually a feminist and not just a slut. Maybe the bit about gender subversion is possibly true, I certainly have not seen any other sensible woman (or even man) did what she did. I mean 251 sex acts in 10 hours? Did she even process that in her head of how it appears? I don't know about her, I don't know about you, but all that brings to mind for me is that of a lusty shameless woman spreading her legs for 10 hours to welcome all 70+ of those men to do as they wish with her. In a very ugly term to describe her, it's called "toilet". And apparently, she is confused about what true feminism should be about. Feminism goes beyond just challenging set notions of what a woman should do and behave. Feminism should also be about reversing such set notions by actions (which Annabel thought she grasped by indulging in pornography) of actually HELPING women who need help. Did her antics ever did any good to the women in Taliban? Did it ever make a difference to women in Afghanistan? No, it didn't. What she did made not an iota of difference to those who really mattered. All it did was create a scandal for herself and everyone else involved with her.
Her second claim offended me the most.
Annabel Chong: "All my life I've wanted to get out of Singapore and to be not a Singaporean. It's the idea of how far I can run away from home. Not home as in my parents, but home as in Singapore and all it stands for and all the things about Singapore that upset me."
She said she didn't want to be a Singaporean and all that Singapore represented. Well, a little newsflash for the self-centered lass. I, as a proud citizen of Singapore, can say without an ounce of regret that we don't want her as a Singaporean and to give us a bad reputation abroad either. It is not one's birthplace that makes one a true-blue citizen of a proud nation, but one's actions and attitude that does. She is neither part of Singapore nor representative of the community that makes Singapore Singaporean. It's true that we are conservative, but since when has conservativeness become a negative? Since when has sensibility and rationality become something undesirable?
My sympathy for her gang-rape incident is limited only to the trauma she experienced after the incident. After all, a rape is a violation of freedom of choice, which I'm sure is important to everyone, not just her. However, I have little to no sympathy at all for her for the incident itself. There's a saying that defines my stand on this clearly. You reap what you sow. Getting dead drunk and following an unknown stranger to a back-alley for consensual sex is just asking to get raped and robbed. I really wonder if all those drinking, smoking and drug use has lowered her IQ to that of a fool.
Another thing that she mentioned in her interview that convinces me of her self-centeredness and ignorance.
Annabel Chong: "There are a lot of words in English that do not have a Chinese equivalent. Like "feminism," for example. Try explaining feminism to a Chinese person from that generation. We don't have a term for it. "
Well, to burst her happy bubble of living in her own deluded universe, there is actually a term for feminism in Mandarin, just that she didn't know it, that's all. It's called 男女平等主义. Had she bothered to check a dictionary, she would know better than to put her heritage down like that. On the flip side, there are many phrases in Chinese that would never ever have a suitable English equivalent.
As an ending to her interview, she mentioned: "sometimes I get affected when I read bad reviews, where they say everything I say is bullshit and I'm completely crazy and have no self-esteem." The bad reviews are completely right, except for the part about the "no self-esteem". She has too much of it.
Well, for me, as an ending, it's good to report that she has realized the folly of her past and ended that chapter of life on Annabel Chong. At least there's hope for Grace Quek yet, though not so for Annabel Chong.
Friday, May 18, 2007
Rising Cases of Teen Delinquency: The Cause
Singapore is facing a worrying rise in cases of teen delinquency cases; teenage pregnancies, underage smoking, drinking, "happy slapping", bullying etc. I've never been able to figure the cause of this rise, but most unfortunately, today I have.
My HDB block's void deck is the common meeting locale for young secondary school children of the neighborhood to gather for all sorts of activities, usually smoking, gambling and drinking. Today, I decided that something needs to be done about these children, so I called the corresponding school up to inform them of the situation. To my shock and consternation, the first response I received from the person on the line, presumably a discipline master, was to call the police. Maybe I was brought up sheltered or something, but I doubt that, since I came from a neighborhood primary school as well, and we had such incidents in our school back then as well. I was taught that the school is supposed to be your second home and your educators halfway your parents. Would a parent ask a bystander to call the police immediately upon their wayward children without prior warning or counselling? I don't know. In my state of shock, I asked if it wasn't a situation that the school should be handling first and foremost, but a bigger shock awaited. The response? "It's (the void deck that the children were gathering at) is too far away. Call the police." I know my neighborhood well enough to say that this void deck is not 15 minutes away on foot from the school and less than 5 minutes by car or bus.
Absolute shock and disappointment at the callousness of the educator's ethics and attitude towards student guidance. If all educators were like him, there's hardly any surprise that our children's morals and behavior are on a fast forward track in its decline.
Just as a follow-up to this. The children are still are the void deck, happily gambling and smoking away.
My HDB block's void deck is the common meeting locale for young secondary school children of the neighborhood to gather for all sorts of activities, usually smoking, gambling and drinking. Today, I decided that something needs to be done about these children, so I called the corresponding school up to inform them of the situation. To my shock and consternation, the first response I received from the person on the line, presumably a discipline master, was to call the police. Maybe I was brought up sheltered or something, but I doubt that, since I came from a neighborhood primary school as well, and we had such incidents in our school back then as well. I was taught that the school is supposed to be your second home and your educators halfway your parents. Would a parent ask a bystander to call the police immediately upon their wayward children without prior warning or counselling? I don't know. In my state of shock, I asked if it wasn't a situation that the school should be handling first and foremost, but a bigger shock awaited. The response? "It's (the void deck that the children were gathering at) is too far away. Call the police." I know my neighborhood well enough to say that this void deck is not 15 minutes away on foot from the school and less than 5 minutes by car or bus.
Absolute shock and disappointment at the callousness of the educator's ethics and attitude towards student guidance. If all educators were like him, there's hardly any surprise that our children's morals and behavior are on a fast forward track in its decline.
Just as a follow-up to this. The children are still are the void deck, happily gambling and smoking away.
Sunday, April 29, 2007
The thing about humans...
Humans are fallible and imperfect, that's the way we (yes, I'm human too, though some people obviously don't believe I am so, judging by the way they treat me) are and would most probably always be. Authors of science fiction can fantasize all they want about a perfect race in the future, but the truth is, it's impossible. Even the technology we create are often full of glitches, simply because the creators are so too.
The thing about humans that makes us so imperfect can be summarized simply into human behavior and beliefs (beliefs not in the form of religion, but principles that govern our behavior). What we tell others, what we tell ourselves, what we truly believe and what we actually do are often not congruous. This, I believe, is the key point of what makes us, for the lack of a better word, human.
Take for example a recent experience I had. Not to go into all the sordid details of what happened, I had a major disagreement with a group project mate over what constitutes good project mate behavior. Her argument, in my interpretation of all its condemnations, was that I should act friendly and interact them with more, that I was being too obvious with my dislike of them. However, I do not agree with her, because I do not condone hypocrisy in myself, and likewise, others. While I may not like them very much, I was civil and polite, and as accomodating as I possibly could be in the face of their failings. No, I'm not trying to sound like a saint, because I freely admit to my own failings as well. I'm not tolerant enough of them and my standard of expectations for them (and myself) is often too high. As my peers and doctor later advised me, it is best not to expect so much out of others and myself. But I digress. The whole point of the argument and what it brings to mind about the issue I'm discussing is that; while the project mate insisted that it would be better a project mate and social behavior to be a hypocrite (that's literally her words), she was being sarcastic because she doesn't believe her actions to be hypocritical. (Pretense to like and act all smarmy with people you actually don't like isn't hypocrisy[1]? Then I don't know of a better word to call it.)
The thing about her, using the list of my key point, is that: she tells others to be hypocritical because she thinks it is productive in social relations and she tells herself that it isn't hypocritical behavior probably because she doesn't understand the meaning of hypocrisy. She "probably" knows deep inside herself she was being a hypocrite, just that she refuses to admit it consciously and the melding of all these resulted in her actions towards me and others (she said the other girl in the group was the prettiest girl she has ever seen, but to be fair, the other girl was only average in looks and she is, in my opinion, prettier than the other girl).
That was just one example. Personally, I always tell myself and others that I try to live by a code of conduct that is both fair to others and myself, however, thinking about it, what I probably truly believe in is that there's no true fairness and equality in this world and I still judge others unfairly even as I remind myself to be fair to others.
Still, even if that I claim what we think and do is different, we should still try as much as possible to consciously congrue them. If we fail to even live by the basic morals and principles that we set for ourselves, humans can only degrade further in our imperfection and be that much further in our quest for perfection. Sounds dramatic? Hardly.
Endnote:
[1] Definition of hypocrisy from Dictionary.com:
· a pretense of having some desirable or publicly approved attitude.
· The practice of professing beliefs, feelings, or virtues that one does not hold or possess; falseness.
The thing about humans that makes us so imperfect can be summarized simply into human behavior and beliefs (beliefs not in the form of religion, but principles that govern our behavior). What we tell others, what we tell ourselves, what we truly believe and what we actually do are often not congruous. This, I believe, is the key point of what makes us, for the lack of a better word, human.
Take for example a recent experience I had. Not to go into all the sordid details of what happened, I had a major disagreement with a group project mate over what constitutes good project mate behavior. Her argument, in my interpretation of all its condemnations, was that I should act friendly and interact them with more, that I was being too obvious with my dislike of them. However, I do not agree with her, because I do not condone hypocrisy in myself, and likewise, others. While I may not like them very much, I was civil and polite, and as accomodating as I possibly could be in the face of their failings. No, I'm not trying to sound like a saint, because I freely admit to my own failings as well. I'm not tolerant enough of them and my standard of expectations for them (and myself) is often too high. As my peers and doctor later advised me, it is best not to expect so much out of others and myself. But I digress. The whole point of the argument and what it brings to mind about the issue I'm discussing is that; while the project mate insisted that it would be better a project mate and social behavior to be a hypocrite (that's literally her words), she was being sarcastic because she doesn't believe her actions to be hypocritical. (Pretense to like and act all smarmy with people you actually don't like isn't hypocrisy[1]? Then I don't know of a better word to call it.)
The thing about her, using the list of my key point, is that: she tells others to be hypocritical because she thinks it is productive in social relations and she tells herself that it isn't hypocritical behavior probably because she doesn't understand the meaning of hypocrisy. She "probably" knows deep inside herself she was being a hypocrite, just that she refuses to admit it consciously and the melding of all these resulted in her actions towards me and others (she said the other girl in the group was the prettiest girl she has ever seen, but to be fair, the other girl was only average in looks and she is, in my opinion, prettier than the other girl).
That was just one example. Personally, I always tell myself and others that I try to live by a code of conduct that is both fair to others and myself, however, thinking about it, what I probably truly believe in is that there's no true fairness and equality in this world and I still judge others unfairly even as I remind myself to be fair to others.
Still, even if that I claim what we think and do is different, we should still try as much as possible to consciously congrue them. If we fail to even live by the basic morals and principles that we set for ourselves, humans can only degrade further in our imperfection and be that much further in our quest for perfection. Sounds dramatic? Hardly.
Endnote:
[1] Definition of hypocrisy from Dictionary.com:
· a pretense of having some desirable or publicly approved attitude.
· The practice of professing beliefs, feelings, or virtues that one does not hold or possess; falseness.
Saturday, April 28, 2007
Female Empowerment in a Tokyo Host Club?
Introduction
The turn of century brought about an economic shift, followed by an ideological shift, leading to the prevalence of the host clubs subculture nowadays in Japan. Host clubs were virtually unheard of until the recent years, where media attention paved the way for the swiftly gaining popularity subculture. There are an estimated 200 host clubs in the Kabuki-chō district in Tokyo alone (Takeyama, 2005), and there are other, similar, flourishing grounds in Osaka and Nagoya.
In Japan, hierarchy is still an integral part of the people’s lives, and this contributes to the importance of appearance of social status to the Japanese. Hence, their consumer culture is targeted at the extremes of brand names: the expensive and the exclusive (Ardnt, 2003; Bardsley and Hirakawa, 2005) and this culture is largely supported by women who have large disposable incomes (Friedman, 1992). Therefore, it is hardly any wonder that the host clubs are flourishing despite the current decline of the Japanese economy, and as Takeyama says, host clubs are an “example of Japan’s fad-driven consumer culture”.
These host clubs train hundreds of applicants[1] before finally selecting a rare outstanding few to become actual hosts of their clubs. The hosts are trained in the art of seduction and about the female psyche (Takeyama, 2006), which enables them to eventually gain control from their clients and manipulate them.
Outward Signs of Female Empowerment
A single client can be attended by up to six or seven hosts in a single night, namely her chosen favorite host and a group of “helper” hosts, unless she is a newcomer[2]. The service of a single woman by several handsome men who compliments and fawns over her every move and gesture can be described as a parallel to a harem. Like the practice in any harem, the one in position of power, in this case, the female client; chooses her companions out of a whole selection of candidates and any of the chosen may lose his favored status at anytime. As it is usually men who have harems, this practice is a clear sign of position of power for the female client. In addition, it is usually men who approach women to initiate dating, but this is reversed in the clubs, as the clients approach their hosts and request for dates outside of club hours. As such, women transgress traditionally accepted social norms of gender behavior, blatantly challenging it, and empowering themselves.
These host clubs offer customized services[3], tailored perfectly to suit the individual needs of each and every client. The hosts also pay special attention to their clients’ physical appearances and offer up compliments, boosting the self-confidence of their customers, especially the married ones, whose husbands seldom notice any outward changes in them. In a male-dominated society like Japan, where women are often designated background roles and are overlooked by their male counterparts (Iwao, 1992), this could be said as an empowerment for the Japanese women, as the hosts make conscious efforts to take notice of them and put them in a position of priority and status, something she could never get outside of the clubs.
The clients, like any other customer, reserve the right to end their patronage of the clubs if so displeased. Some women, attending such clubs for thrills and adventure, find it lacking and never returned to the clubs again, despite the glitter and frills of the lurescast by the hosts[4]. It is a significant exercise of freedom of choice by the women and is unfettered by the confines of gender norms.
The lavish spending women indulge in at the clubs clearly reflects their status in Japan as major players in terms of consumer culture (Cullen, 2002; Takeyama, 2005; Wright). As Friedman suggested, many Japanese women view marriage as an inevitable hurdle they must go through in life, marking the end of their independence and freedom, so they tend to enjoy it the best they can through shopping, traveling and other forms of entertainment. In this way, it is also possible that the women are making use of the hosts as a form of fantasy escapade, where they can make their lives more endurable and woman-friendly. Furthermore, this could also present an opportunity for women to thumb their noses at the “geisha club” (Takeyama, 2005) and mizu shōbai catering to men.
Analysis of the Empowerment: Fact or Facade?
Yet, despite all the outward signs of female dominance and empowerment in this game of “commodified romance” (Takeyama, 2005), females rarely come out the winner. Often, they suffer financially and emotionally, sometimes even morally. Analysts of this subculture have all converged on one idea: women are not seeking sex, but romance when going to the host clubs. While it is possible for men to seek sexual gratification without love, the reverse is seldom true for women (Takeyama, 2005).
The art of seduction that the hosts learn allows them to slowly subvert the power from the female client to themselves, as they initially act subservient and do everything they can to secure the affections of that client. The host manipulates his clients’ emotions to the extent where they would provide whatever the host demands of them. Many of such women claim to lavish gifts and spend freely at the clubs out of their own free will, however, the truth is, there is no real freedom of choice, for their emotions are being manipulated by the host (Takeyama, 2006). These women are captives and victims of their own feelings, ingeniously exploited by the host.
Some of these women state their reasons for their monetary contribution to their hosts[5] as being a form of expression of her own success. Japanese women are generally unable to “express [their] value as a woman, or professionally” (Takeyama, 2005; Iwao, 1992), and for these host clubs regulars, they seek an alternative way of expressing their self worth, for their men’s success seems to imply their own success. This clearly shows a deep-rooted gender ideology within the Japanese woman’s psyche that they are unable to reject; and to them, only men’s successes matter, and women’s success can only be measured by the success of the men they support, instead of through their own work.
There is probably a subconscious desire in these frequenters of the host clubs to relinquish control over to men, namely the hosts. A veteran host, Nishimura, frequently receives dozens of mobile phone messages daily from his regulars[6], asking him for advice with regards to their own lives. This communicates their clear desire to him for him to assume control, whether they realize it or not. As such, the presence of host clubs is clearly not an empowerment, paradoxically; it is an enforcement of gender roles within Japan. Women who frequent host clubs are usually the ones whom are neglected by their husbands, whom are so indifferent to them to the point that these women feel they are not being controlled enough and need to seek out alternative sources of control over themselves.
The clubs often use a relatively low first-time fee to lure in newcomers (Cullen, 2002) and from there, seduce her to continuously return, with increasing tabs[7] for the subsequent visits, and many women eventually find themselves in severe debt from frequenting the host clubs. There are many cases in which the host club regulars turn to plying the sex industry in order to pay off the debts and continue supporting their favored hosts, whom they believe to be their “boyfriends” (Takeyama, 2005; Cullen, 2002; McCurry, 2004). These women often end up having the hosts dump them as soon they become impoverished[8] and are unable to pay for the company of the hosts anymore. Such a display of blatant emotional abuse by the hosts of the women shows that men are the truly empowered ones in the arrangement.
The existence of host clubs in patriarchal Japan could, on the surface, signify a step forward for women in the power scale between men and women. Superficially, it seems that women weld ultimate power in the economics of existence of the host clubs; however, further analysis of this host club phenomenon strips away the thin layer of facade to reveal a paradoxical truth. When the women are using money to ensure romantic and dedicated services from the male hosts, they seem to desire female empowerment; but in actuality, they subconsciously deviate towards surrendering to traditional gender norms and enforcing its existence within the Japanese society. The empowerment is, thus, but a beautiful illusion and fantasy, much like the host clubs themselves.
Footnotes:
[1] The potential hosts undergo rigorous courses of how to bow, serve, dress and conduct themselves, in order to provide highly individualized and attentive care to their female clients.
[2] Newcomers are greeted by the entire staff, from which she chooses her desired companions for the night.
[3] Customized services include linen napkins to place over the laps of clients who wear short skirts to ensure her modesty, and waiting for them outside the ladies’ room with a hot hand towel (Takeyama, 2005). While all these could be read as general signs of chivalry in Western culture, the idea of subservient males attending to females is virtually unheard of in a male-dominated society like Japan. And this is precisely the marketing point of the host clubs, where they play on the chivalrous, gentlemanly characteristics absent from the general male populace in Japan, and the clients willingly pay the price for such services (Cullen, 2002). Such services could never thrive in a Western culture, for chivalry is taught as a virtue and provided freely.
[4] Ryu, a veteran host, admitted, “Hosts can only seduce women who are willingly seduced, for whatever reason. Women who are not interested in [romance] are not seduced no matter what we do” (Takeyama, 2006), indicating that the women are in control as long as they do not fall for the lure cast by the hosts.
[5] Hosts are socially ranked in the clubs at which they work by their income from their clientele. The more his clients pay per visit, the higher his ranking in the club as a top veteran host.
[6] The messages range from “declarations of love to a request for advice over a possible job change”.
[7] The companionship and food do not come cheap, and the client is required to pay for the time of the hosts accompanying her, as well as all the food and beverages they consume at that table, even if she does not consume anything herself and it is possible for bills in a single night to run upscale in the thousands.
[8] Nakamura Usagi, a writer, is reputed to have spent close to 15 million yen at such clubs when she fell in love with one of the hosts(Kadri, 2003 , Takeyama, 2005; Bardsley and Hirakawa, 2005). She claims to have been disillusioned by the whole experience and is now married to a gay whom she met in a gay bar (Bardsley and Hirakawa, 2005).
The turn of century brought about an economic shift, followed by an ideological shift, leading to the prevalence of the host clubs subculture nowadays in Japan. Host clubs were virtually unheard of until the recent years, where media attention paved the way for the swiftly gaining popularity subculture. There are an estimated 200 host clubs in the Kabuki-chō district in Tokyo alone (Takeyama, 2005), and there are other, similar, flourishing grounds in Osaka and Nagoya.
In Japan, hierarchy is still an integral part of the people’s lives, and this contributes to the importance of appearance of social status to the Japanese. Hence, their consumer culture is targeted at the extremes of brand names: the expensive and the exclusive (Ardnt, 2003; Bardsley and Hirakawa, 2005) and this culture is largely supported by women who have large disposable incomes (Friedman, 1992). Therefore, it is hardly any wonder that the host clubs are flourishing despite the current decline of the Japanese economy, and as Takeyama says, host clubs are an “example of Japan’s fad-driven consumer culture”.
These host clubs train hundreds of applicants[1] before finally selecting a rare outstanding few to become actual hosts of their clubs. The hosts are trained in the art of seduction and about the female psyche (Takeyama, 2006), which enables them to eventually gain control from their clients and manipulate them.
Outward Signs of Female Empowerment
A single client can be attended by up to six or seven hosts in a single night, namely her chosen favorite host and a group of “helper” hosts, unless she is a newcomer[2]. The service of a single woman by several handsome men who compliments and fawns over her every move and gesture can be described as a parallel to a harem. Like the practice in any harem, the one in position of power, in this case, the female client; chooses her companions out of a whole selection of candidates and any of the chosen may lose his favored status at anytime. As it is usually men who have harems, this practice is a clear sign of position of power for the female client. In addition, it is usually men who approach women to initiate dating, but this is reversed in the clubs, as the clients approach their hosts and request for dates outside of club hours. As such, women transgress traditionally accepted social norms of gender behavior, blatantly challenging it, and empowering themselves.
These host clubs offer customized services[3], tailored perfectly to suit the individual needs of each and every client. The hosts also pay special attention to their clients’ physical appearances and offer up compliments, boosting the self-confidence of their customers, especially the married ones, whose husbands seldom notice any outward changes in them. In a male-dominated society like Japan, where women are often designated background roles and are overlooked by their male counterparts (Iwao, 1992), this could be said as an empowerment for the Japanese women, as the hosts make conscious efforts to take notice of them and put them in a position of priority and status, something she could never get outside of the clubs.
The clients, like any other customer, reserve the right to end their patronage of the clubs if so displeased. Some women, attending such clubs for thrills and adventure, find it lacking and never returned to the clubs again, despite the glitter and frills of the lurescast by the hosts[4]. It is a significant exercise of freedom of choice by the women and is unfettered by the confines of gender norms.
The lavish spending women indulge in at the clubs clearly reflects their status in Japan as major players in terms of consumer culture (Cullen, 2002; Takeyama, 2005; Wright). As Friedman suggested, many Japanese women view marriage as an inevitable hurdle they must go through in life, marking the end of their independence and freedom, so they tend to enjoy it the best they can through shopping, traveling and other forms of entertainment. In this way, it is also possible that the women are making use of the hosts as a form of fantasy escapade, where they can make their lives more endurable and woman-friendly. Furthermore, this could also present an opportunity for women to thumb their noses at the “geisha club” (Takeyama, 2005) and mizu shōbai catering to men.
Analysis of the Empowerment: Fact or Facade?
Yet, despite all the outward signs of female dominance and empowerment in this game of “commodified romance” (Takeyama, 2005), females rarely come out the winner. Often, they suffer financially and emotionally, sometimes even morally. Analysts of this subculture have all converged on one idea: women are not seeking sex, but romance when going to the host clubs. While it is possible for men to seek sexual gratification without love, the reverse is seldom true for women (Takeyama, 2005).
The art of seduction that the hosts learn allows them to slowly subvert the power from the female client to themselves, as they initially act subservient and do everything they can to secure the affections of that client. The host manipulates his clients’ emotions to the extent where they would provide whatever the host demands of them. Many of such women claim to lavish gifts and spend freely at the clubs out of their own free will, however, the truth is, there is no real freedom of choice, for their emotions are being manipulated by the host (Takeyama, 2006). These women are captives and victims of their own feelings, ingeniously exploited by the host.
Some of these women state their reasons for their monetary contribution to their hosts[5] as being a form of expression of her own success. Japanese women are generally unable to “express [their] value as a woman, or professionally” (Takeyama, 2005; Iwao, 1992), and for these host clubs regulars, they seek an alternative way of expressing their self worth, for their men’s success seems to imply their own success. This clearly shows a deep-rooted gender ideology within the Japanese woman’s psyche that they are unable to reject; and to them, only men’s successes matter, and women’s success can only be measured by the success of the men they support, instead of through their own work.
There is probably a subconscious desire in these frequenters of the host clubs to relinquish control over to men, namely the hosts. A veteran host, Nishimura, frequently receives dozens of mobile phone messages daily from his regulars[6], asking him for advice with regards to their own lives. This communicates their clear desire to him for him to assume control, whether they realize it or not. As such, the presence of host clubs is clearly not an empowerment, paradoxically; it is an enforcement of gender roles within Japan. Women who frequent host clubs are usually the ones whom are neglected by their husbands, whom are so indifferent to them to the point that these women feel they are not being controlled enough and need to seek out alternative sources of control over themselves.
The clubs often use a relatively low first-time fee to lure in newcomers (Cullen, 2002) and from there, seduce her to continuously return, with increasing tabs[7] for the subsequent visits, and many women eventually find themselves in severe debt from frequenting the host clubs. There are many cases in which the host club regulars turn to plying the sex industry in order to pay off the debts and continue supporting their favored hosts, whom they believe to be their “boyfriends” (Takeyama, 2005; Cullen, 2002; McCurry, 2004). These women often end up having the hosts dump them as soon they become impoverished[8] and are unable to pay for the company of the hosts anymore. Such a display of blatant emotional abuse by the hosts of the women shows that men are the truly empowered ones in the arrangement.
The existence of host clubs in patriarchal Japan could, on the surface, signify a step forward for women in the power scale between men and women. Superficially, it seems that women weld ultimate power in the economics of existence of the host clubs; however, further analysis of this host club phenomenon strips away the thin layer of facade to reveal a paradoxical truth. When the women are using money to ensure romantic and dedicated services from the male hosts, they seem to desire female empowerment; but in actuality, they subconsciously deviate towards surrendering to traditional gender norms and enforcing its existence within the Japanese society. The empowerment is, thus, but a beautiful illusion and fantasy, much like the host clubs themselves.
Footnotes:
[1] The potential hosts undergo rigorous courses of how to bow, serve, dress and conduct themselves, in order to provide highly individualized and attentive care to their female clients.
[2] Newcomers are greeted by the entire staff, from which she chooses her desired companions for the night.
[3] Customized services include linen napkins to place over the laps of clients who wear short skirts to ensure her modesty, and waiting for them outside the ladies’ room with a hot hand towel (Takeyama, 2005). While all these could be read as general signs of chivalry in Western culture, the idea of subservient males attending to females is virtually unheard of in a male-dominated society like Japan. And this is precisely the marketing point of the host clubs, where they play on the chivalrous, gentlemanly characteristics absent from the general male populace in Japan, and the clients willingly pay the price for such services (Cullen, 2002). Such services could never thrive in a Western culture, for chivalry is taught as a virtue and provided freely.
[4] Ryu, a veteran host, admitted, “Hosts can only seduce women who are willingly seduced, for whatever reason. Women who are not interested in [romance] are not seduced no matter what we do” (Takeyama, 2006), indicating that the women are in control as long as they do not fall for the lure cast by the hosts.
[5] Hosts are socially ranked in the clubs at which they work by their income from their clientele. The more his clients pay per visit, the higher his ranking in the club as a top veteran host.
[6] The messages range from “declarations of love to a request for advice over a possible job change”.
[7] The companionship and food do not come cheap, and the client is required to pay for the time of the hosts accompanying her, as well as all the food and beverages they consume at that table, even if she does not consume anything herself and it is possible for bills in a single night to run upscale in the thousands.
[8] Nakamura Usagi, a writer, is reputed to have spent close to 15 million yen at such clubs when she fell in love with one of the hosts(Kadri, 2003 , Takeyama, 2005; Bardsley and Hirakawa, 2005). She claims to have been disillusioned by the whole experience and is now married to a gay whom she met in a gay bar (Bardsley and Hirakawa, 2005).
The future of robots and humans
Technology is advancing at such a fast pace that it probably won't be long before the techno-giant, Japan, perfects and produces a perfect replica of a human in synthetics, i.e. a robot. Yet, like cloning, the issue of producing a totally human-like robot has been a source of much discourse since the dawn of the millenia, with many films such as Terminator, IRobot, A.I. and much much more, shedding light on an unspoken fear of a future with robots deeply intertwined in the lives of humans. Much of the discourse centres around the intelligence of the robots, their capabilities, the autonomy of will , and their emotions.
Recently, I bought and watched a Japanese anime, Chobits, which features exactly all these fears and discourse. In the anime, a boy moves from his rural home to Tokyo to enter preparatory school. The story is set in a parallel time to existing modernity, with all artifacts and characteristics of life similar to now, except that computers are in humanoid forms instead of the current boxy shape. He, being too poor to afford the price tag on the persocoms (which refers to the humanoid robots/computers), finds one in a trash area. He starts her up and eventually, through many experiences and much time, falls in love with her. Ordinarily, persocoms are devoid of emotions and free will, much like the standard PC that we have now, but the persocom that the protagonist picks up is special, capable of exercising free will and experiencing emotions like happiness, pain and love. The persocom, named Chi, falls in love with her owner too, even before he was able to come to terms with his own feelings with a persocom.
There are several key points to note about this anime. The anime theme of romance between a robot and human transcends and challenges existing notions that it is impossible to have a future with robots and it brings to mind questions about the value of programming robots to have emotions, if it were possible to do so. Further, the author deliberately names the humanoid computers as persocoms, which could mean "personal computer" or "person computer", depending on how you interpret it. Are persocoms, or robots in general, just so simply a computer, or is there more to it? Throughout the story, the author often has the characters (and the audience) question the value of persocom-human relationships, often sidelining them in comparison with human-human relationships. Eventually, my interpretation of what the author ultimately wants to say is this: it doesn't matter who or what your beloved is, it doesn't matter what s/he can or cannot do; because, ideally, love is unconditional.
Even though the ultimate subtext the author wishes to bring forth is that of romantic idealism, the anime still uncovers and unravels much of the discourse about robot-human relationships, putting it, instead, in a positive light that sets it apart from the existing literature and cultural media on it.
Should we arrest the intelligence and autonomy of will of robots to prevent them from taking over the world? Should we spare them from the weakness and vulnerabilities of experiencing human emotions? Are robots better than humans or vice versa? You decide after watching Chobits.
Recently, I bought and watched a Japanese anime, Chobits, which features exactly all these fears and discourse. In the anime, a boy moves from his rural home to Tokyo to enter preparatory school. The story is set in a parallel time to existing modernity, with all artifacts and characteristics of life similar to now, except that computers are in humanoid forms instead of the current boxy shape. He, being too poor to afford the price tag on the persocoms (which refers to the humanoid robots/computers), finds one in a trash area. He starts her up and eventually, through many experiences and much time, falls in love with her. Ordinarily, persocoms are devoid of emotions and free will, much like the standard PC that we have now, but the persocom that the protagonist picks up is special, capable of exercising free will and experiencing emotions like happiness, pain and love. The persocom, named Chi, falls in love with her owner too, even before he was able to come to terms with his own feelings with a persocom.
There are several key points to note about this anime. The anime theme of romance between a robot and human transcends and challenges existing notions that it is impossible to have a future with robots and it brings to mind questions about the value of programming robots to have emotions, if it were possible to do so. Further, the author deliberately names the humanoid computers as persocoms, which could mean "personal computer" or "person computer", depending on how you interpret it. Are persocoms, or robots in general, just so simply a computer, or is there more to it? Throughout the story, the author often has the characters (and the audience) question the value of persocom-human relationships, often sidelining them in comparison with human-human relationships. Eventually, my interpretation of what the author ultimately wants to say is this: it doesn't matter who or what your beloved is, it doesn't matter what s/he can or cannot do; because, ideally, love is unconditional.
Even though the ultimate subtext the author wishes to bring forth is that of romantic idealism, the anime still uncovers and unravels much of the discourse about robot-human relationships, putting it, instead, in a positive light that sets it apart from the existing literature and cultural media on it.
Should we arrest the intelligence and autonomy of will of robots to prevent them from taking over the world? Should we spare them from the weakness and vulnerabilities of experiencing human emotions? Are robots better than humans or vice versa? You decide after watching Chobits.
Tuesday, November 14, 2006
Genesis? Must be a male thing.
Disclaimer:
Genesis is a simply too abstract and complex and is beyond my understanding, so pardon my ignorance while I ask the following questions about Genesis.
Since everything in the Universe is created in 7 days, and were created by God, then who created God?
Since Jesus is the Son of God, then why is Mother Mary known only as the Blessed Mary and not the wife of God or simply Goddess?
If we accept modern science of XX and XY chromosomes as true, then where does the Y chromosome in Jesus come from if Mother Mary was a virgin?
Since Genesis is a fact and Evolution a fiction, and God can create all diversity and all amounts of life in the Universe, then why did he create only Adam and Eve? Two single humans in a vast universe of life?
Following the above question, if God can create humans in any amount, then why did he create Eve? Surely then, Eve is redundant, as seen that she was created from the extra rib of Adam.
If God had never intended for Adam and Eve to partake from the Tree of Knowledge and for them to learn about sexual reproduction, then why did he create genitalia, Eve and placed Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden with the Tree of Knowledge?
If God had intended for Adam and Eve to partake from the Tree of Knowledge, then does that mean that he was the serpent in disguise?
Also, if God had intended for Adam and Eve to partake from the Tree of Knowledge, then why were Adam and Eve punished, with Eve being punished more severely than Adam?
Following the thought about punishment, I've been taught that God was a benevolent, all-forgiving God, but why does he then mete out punishments?
Since God was all-benevolent and forgives all sins, then why do non-followers of Jesus' teachings have to be denied entrance to Heaven and sent to Hell?
Further on, I've heard a story about how God created the three colors of Man: white, brown and black. It was said that God created the first image of himself and baked it in an oven, but hadn't left it in there for long enough. Henceforth the first figurine became the underbaked White (Caucasians) man. He then created a second image of himself and overcooked the figurine to become the Black (Negros, Africans, Indians) man. Finally, he finished a third figurine and timed it nicely such that it came out a beautiful tanned brown, which became our modern Brown (Middle Easterners, Asians) man.
Refering to the above story:
If God was the supreme creator, surely he wouldn't make mistakes such as undercooking or overcooking his creations?
If God had deliberately made the color distinctions, then why is the supposed preferred image of himself, the Middle Easterners and the Asians, discriminated against by the White Man, which is supposedly the less preferred?
If God had deliberately made the color distinctions and meant for all three to be equal, then why do race discriminations exist?
Genesis is a simply too abstract and complex and is beyond my understanding, so pardon my ignorance while I ask the following questions about Genesis.
Since everything in the Universe is created in 7 days, and were created by God, then who created God?
Since Jesus is the Son of God, then why is Mother Mary known only as the Blessed Mary and not the wife of God or simply Goddess?
If we accept modern science of XX and XY chromosomes as true, then where does the Y chromosome in Jesus come from if Mother Mary was a virgin?
Since Genesis is a fact and Evolution a fiction, and God can create all diversity and all amounts of life in the Universe, then why did he create only Adam and Eve? Two single humans in a vast universe of life?
Following the above question, if God can create humans in any amount, then why did he create Eve? Surely then, Eve is redundant, as seen that she was created from the extra rib of Adam.
If God had never intended for Adam and Eve to partake from the Tree of Knowledge and for them to learn about sexual reproduction, then why did he create genitalia, Eve and placed Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden with the Tree of Knowledge?
If God had intended for Adam and Eve to partake from the Tree of Knowledge, then does that mean that he was the serpent in disguise?
Also, if God had intended for Adam and Eve to partake from the Tree of Knowledge, then why were Adam and Eve punished, with Eve being punished more severely than Adam?
Following the thought about punishment, I've been taught that God was a benevolent, all-forgiving God, but why does he then mete out punishments?
Since God was all-benevolent and forgives all sins, then why do non-followers of Jesus' teachings have to be denied entrance to Heaven and sent to Hell?
Further on, I've heard a story about how God created the three colors of Man: white, brown and black. It was said that God created the first image of himself and baked it in an oven, but hadn't left it in there for long enough. Henceforth the first figurine became the underbaked White (Caucasians) man. He then created a second image of himself and overcooked the figurine to become the Black (Negros, Africans, Indians) man. Finally, he finished a third figurine and timed it nicely such that it came out a beautiful tanned brown, which became our modern Brown (Middle Easterners, Asians) man.
Refering to the above story:
If God was the supreme creator, surely he wouldn't make mistakes such as undercooking or overcooking his creations?
If God had deliberately made the color distinctions, then why is the supposed preferred image of himself, the Middle Easterners and the Asians, discriminated against by the White Man, which is supposedly the less preferred?
If God had deliberately made the color distinctions and meant for all three to be equal, then why do race discriminations exist?
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
