The Morality of Idolatry

[AyuHikaru]

There are a lot of JAPANESE people who don't agree with the 14 year old in a Bikini thing, it's not like it's limited to us prudish foreigners. There's a really wonderful feminist woman who's Japanese and writes about problems about Japanese culture and women, problem is, Japan has a very "don't rock the boat" stance on life.

The biggest problem in the way of change is, of course, that the idol industry sells well on what it does now. There's no guaranteeing it would sell were it less sexist, and that's a harsh truth. Even I'm guilty of this as well, I buy at least 3000$ (284,445.98 Yen) of idol goods a year, my collection is huge. I'm still buying up everything their selling to me. Unfortunately, trying to get people to stop buying isn't the answer either, it's punishing the GIRLS for the industry. And we like the girls.

[questorminator]

^
Which, of course, puts a fan into a dilemma: will I buy this to support the girls, or will I prevent myself from buying until the agency suddenly realizes that they can sell without "exploiting" (for want of a better term) the girls? If you buy those stuff, you are tacitly agreeing to the arrangement, but if you don't, it's not like they'll come begging for you. They'll probably drop the girl in the belief that she "no longer sells".

I usually don't think about it. But if I do, it really opens up questions in my head which I probably will never be able to answer.

[Bakajo Nono]

We can't change it, but we can QUESTION it which can, in some cases, lead to change. Change didn't happen by keeping your mouth shut. It's a long shot, considering we're Westerners and it isn't geared toward us, but it's good to question the problems in ANY thing.

Like I said before, Comic Books, Hollywood, Television, video games, and even BOOKS have their fair share of problems, as well. It's not like it's limited to just the idol industry, but as fans we absolutely have the right to question that which we enjoy.

This!

And I feel I face the same dilemma when I shop somewhere like the supermarket. I try to patronize my local grocer as much as possible, but sometimes I need to get stuff from Dominick's. Sure questioning an established industry may not amount to much right away, but AyuHikaru's right, it's the first step.

Or at the very very least, it opens up to a meaningful discussion about something that's a pretty big part of a lot of our lives.

There are a lot of JAPANESE people who don't agree with the 14 year old in a Bikini thing, it's not like it's limited to us prudish foreigners. There's a really wonderful feminist woman who's Japanese and writes about problems about Japanese culture and women, problem is, Japan has a very "don't rock the boat" stance on life.

What's her name?

[AyuHikaru]

Yo Negoro, she's currently doing a documentary about eating disorders and conforming for the Gender norms of Japanese society (http://aramatheydidnt.livejournal.com/4682018.html) . She was also interviewed about her time as a hostess, and how badly hostesses are treated.

There's also a book called "Broken Silence" about different feminists in Japan and how they deal with such a society that frowns on making waves.

One of the people I met on Hello!Fandom on Facebook has a degree in Gender Studies, I should get her on here (She's also a big fan of BiS, I think BiS is like the idol group for feminist or something... course they do make videos like this:
[youtube]bHwPVTtYum0[/youtube]
The back of their jackets say "Who killed Idol?" )

[Zunu]

^
Which, of course, puts a fan into a dilemma: will I buy this to support the girls, or will I prevent myself from buying until the agency suddenly realizes that they can sell without "exploiting" (for want of a better term) the girls?

I think if a fan is truly opposed to certain aspects of the industry, they can selectively boycott the specific things they find objectionable, and take the money not spent on those "bad" things to buy more of the "good: things they favor. For example if you like Ayumi, but not in bikinis, DON'T buy her bikini pb, but DO buy all of her T-shirts and other things that you enjoy. Negative plus positive reinforcement.

Even better is to write the agency explaining WHY you are taking such actions. Businesses are more inclined to listen to the people who care enough to put their objections in a real pen and paper letter. At least, it used to be that way.

[TotallyUncool]

I agree -- and I think that both approaches (selective buying, and writing to tell the agency why you're not buying certain items) can be effective over time, particularly when done together.

[AyuHikaru]

I've considered writing a letter to voice my concerns, then I remembered my Japanese isn't nearly good enough. It would be a good idea though, a letter writing campaign.

[Starra]

The only problem with that though is that, sadly, the Japanese are still somewhat xenophobic so a bunch of letters from some foreigners probably won't do much.

Not that I agree with their stance, but. Just saying.

[esm]

^ I don't think it's a matter of whether they are xenophobic or not. The Japanese fans are their primary audience and supporters, so the discontent of foreign fans doesn't really hurt them.

[Starra]

Oh absolutely. I think that's it more than my point, but the xenophobicness probably doesn't help.