Comments on: Round-up of a couple of English-language surveys http://whatjapanthinks.com/2006/06/01/round-up-of-a-couple-of-english-language-surveys/ From kimono to keitai; research Japanese facts and figures through translated opinion polls and surveys. Thu, 20 Nov 2008 16:26:46 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.3.1 By: Jamesha Walker http://whatjapanthinks.com/2006/06/01/round-up-of-a-couple-of-english-language-surveys/#comment-14078 Jamesha Walker Sat, 03 Mar 2007 09:52:50 +0000 http://whatjapanthinks.com/2006/06/01/round-up-of-a-couple-of-english-language-surveys/#comment-14078 I think that Japanese women are beautiful, no matter what. That is why I draw and paint the Japanese female nude. Plus, Japanese women are classier than women of other Asian countries, in my humble opinion and as far as I have seen. My question is, Why be jealous of Japanese female models, when there are models without artficial breast augmentations, 5'10", and looking like they're from a poorer Asian country than their own? Look at what America has: so many women jealous enough to have low self-esteem and want to take it out on other women, even those outside their race, distorting their faces and other body parts with plastic surgery, bleaching their hair, and changing their outward appearance just because "they have to". And they got the nerve to hate on Japanese women, especially those who model nude! How crazy is that?! I am an artist who sees and appreciates beauty. Some times I'll want to play with beauty by using the props I see fit, but by no means do I believe in exploiting other women than myself, and I am African-American. Beauty is in the eyes of the beholder, which can be beheld by an artist or a lover. I think that Japanese women are beautiful, no matter what. That is why I draw and paint the Japanese female nude. Plus, Japanese women are classier than women of other Asian countries, in my humble opinion and as far as I have seen. My question is, Why be jealous of Japanese female models, when there are models without artficial breast augmentations, 5′10″, and looking like they’re from a poorer Asian country than their own? Look at what America has: so many women jealous enough to have low self-esteem and want to take it out on other women, even those outside their race, distorting their faces and other body parts with plastic surgery, bleaching their hair, and changing their outward appearance just because “they have to”. And they got the nerve to hate on Japanese women, especially those who model nude! How crazy is that?! I am an artist who sees and appreciates beauty. Some times I’ll want to play with beauty by using the props I see fit, but by no means do I believe in exploiting other women than myself, and I am African-American. Beauty is in the eyes of the beholder, which can be beheld by an artist or a lover.

]]> By: Taro, at news.3yen.com http://whatjapanthinks.com/2006/06/01/round-up-of-a-couple-of-english-language-surveys/#comment-2354 Taro, at news.3yen.com Fri, 02 Jun 2006 02:48:23 +0000 http://whatjapanthinks.com/2006/06/01/round-up-of-a-couple-of-english-language-surveys/#comment-2354 It's just not how "how Japanese women perceive themselves"---it's how they perceive other women. Harshly. To quote the "Coco in Tokyo" metroblog in the post “Beauty comes first”: “There is a unwritten rule in Japanese female world. The rule is “Beauty talks in any time any occation.” …This caste is decided by other females. Guys’ opinion are ignored usually. This battle is females’ war. ” http://doiop.com/coco_Beauty It’s just not how “how Japanese women perceive themselves”—it’s how they perceive other women. Harshly.

To quote the “Coco in Tokyo” metroblog in the post “Beauty comes first”:

“There is a unwritten rule in Japanese female world. The rule is “Beauty talks in any time any occation.” …This caste is decided by other females. Guys’ opinion are ignored usually. This battle is females’ war. ”
http://doiop.com/coco_Beauty

]]> By: hmmn » Blog Archive » Japanese women’s attitudes to beauty http://whatjapanthinks.com/2006/06/01/round-up-of-a-couple-of-english-language-surveys/#comment-2350 hmmn » Blog Archive » Japanese women’s attitudes to beauty Thu, 01 Jun 2006 18:13:27 +0000 http://whatjapanthinks.com/2006/06/01/round-up-of-a-couple-of-english-language-surveys/#comment-2350 [...] Following up on a survey I found via What Japan Thinks related to Asian women’s attitudes to beauty, I found a larger survey conducted in 2004, The Real Truth About Beauty (.pdf file, 48 pages), that looked at perceptions of what beauty means among 10 countries, Japan being one of them (and the only Asian country represented). Both surveys were commisioned by Dove (Unilever), which has in the last couple of years built a successful ad and marketing campaign based on challenging received notions of beauty among women. While it’s easy to be cynical about a study commissioned by a for-profit company, the surveys make for fascinating reading, and for this reader, give valuable insights into how Japanese women perceive themselves, and also how they view the media environment in which they live. [...] […] Following up on a survey I found via What Japan Thinks related to Asian women’s attitudes to beauty, I found a larger survey conducted in 2004, The Real Truth About Beauty (.pdf file, 48 pages), that looked at perceptions of what beauty means among 10 countries, Japan being one of them (and the only Asian country represented). Both surveys were commisioned by Dove (Unilever), which has in the last couple of years built a successful ad and marketing campaign based on challenging received notions of beauty among women. While it’s easy to be cynical about a study commissioned by a for-profit company, the surveys make for fascinating reading, and for this reader, give valuable insights into how Japanese women perceive themselves, and also how they view the media environment in which they live. […]

]]> By: Kurt http://whatjapanthinks.com/2006/06/01/round-up-of-a-couple-of-english-language-surveys/#comment-2344 Kurt Thu, 01 Jun 2006 15:47:52 +0000 http://whatjapanthinks.com/2006/06/01/round-up-of-a-couple-of-english-language-surveys/#comment-2344 re: the beauty survey....not surprising in the least, but as you say, depressing all the same. The survey at the Dove Philipines site is full of interesting, fascinating information. One could really mine this for a lot of interesting insights. With respect to the only 25% of Japanese women who agreed with the statement about media's cliched portrayal of women, perhaps more interesting, given how much Japan and Korea women seem to be in sync in the survey, was that in Korea, for the same statement, 82% agreed, the highest among Asian women. The survey is from Dove, which has been doing a lot of work (or marketing ;)) related to the concept of beauty among women. They have a 48-page report (here: http://snipurl.com/r7ni -- warning, it's a .pdf file) from 2004 which looks at women's attitudes to beauty in 10 countries, Japan being one of them (the only Asian country). From that, 41% of J-women are very/somewhat dissatisfied with their physical attractiveness (highest), while 59% are very/somewhat dissatisfied with their body weight and shape (the highest by at least 20 percentage points). And with respect to media portrayals, only 20% of Japanese women agreed with the statement "The media and advertising set an unrealistic standard of beauty that most women can't ever achieve." The next highest country was Canada, 49 percentage points higher! re: the beauty survey….not surprising in the least, but as you say, depressing all the same. The survey at the Dove Philipines site is full of interesting, fascinating information. One could really mine this for a lot of interesting insights. With respect to the only 25% of Japanese women who agreed with the statement about media’s cliched portrayal of women, perhaps more interesting, given how much Japan and Korea women seem to be in sync in the survey, was that in Korea, for the same statement, 82% agreed, the highest among Asian women. The survey is from Dove, which has been doing a lot of work (or marketing ;)) related to the concept of beauty among women. They have a 48-page report (here: http://snipurl.com/r7ni — warning, it’s a .pdf file) from 2004 which looks at women’s attitudes to beauty in 10 countries, Japan being one of them (the only Asian country). From that, 41% of J-women are very/somewhat dissatisfied with their physical attractiveness (highest), while 59% are very/somewhat dissatisfied with their body weight and shape (the highest by at least 20 percentage points). And with respect to media portrayals, only 20% of Japanese women agreed with the statement “The media and advertising set an unrealistic standard of beauty that most women can’t ever achieve.” The next highest country was Canada, 49 percentage points higher!

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