Jed 7,716 Posted October 23, 2014 Share Posted October 23, 2014 http://time.com/3524847/gwen-stefani-racist-harajuku-girls/ After dropping the album, Stefani used four backup dancers known as the “Harajuku girls†in all her performances and as an entourage offstage. They followed her everywhere and were reportedly contractually obligated to only speak Japanese in public. She renamed them  as if they were pets  “Love,†“Angel,†“Music†and “Baby†after her album title. As you can see in the video for the song “Harajuku Girls†above, the women are basically puppets. The lyrics of her actual songs aren’t much better. In “Harajuku Girls,†Stefani calls their culture, “A Ping-Pong match between Eastern and Western.†At the time, comedian Margaret Cho compared the Harajuku girls to blackface and lamented how few portrayals of Asian culture there are in popular culture: "Even though to me, a Japanese schoolgirl uniform is kind of like blackface, I am just in acceptance over it, because something is better than nothing. An ugly picture is better than a blank space, and it means that one day, we will have another display at the Museum of Asian Invisibility, that groups of children will crowd around in disbelief, because once upon a time, we weren’t there." I always thought it was pretty racist, however I wasn't really well read in pop culture when Gwen's solo career was in progress. Thoughts? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Miky 9,426 Posted October 23, 2014 Share Posted October 23, 2014 I don't think it's racist Too many people here with moral superiority complex. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
teo 609 Posted October 23, 2014 Share Posted October 23, 2014 These days everything is racist... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
garnite 8 Posted October 23, 2014 Share Posted October 23, 2014 i dunno, wasn't it deliberately supposed to be a performance piece and that the girls were supposed to be physical manifestations of her love of japanese culture? is it racist to love a culture? is it racist to do something ~arty~ to represent that? i'm not sure, but i won't patronise the girls by pretending they're weren't smart enough to know what they signed up for.Stefani calls their culture, “A Ping-Pong match between Eastern and Western.â€she's talking about a particular kind of street fashion in that song. not japanese culture. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bloody 64,631 Posted October 23, 2014 Share Posted October 23, 2014 I don't think it's racist Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Evan Peters 10,470 Posted October 23, 2014 Share Posted October 23, 2014 It's not racist. At best its cultural appropriation. Everything is racist to people nowadays, it's concerning. emma roberts is an abuser Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
LukeHakan 13 Posted October 23, 2014 Share Posted October 23, 2014 social justice warriors are just a decade too late besides, the Harajuku girls still remain friends with Gwen to this day and have expressed multiple times they were honored to be a part of the group and how great it was for them Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
craig 680 Posted October 23, 2014 Share Posted October 23, 2014 It's political correct nonsense. "the women are basically puppets." You can say that about all back-up dancers. So should other races never be employed as such by white singers? "The lyrics of her actual songs aren’t much better. In “Harajuku Girls,†Stefani calls their culture, “A Ping-Pong match between Eastern and Western.†It's very accurate about that fashion district. The Japanese borrow heavily and "culturally approrpriate" Western culture, and combine it with their own. And Gwen admires Japanese culture. And Japan is an advanced First World nation, not an oppressed group. Just because they are non-white doesn't mean they are equivalent to blacks during segregation. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael 533 Posted October 23, 2014 Share Posted October 23, 2014 Yawn. She was paying tribute to Japanese culture and fashion. They can **** off with this racism bull****. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jed 7,716 Posted October 23, 2014 Author Share Posted October 23, 2014 I think what we need to do is not belittle Asian racism and actually hear what asian people have to think about that matter. Margaret Cho is a smart woman and if she believes that is racist then we shouldn't just dismiss it because we don't see what she is seeing. Also, i dunno, wasn't it deliberately supposed to be a performance piece and that the girls were supposed to be physical manifestations of her love of japanese culture? is it racist to love a culture? is it racist to do something ~arty~ to represent that? i'm not sure, but i won't patronise the girls by pretending they're weren't smart enough to know what they signed up for. she's talking about a particular kind of street fashion in that song. not japanese culture. What you need to remember is they got the offer to be a part of a huge popstars career. Maybe to them that outweighed the stereotypes they were perpetuating. However, I see some merit to what you are saying. It's political correct nonsense. "the women are basically puppets." You can say that about all back-up dancers. So should other races never be employed as such by white singers? "The lyrics of her actual songs aren’t much better. In “Harajuku Girls,†Stefani calls their culture, “A Ping-Pong match between Eastern and Western.†Very accurate, the Japanese borrow heavily and "culturally approrpriate" Western culture. And Gwen admires Japanese culture. And Japan is an advanced First World nation, not an oppressed group She renamed them. Like, their names weren't good enough. You don't see ANYTHING to critique about that? Yawn. She was paying tribute to Japanese culture and fashion. They can **** off with this racism bull****. Was Miley paying tribute to black culture? Or to Little People Culture? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chromatislaps 34,759 Posted October 23, 2014 Share Posted October 23, 2014 Yawn. She was paying tribute to Japanese culture and fashion. They can **** off with this racism bull****. this Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
craig 680 Posted October 23, 2014 Share Posted October 23, 2014 Margaret Cho compared the Harajuku girls to blackface and lamented how few portrayals of Asian culture there are in popular culture: Jumping on anyone who is inspired by Asian culture for "appropriation" seems likely to discourage all such portrayals. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
garnite 8 Posted October 23, 2014 Share Posted October 23, 2014 What you need to remember is they got the offer to be a part of a huge popstars career. Maybe to them that outweighed the stereotypes they were perpetuating. However, I see some merit to what you are saying.yes, my point was that if they considered it racist i'm sure they knew that. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael 533 Posted October 23, 2014 Share Posted October 23, 2014 Was Miley paying tribute to black culture? Or to Little People Culture? No, but I don't think she was being racist or being offensive to disabled people. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
craig 680 Posted October 23, 2014 Share Posted October 23, 2014 that outweighed the stereotypes they were perpetuating They are no more stereotypical than any female J-pop or K-pop group I've seen. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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