There's a peculiar trend afoot that bucks the macho man culture in Japan: young men who are heterosexuals but say they aren't interested in girls.
Away from the strutting are the retiring wallflowers, a quiet army of sweet young men with floppy hair and skinny jeans. These young men are becoming known as Japan's "herbivores" — from the Japanese phrase for "grass-eating boys" — guys who are heterosexual but who say they aren't really interested in matters of the flesh.
They are drawn to a quieter, less competitive life, focusing on family and friends — and eschewing the macho ways of the traditional Japanese male.
They include men such as Yukihiro Yoshida, a 20-something economics student, who is a self-confessed herbivore. "I don't take initiative with women, I don't talk to them," he says, blushing. "I'd welcome it if a girl talked to me, but I never take the first step myself."
Multiple recent surveys suggest that about 60 percent of young Japanese men — in their 20s and early 30s — identify themselves as herbivores. Their Sex and the City is a television show called Otomen, or Girly Guys. The lead character is a martial arts expert, the manliest guy in the whole school. But his secret passions include sewing, baking and crocheting clothes for his stuffed animals.
Don't we simply used to call these guys nerds? Louisa Lim of NPR has the story: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=120696816&ft=1&f=100 (Photo: Louisa Lim/NPR)
When youre too insecure to approach women its easy to just play up the shy/uninterested guy angle and magically women will start to approach you because youre sensitive and not intimidating. Its just another ploy to get chicks without the pain of rejection.
I think that a second factor is exposure to chemicals in things such as plastics, which have already been shown to
* Reduce the size of men's sexual organs
* Make male children more prone to playing like girls (dress-up, dolls, etc.)
* Reduce sperm count
* Cause fewer boys to be born
Not to mention that females are developing voluptuous bodies at very young ages.
Furthermore, I really don't think this is a movement, so much as someone needing something to write about and pretending these guys are all in some big club that's threatening the future population of Japan. I'm sensing some distinct macho anxiety here.
I sense a little hatred towards the "sensitive male" stereotype.
There have always been people who are confused or have low sex drives. Hardly a newsflash.
However, someone like SenorMysterioso is what is called a 'douche-bag.' Their preference is no interest in thinking.
For example, my father in law stayed with a Japanese family for a home-stay recently and the lady-of-the-house was horrified when he tried to clean up and help with the washing up. She said that it was women's work and that he shouldn't do it.
That being said I love this part 'In the streets of Harajuku, Alex Fujita explains why he is not interested in taking it [relationships with women] any further.
"Nowadays, women have more education and enjoy working. Women are scary now," he says.'
What I love about his comment is this - He is happy to break out of his gender role but finds it uncomfortable for women to break out of theirs. Consider what he is saying. He's not saying that the women are agressive or uncouth; he is saying that women are educated and like to work which makes them 'scary' to him.