User:Hayashikiyo/Herbivore men

Herbivore men

User:Hayashikiyo/Herbivore men/Bibliography

Herbivore men or grass-eater men (草食(系)男子, Sōshoku(-kei) danshi) is a term used in Japan to describe young men who express little interest in getting married

Herbivore Masculinity in Media Discourse: The Japanese TV Drama Ohitorisama

 * conflation of non-masculinity/lack of experience with lack of interest in pursuing romantic/sexual relationships in original article
 * described as not as proactive towards women (and thus not masculine); sex no longer acts as the ultimate goal for a man to achieve but this does not necessarily mean that they are asexual
 * both this source and the Wikipedia article cite Maki Fukasawa, who is credited with coming up with the term "herbivore men"
 * original intent was to nominalize a new perspective on masculinity, but was quickly sensationalized/given a negative connotation (moral panic) --> blamed for declining birth/marriage rates
 * Masahiro Morioka believes it's not a lack of interest but a lack of experience (not knowing how to act in situations that others would see as clear opportunities)
 * also notes that information about herbivore men came mostly from sensationalized media (newspapers, TV shows, magazines, the internet) as opposed to academic sources
 * neoliberalism in the portrayal of herbivore men: seen as an identity free from societal pressures to get married or get in a relationship, have the "freedom" to pursue hobbies and express themselves as individuals rather than as a male-female unit (marriage)
 * drama Ohitorisama: role "reversal" at the start --> what exactly is an herbivore man? youth and naivete associated with this category of people
 * Satomi is the "masculine"/"salaryman-esque" character who has a dedicated, stable job but neglects her household, cannot cook/clean/etc. while Shin'ichi is skilled at household chores but has no experience working professional jobs (a freeter and an herbivore man, very unmasculine) or navigating relationships
 * Shin'ichi is in almost every aspect the exact opposite of the ideal Japanese man: he is not really ambitious employment-wise, no relationship experience and no intention of pursuing a relationship, no capability of supporting a family with his job
 * interesting because Satomi falls in love with this version of Shin'ichi, not the "reformed" man he is at the end who goes and looks for a job --> implies (like Fukasawa's original intent w/ coining the phrase) that herbivore men are in some ways desirable
 * (similar to otaku in Train Man) but that their lifestyle is ultimately not right or proper? still need to change in some way
 * drama ends with Satomi realizing that she actually was not happy being a single woman (ohitorisama) through her relationship with Shin'ichi, who also supposedly changes for the better and works a more acceptable job as a teacher (moving closer towards Japanese conventions for men)
 * somewhat implies that Satomi and Shin'ichi's lives before were incomplete because they were single?
 * Shin'ichi is repeatedly characterized as somewhat immature and naive throughout the drama, common association with herbivore men

Soshoku(kei) danshi: the (un)gendered questions on contemporary Japan

 * category of herbivore men is strongly associated with youth/immaturity: mostly applies to men between the ages of 20 and 30 who are unassertive (/ambitious, usually in relationships but also in career), possibly afraid of being bound to marriage or lifetime employment like salaryman work?
 * what happens to "herbivore men" who outgrow this acceptable age range??? maybe just unsuccessful? what differentiates them from how freeters are perceived?
 * what are the implications of a word like herbivore?
 * not having to hunt for food (ambition/drive) but having it come to them
 * peaceful, meek, placid, only taking what is within grasp
 * "no interest in fleshly desires"
 * criticism of "selfish lifestyle"
 * rather than thinking of how to provide for the family through stable jobs, they want to pursue their own interests
 * are considered more vain because they care about their appearance in ways that don't support hegemonic masculinity
 * media also sensationalized this, blaming them for declines in sales of things ranging from alcohol to cars because many preferred to spend their money more practically rather than for show (moral panic!!!)
 * media portrayal of herbivore men have convoluted the meaning of the label by emphasizing things commonly seen as feminine (subverting masculinity not just in physical appearance but also in lifestyle
 * painted as a new phenomenon/new generation of unmasculine men that are corrupting society

A Phenomenological Study of "Herbivore Men"

 * Fukasawa definition: young, nonassertive men who are popular among women and have experience wrt love/sex
 * Morioka definition: young men who have little to no experience in romance bc of their nonassertive nature and mostly prefer to approach romance with kindness/gentleness rather than through typical forms of masculinity (do not want to inflict emotional pain or be hurt) --> perhaps subversion of standard for masculinity
 * ** emphasis on the fact that both of these original definitions (before the phrase became sensationalized by the media) did not associate herbivore men with physical appearance or femininity AND did not suggest that they were adverse to romance/asexual
 * in 2008-9, the media picked up on the phrase and connotations of paying particular attention to their appearance ("as much as women do") and overly feminine ("not like real men")
 * concern about lack of aggressiveness; blamed for decline in birth rates, marriage rates, and sales + source of economic/social decline
 * among women interviewed in magazines, however, a sizeable number of women preferred herbivore men because they did not treat appearance as the primary motivation for relationships, were less likely to be domestically violent, were not too pushy, etc.
 * little consensus about what the label of herbivore men exactly entails, so it is difficult to conduct proper surveys to assess how many self-identifying herbivore men exist
 * what caused this seemingly sudden increase in "herbivore men" (or just men who are not violent/assertive?)
 * Morioka suggests that men born after WWII began to "lose their propensity for violence," particularly because of Japan's agreement to demilitarize
 * also cites the economic bubble burst of the 1990s and women advancing and taking more assertive positions in society as potential reasons