From manly to girly?

Japan as other countries, although somewhat later, has experienced great changes in gender roles. The differences in attitudes between the generations are clear and obvious.

At the beginning of the term I heard from somebody that in Japan eating chocolate is considered to be girly, and men may tend to eat dark chocolate (perhaps such as Pokey Men’s Bitter Chocolate). However, when I asked other Japanese about this, they said that they have not heard such thing, and that men like chocolate very much.

In the past, on the other hand, notions were quite different. My otoosan (host-family’s father), who is 63, said that when at the times of his youth, even if a man liked sweets, he was embarrassed to admit it because it would be considered feminine. Man’s hair also was supposed no longer than up to his ears. Otoosan also said that once, maybe in high school or college, he wore a red sweater, and others made fun of him saying that he looked girlish.

In contrast, take a look at Japanese men now. Most of the U.S. and many European international students (men in particular) say that Japanese guys look too feminine. Their hair and clothing style in the U.S., for example, would be considered gay. A couple of my guy friends, who are also international students, at a clothing store had a bit of a confusion telling apart women’s and men’s departments. It is also not uncommon to see young men wear bright colors and accessories such as phone charms. As to the man on the second photograph, of course he is one of the extreme examples, and not all Japanese men nowadays look like him. He may be gay, but there is very good probability he is not.