Balls and Walnuts
more than you ever wanted to know
Another world
I’m recovering quickly, thanks. Been back at work for the last two days, and while that’s going well, I tend to be pretty exhausted by the end of the day. Fatigue saps creativity, of course, so tonight I was having trouble coming up with a blog topic.
I considered writing about unusual wikis, but aside from a really lame sex wiki, I couldn’t seem to find anything too weird. Then, SOMEHOW, I mean I don’t know HOW I always end up on this page, I ended up perusing Wikipedia’s list of fetishes and discovered two Japanese fetishes I hadn’t heard of before: zentai (skin-tight body suits) and omorashi (full bladder eroticism). That led me to an exploration of gyaru, which is, I gather, a collective noun describing various style-cliques common at one time or another among young women in Japan.
The young woman in the picture exemplifies ganguro. Ganguro girls are heavily tanned, use lots of “contouring make-up,” and lurve the color pink. Other gyaru styles include baika (biker chicks), yamanba (“the early form of Manba, characterized by over the top make-up and stickers of popular Disney characters or cartoons as well as jewels or stick-on earrings. The clothing style is heavy “I just got back from Hawaii” complete with lei’s on wrists, necks, ankles and even in hair. Thick Ganguro style “panda” make-up, and usually orange, hot pink, teal blue, blue or bleached white hair”), and my favorite, himegyaru:
Meaning Princess GAL it is a style characterized by pink make-up and long eyelashes as well as either tan or very light skin. Huge hair in a bouffant/beehive is practically the uniform. Himegyaru wear Liz Lisa typically because the brand sums up the style. Lots of fur and rich materials as well as lace and velvet are common. High heels are always a must, as well as a good structured handbag preferably white, black, or pink. Animal prints as well as rhinestones, roses, orchids, and other flowers. Pearl and cameo inlays and beadwork on nails is a big trend. Hair is teased up on top and curled tightly in spirals on the bottom. Hair color is always caramel, black, or dark brown. Rarely is hair dyed white and never unnatural colors.
They look like anime chicks, don’t they? Except humans don’t have those huge anime eyes.
Or do they? Meet Ukrainian model Masha Tielne.
I wish I had something profound to say about the wondrous variety of human cultures and the many notions of beauty, some of which seem transcendent, others, impossible for anyone outside the group to understand. But I’m tired. I ain’t got nothin’.
D.
I’m concerned about those “tans”. How do they get them so dark? Is near-solar orbit required?
Really thick make-up is part of the “look” for a lot of these women, so the tan may be artificial. It’s hard to tell from that photo, but to me, her face looks darker than her arms.
Masha’s nose is too big to be animé, but you could help her with that, right Doug?
Ick, ick and double ick. This all reminds me of my student who dressed for Halloween as “a broken doll” complete with slash marks on her arms (make up) and makeup on her face to give her the exaggerated face of a doll. She had carefully printed the word CUNT on her forearm (which I made her remove). I didn’t know whether to be more disturbed by the fact that this is a girl in my Honors class or the fact that her first three teachers of the day didn’t notice the word on her arm.
sxK: now you’re making me want to waste time photoshopping a rounder face, a tinier nose . . .
Sis: I would bet you big $$$ that she’s a cutter. Keep an eye on her.
silly little broads
Hey guys I run JapanLinked.com Thanks for referencing my site in your article. In Japan there are tan houses which the girls go to, but it is mainly makeup. Scary or not they are here in Japan. Enjoy