/jp/ - Otaku Culture

>>10380107
I liked Rena before that, but after watching her acting all psycho she became infinitely more interesting.

>>8599380
>>8599449
To conclude, for forcing themselves to be someone else, unnatural interactions etc. I think that may be rooted way deeper in Japanese culture - its expectations for people generally, but especially for women and girls - rather than in idol culture only. In the end what it takes to be a successful idol is linked with what it takes to be appreciated as a woman in Japan. In the end, though, I find what the idols aspire to become after their career more sad than anything about their idol career in itself. I remember one interview in which Matsui Jurina, the immensely talented front girl of SKE, said her future aspiration is to become a good housewife or such. Though being a good wife and mother is great, I find it a shame that it's the highest goal a girl that amazing can dream of achieving in Japan. You'd think she'd have some sort of education/career related aspirations.

Since you mentioned the 3rd world and the problems of women therein, I think you can also make another parallel about that. Westerners often worry and patronise about women in the Middle East being forced to cover their hair by their husbands, while the real Middle Eastern women are more concerned about things like not having the right to leave the house without a male relative or the law giving them the whip instead of justice if they get raped. Similarly, while idols not getting to have boyfriends or having to act unnatural for fans are not nice, they're symptoms of larger problems in how Japanese culture thinks about women. It's easier to see the problems in the idol industry than it is to see them in the Japanese society as a whole, but if you really care about these problems, I recommend you forget the idol industry and look at the whole country and its culture.