Gyaru in Anime and Manga Part 4 - Final Thoughts

Hello Hello, Lil Buns!

Gyaru in Anime and Manga Part 4 (Final)

Having gone back through my list, seeing all the gyaru out there in different forms of media, made me realize that gals weren't always seen in a horrible light. Yes, when the culture began, it was shaky. Everything is in the beginning. Gal is breaking the traditions. Breaking free of how women are seen. Yes, there were yankii and other kinds of gangs involved at some point. Yes, there were girls that did nothing but party and live loosely. However, a lot of views of gyaru were because of how the media discovered the lifestyle - mostly through girly magazines. Because it's different so there must be something exotic about it...

But I believe, back in the day, it became mostly a community of people who loved fashion, trends and having fun. But because of some ties with other factors and assumptions by non-Gyaru, they were also often misunderstood. They were tired of old conservative ways and wanted more out of life but many parents couldn't always provide that. Many took risks or did things that weren't always approved by the public. It was a new way of thinking and expression.  And many stories reflected that. 

But unfortunately, there seems to be a trend of wanting to see gyaru as loose chicks with no morals. This view has always existed, however. Even back in the early history of Gyaru. It died down for a while after seeing gal in more mainstream sources. But it seems we're back to where we started and many series nowadays seem to be aimed at guys. We're just sexual fantasies - with bodies only from the imagination, hardly any brains and just want sex all of the time. Or if the series is for the female audience, then the story is like a chapter in the TV show "Sex and the City".

What happened to having strong female leads who don't take crap from anyone. Or characters that wanted to end horrible old-fashioned standards. To inspire the rest of the world that it's time for change. Or just have fun and love life...

What has caused this change in view? Why are we reverting back instead of moving forward? 

. . . 

Why are gals seen the complete opposite of what we truly are? 

Is it because Gyaru is no longer in the spotlight? That there are none really out in public so therefore people can create situations from their imagination of what we're like? That there's nobody to prove them wrong or say otherwise? You see a whore because of our dress? You can't control yourself because we are confident in ourselves and how we look?

I think this goes beyond gyaru lifestyle. Women have always been seen as sexual objects. We've always had to make sure we are fully covered so that no one is tempted to even think horrible thoughts. If we have an idea, then that's just wrong! Gyaru is a movement to move past all of that. We have shed our restrictive clothing and became the amazing butterflies that we are.

Gyaru are still out there and we're regular people, too. We can be or do whatever we put our minds to. Just because we have different interests, have "unconventional" style and different views on life, doesn't mean we're bad people or unworthy of working at a notable place. We don't have sex on our minds 24/7 nor do we go out every night. We work hard and make an honest living like everyone else.

We could be like the trio of Super GALs and just want to have fun or we're Gokinjo's Mariko because we want to be loved. Just because we're not up to someone's standards of what a woman should look like or act like, doesn't mean we're trash. And we're definitely not something out of your fantasy. We do what we do, dress how we want to dress and live how we want to because of Gyaru. Gyaru was breaking away from old standards of women and become empowered. Not to exist for someone else.

I know this is a lot to take in. I tried to limit this to anime and manga outside of hentai. Don't even get me started on how bad the gyaru tag is on Tumblr...

What are your thoughts on this? How do you feel what's happening to the views of non-gyaru? And will we ever go back to how we used to be viewed?

Hope you all enjoyed! And if you end up looking into one of the series I mentioned, let me know what you think! I'm also very open to suggestions of other series!

That's all for now! See you next time!

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