Jezebel 
Enter your username and password.
New York, 11:46 PM
Wed Nov 25
64 posts in the last 24 hours
Tip your editors:
tips@jezebel.com
Editor-in-Chief:
Anna Holmes
Email | Twitter
Deputy Editor:
Dodai Stewart
Email | Twitter
Senior Contributing Editor:
Tracie Egan
Email | Twitter
Contributing Editors:
Anna North
Email | Twitter
Sadie Stein
Email | Twitter
Reporter:
Irin Carmon
Email | Twitter
Editorial Assistant:
Margaret Hartmann
Email | Twitter
Contributors:
Rich Juzwiak
Email | Twitter
Latoya Peterson
Email
Jenna Sauers
Email
Lizzie Skurnick
Email
Interns:
Katy Kelleher
Twitter
Original material is licensed under a Creative Commons License permitting non-commercial sharing with attribution.
08/31/09
08/31/09
That being said, there is still a lot of sexism in Japan, especially in the workplace. So, I don't think a woman gaining weight would be treated with the same levity.
08/31/09
08/31/09
Japan is home to a myriad of insane kit-kat flavors like Pickled Plum, bubblegum (made with blue chocolate), mango, rose, lemon vinegar, tea, red bean, sweet potato, and my favorite cherry blossom!
08/31/09
08/31/09
08/31/09
Oy, so true. I am a small in American sizes, and clothes shopping in Japan was a massive chore. It was completely impossible to find skirts or jeans to fit me.
08/31/09
And yes, it is a double-standard--there is no, "oh, how cute that you're chubby" for women in Japan; that's men only. /caveat: anecdotal evidence
08/31/09
08/31/09
My favourite reply is to immediately look horrified, grab my stomach fat and yell, "WHERE THEY HELL DID THIS COME FROM?!?! THIS ISN'T MINE!" and then thank them for pointing it out. The recipient either thinks your crazy, or feels embarrassed. Point being, mission accomplished.
08/31/09
I am a woman and would be asked this of men or women, so from my experience, this has nothing to do with gender specific body-stereotyping.
My guess (and it's only a guess) is that it has something to do with weight being an indicator of relative wealth. A typical greeting in Cantonese is loosely translated as "have you eaten rice yet?", which hearkens back to war-time food shortages. Only those who had means had food and therefore had a little more flesh on their bones. I dunno...just a guess.
08/31/09
But if you are a girl, you have to thin to be considered desirable.
08/31/09
Why do we need to talk about each other's bodies anyway? Unless my opinion is asked, I generally stay away from that.
08/31/09
08/31/09
08/31/09
Stick to telling people you like their hair/make up/outfits! :P
08/31/09
08/31/09
08/31/09
I get it though. Many of them survived the holocaust or are first generation so eating is a real sign of living and living well.
08/31/09
08/31/09
On the other hand, I'm always a bit too big as far as mum's concerned, which means I'm unhappy to her mind as well. Amazing how she can't seem to disconnect size and emotional state!
08/31/09
08/31/09
08/31/09
08/31/09
08/31/09
It's such a cultural thing that her and her friends can have a whole conversation speculating about whether or not you're pregnant even when you're in the same room. It took a long time for me to convince her that this isn't a compliment.
08/31/09
So how long until the rest of the world is entirely permeated by these cultural scripts? When no woman anywhere feels good about having a righteous ass, the very end will be nigh.
08/31/09
Except in his case I think it had less to do with my perceived health and more to do with how my weight reflected on him as a father. Who wants a chubby daughter?
08/31/09
On the one hand I think parents have a responsibility to make sure their kids are healthy, and if they know their kid is either over or underweight because of poor eating/exercise habits, then I guess it's good they speak up. My best friend in college was chubby/fat as a middle-schooler, and her dad made some comment about it and started jogging with her. Her dad is pretty awesome, and a really great guy, so his comments never struck me as anything but acceptable fatherly concern. However, when I think about it, 10 years later, my friend definitely has some body-image issues. Then again, so do I, and no one ever commented to me about weight.
08/31/09
08/31/09
However, we also must consider the cultural context of the word. Being "fat" here versus elsewhere might have different consequences and levels of social acceptance. What Americans considered big butts are considered desirable by a lot of Latin/Hispanic cultures.
Any Japanese people care to weigh in on the connotations of the word and the acceptance of fatness in Japan?
08/31/09
08/31/09
The only big difference I can think of (other than sumo wrestling) is that fatness has also been associated with the downsides of Western influence in Japan and blaming the importation of fast food etc. Premodern Japanese beauties were called "willow waisted" and the ideal silhouette for the kimono is lean, clean lines.
08/31/09
You also have to consider that the author of this piece is a very self conscious foreigner, self described as a tall, long-legged exotic in a "land of (what some Japanese disparagingly call) big faces, small noses, boring black hair, little eyes and short legs." I don't want to take his ideas of body image at face value, period.
08/31/09
08/31/09
08/31/09
08/31/09
08/31/09
08/31/09