Avril Lavigne has offended 80 per cent of the Internet with the video to her new song Hello Kitty, in which she dances around in a cup-cake emblazoned dress, with four expressionless Japanese backing dancers. As well as being vilified for being ‘not very good’ Lavigne has also been accused of racism and fetishizing Japanese culture – presenting Japanese women as passive and childlike. The video has drawn comparisons with Gwen Stefani who, a decade ago, courted controversy with her back-up dancers, the Harajuku dolls. (At the time, Margaret Cho likened them to a ‘Minstrel Show’).
Anyway Lavigne’s video was taken down pretty swiftly (not because it was racist, or terrible, but because it was put up in error, apparently). It has since been put back up, but not before a slew of Japanese fans took to social media to question exactly how racist the video actually was. One wrote in a blog post, ‘It's a pleasure that she loves Japan and takes in Japanese culture into her song!’ While another tweeted ‘Avril is inspired by [Japanese singer] ‘KYARY PAMYU PAMYU’, isn't it? I don't understand why she is racist at all.’
Lavigne, incidentally, agreed: ‘RACIST??? LOLOLOL!!! I love Japanese culture and I spend half of my time in Japan. I flew to Tokyo to shoot this video.’ Thanks for clearing that one up. Avril.
The fact is, in Japan Kawaii (cute) fashion is far more complex form of self-expression than we (or let’s assume Lavigne) realise. ‘In the earlier [Kawaii] groups, in the early ’90s, a lot of the girls approached the subculture by throwing off the strict formalism of Japanese culture that they felt didn’t show them for who they were,’ explains photographer Thomas Card, whose new book Tokyo Adorned presents an in-depth look at Japanese street-style.
And as Card goes on to tell The Debrief, what we see as cultural appropriation is a point of pride for many girls. ‘Now they look back and say this is Japanese culture, this is something that happened in Japan and affected girls around the world. We are proud that we are influencing people around the world.’
In fact, in the three years following the Japanese Tsunami, Card believes that the Kawaii movement has become linked to a new sense of nationalism in the young. ‘There was a surge in Japanese nationalism post the earthquake and tsunami, and the way these girls are approaching it now is a individual expression of identity. They have a sense that this is a very Japanese thing and a very proud part of Japanese culture. They feel a sense of nationalistic pride by participating in this Japanese cultural event.’
But what about one of the main criticisms of Lavigne’s video – namely that the women are presented as childlike and passive – in a way that’s frankly weird? Card strongly rejects the notion that Kawaii fashion – as it’s known – has any basis in sexuality. ‘They are trying to show how they see themselves; it is related to their sexual identity. Many of the girls aren’t doing it to be attractive they are doing it to be empowered. In western culture girls dress concerned with attraction but the Japanese project a sense of cuteness and they find it incredibly empowering to control how the world sees them. They find someone who appreciates how they see themselves.’
According to Card, even the word Kawaii has different connotations in Japan. ‘Kawaii means cute – but it has the connotations of being cool and awesome. In the West cute is associated with something being sexy and hot, whereas there it is cooler.’
And in Japan, it’s not just a point of national pride – it’s big business. ‘The girls are almost treated like pop stars. One of the cover girls when I met her had a couple of hundred followers and now has thousands worldwide. Twenty or 30 girls showed up in New York to my book signing after reading about it on her blog.’
But beyond the high-profile vloggers, the cries of cultural appropriation and the surge of national pride associated with Kawaii culture, it remains at essence a form of self-expression in a notoriously buttoned-up society. ‘The girls have free reign to express their identity. It is engrained in Japanese culture that you should find yourself and show yourself for who you are.’ And maybe this is where Avril Lavigne's video – featuring four identically clad, blank-faced dancers and a one-size-fits-all interpretation of Japanese culture – is really at odds with the spirit of Kawaii fashion.
Follow Rebecca on Twitter @Rebecca_hol
Photographs by Thomas Card
This article originally appeared on The Debrief.