Gwen Stefani and the Harajuku Girls
Quote from the Japundit article on G. Stefani and the Harajuku Girls (L.A.M.B.)"Over the years, I have heard many erroneous things about Gwen Stefani, meant to tear her down. Few were based in fact. Like many people, I found her L.A.M.B. troupe to be in questionable taste. But a lot of the criticism levelled at her is just inaccurate in one way or another.
A big thing that bugs me is that everyone who is quick to condemn Gwen for “using” these girls (or to praise her for “naming the album after them”) is also doing something problematic. In the first case, WHO GIVES ANYONE ELSE THE RIGHT TO SPEAK FOR THE FOUR OF THEM? Maybe they feel oppressed… maybe they’re having fun. We don’t know. In the second case, L.A.M.B. is the name of the fashion brand that Gwen started way before she ever made/finished the album. I have a L.A.M.B./LeSportsac bag that predates the cd’s release by quite some time. The name L.A.M.B. was extended to the album (which honestly kind of pissed me off, because I now have an expensiveish bag that’s an advert for an album I don’t particularly like and that is now attached to all sorts of racial issues I normally stay out of). The girls were hired to play characters based on the “Love, Angel, Music, Baby” concept that is basically Gwen’s brand. The album was certainly not named after them.
I can’t think of a single back-up singer/dancer who is paid to have a unique personality, regardless of their ethnicity or the ethnicity of whoever the frontperson is. There are backup musicians who receive significant individual acknowledgment (Gail Ann Dorsey, who plays bass guitar for David Bowie, comes to mind), but not many. This situation is only loaded because the girls are noticeably of a different race than Gwen (meaning, if all her backup dancers were black, there wouldn’t be an outcry). The consternation is caused, I think, more because a point is made of their “Japaneseness” than because of the mere fact that they are of Asian descent.
More than one person has brought up, in the thread, that the Japanese are major cultural appropriators. Harajuku culture is simply not that unique or non-western. Even EGL and its offspring are based on European historical styles. Vivienne Westwood is hugely popular in Tokyo. It’s not the same kind of defensible position that people had when mehndi became popular in the US - or when Gwen Stefani popularized bindi.
So, I’ve been really uncomfortable with the implications of the whole “Gwen’s Japanese Dolls” controversy. It has turned me off of her work. But I also think the reaction has been overblown and ill-considered, illogical and based on false information, and on that idea that others have a right to speak for the girls, when in fact your own right is even less than that of Gwen (who is at least paying their salaries). There are better battles to fight and more serious instances of racism to consider. Other than that, what Ciel says: this is a blip that will not have much influence on American culture, any more than Madonna performing “Vogue” in 1780s attire at the MTV Music Awards caused an outcry because she trivialized either the suffering of the French masses prior to the Revolution or the massacre of the French aristocracy during the revolution. (It didn’t, and that’s my point. Too much power and intent and malice is ascribed to Gwen. At worst this is an ill-considered stumble, and it isn’t meant to hurt anyone.)"
Comment by momo - 4/1/2006
I found this comment interesting because of it's outcry against the Gwen "haters." Honestly, I never liked her music and her icky-fication of musical numbers made my opinion of her lower even more. If you listen to her lyrics they're pretty stupid as well (note what she says when she's singing "Wind it Up"). That she can't come up with her own catch phrases tells of a degeneration of creativity these days that they have to resort to recycling old tunes and making them "hip" and "cool." Honestly they're just bastardising the songs. They were better in their original state.
Regarding the Harajuku girls, which I'm doing my Women's Studies 327 paper on, I found it interesting how she normalises these hegemonic relationships between white/western and non-white. The comment provided expresses the way that the public has been numbed to the blatant racism that should in fact be abolished by is constantly perpetuated by popular media. While I don't want to speak on behalf of the Harajuku girls given that I don't have such authority, I think still find that it doesn't send the right message. Perhaps I also put part of the blame on the girls themselves for desiring money and fame to the point of reinstating stereotypes on not only Japanese girls but also Asians in general (in the background, submissive and silent unless blatantly regarded). I mean honestly, how many times have girls of Asian descent experienced men of various ethnic backgrounds communicating with them and asking for the "always a step behind, head down, doting" Asian chick who would in fact do anything for the sake of the male counterpart?
The Harajuku Girls as well as Gwen Stefani should also understand the power they have over the perpetuation of the image of Asians in general. They should also be responsible about it. I'm annoyed that they are being so irresponsible and the fact that they're not trying to sell the smart, yet sexy (though not overtly and not in any lolita fashion) Asian, which, I find is under-represented. I don't like how they use stereotypes to sell. While this momo character claims that "Too much power and intent and malice is ascribed to Gwen" it must be understood that someone in such a position of popularity actually does have a lot of power, especially over her doting little girly fans who would blindly follow all the fashion statements she is making and plays her cds over and over again in their teenie-bopper rooms. Pop culture is powerful in that it speaks to many. It wouldn't be popular unless people liked it in one way or another. Oprah is powerful. And she's in show business and perpetuates a very subjective view of Western society. And billions of people watch her show and agree with her and follower her every word because she has appeal. Gwen Stefani has appeal as well, but in a different way. Thus she has a certain amount of power.
Ugh I have to get back to my paper...
A big thing that bugs me is that everyone who is quick to condemn Gwen for “using” these girls (or to praise her for “naming the album after them”) is also doing something problematic. In the first case, WHO GIVES ANYONE ELSE THE RIGHT TO SPEAK FOR THE FOUR OF THEM? Maybe they feel oppressed… maybe they’re having fun. We don’t know. In the second case, L.A.M.B. is the name of the fashion brand that Gwen started way before she ever made/finished the album. I have a L.A.M.B./LeSportsac bag that predates the cd’s release by quite some time. The name L.A.M.B. was extended to the album (which honestly kind of pissed me off, because I now have an expensiveish bag that’s an advert for an album I don’t particularly like and that is now attached to all sorts of racial issues I normally stay out of). The girls were hired to play characters based on the “Love, Angel, Music, Baby” concept that is basically Gwen’s brand. The album was certainly not named after them.
I can’t think of a single back-up singer/dancer who is paid to have a unique personality, regardless of their ethnicity or the ethnicity of whoever the frontperson is. There are backup musicians who receive significant individual acknowledgment (Gail Ann Dorsey, who plays bass guitar for David Bowie, comes to mind), but not many. This situation is only loaded because the girls are noticeably of a different race than Gwen (meaning, if all her backup dancers were black, there wouldn’t be an outcry). The consternation is caused, I think, more because a point is made of their “Japaneseness” than because of the mere fact that they are of Asian descent.
More than one person has brought up, in the thread, that the Japanese are major cultural appropriators. Harajuku culture is simply not that unique or non-western. Even EGL and its offspring are based on European historical styles. Vivienne Westwood is hugely popular in Tokyo. It’s not the same kind of defensible position that people had when mehndi became popular in the US - or when Gwen Stefani popularized bindi.
So, I’ve been really uncomfortable with the implications of the whole “Gwen’s Japanese Dolls” controversy. It has turned me off of her work. But I also think the reaction has been overblown and ill-considered, illogical and based on false information, and on that idea that others have a right to speak for the girls, when in fact your own right is even less than that of Gwen (who is at least paying their salaries). There are better battles to fight and more serious instances of racism to consider. Other than that, what Ciel says: this is a blip that will not have much influence on American culture, any more than Madonna performing “Vogue” in 1780s attire at the MTV Music Awards caused an outcry because she trivialized either the suffering of the French masses prior to the Revolution or the massacre of the French aristocracy during the revolution. (It didn’t, and that’s my point. Too much power and intent and malice is ascribed to Gwen. At worst this is an ill-considered stumble, and it isn’t meant to hurt anyone.)"
Comment by momo - 4/1/2006
I found this comment interesting because of it's outcry against the Gwen "haters." Honestly, I never liked her music and her icky-fication of musical numbers made my opinion of her lower even more. If you listen to her lyrics they're pretty stupid as well (note what she says when she's singing "Wind it Up"). That she can't come up with her own catch phrases tells of a degeneration of creativity these days that they have to resort to recycling old tunes and making them "hip" and "cool." Honestly they're just bastardising the songs. They were better in their original state.
Regarding the Harajuku girls, which I'm doing my Women's Studies 327 paper on, I found it interesting how she normalises these hegemonic relationships between white/western and non-white. The comment provided expresses the way that the public has been numbed to the blatant racism that should in fact be abolished by is constantly perpetuated by popular media. While I don't want to speak on behalf of the Harajuku girls given that I don't have such authority, I think still find that it doesn't send the right message. Perhaps I also put part of the blame on the girls themselves for desiring money and fame to the point of reinstating stereotypes on not only Japanese girls but also Asians in general (in the background, submissive and silent unless blatantly regarded). I mean honestly, how many times have girls of Asian descent experienced men of various ethnic backgrounds communicating with them and asking for the "always a step behind, head down, doting" Asian chick who would in fact do anything for the sake of the male counterpart?
The Harajuku Girls as well as Gwen Stefani should also understand the power they have over the perpetuation of the image of Asians in general. They should also be responsible about it. I'm annoyed that they are being so irresponsible and the fact that they're not trying to sell the smart, yet sexy (though not overtly and not in any lolita fashion) Asian, which, I find is under-represented. I don't like how they use stereotypes to sell. While this momo character claims that "Too much power and intent and malice is ascribed to Gwen" it must be understood that someone in such a position of popularity actually does have a lot of power, especially over her doting little girly fans who would blindly follow all the fashion statements she is making and plays her cds over and over again in their teenie-bopper rooms. Pop culture is powerful in that it speaks to many. It wouldn't be popular unless people liked it in one way or another. Oprah is powerful. And she's in show business and perpetuates a very subjective view of Western society. And billions of people watch her show and agree with her and follower her every word because she has appeal. Gwen Stefani has appeal as well, but in a different way. Thus she has a certain amount of power.
Ugh I have to get back to my paper...