Hello Babydoll: Be Wild and Get Controversial!




Be Wild and Get Controversial!
Since the early days of Gyaru, the style has been known to stir up controversy. Opposing beauty standards was a lot for the very conservative Japanese people at the time, and the rebellion was insane. Little did Gyaru know, they would stir up way more controversy in the following years to come. 

Of course, I have talked about sex-work. But did you know there are many Gyaru who partake in racism and blackface? The underlying issues of Gyaru made me think... Is Gyaru racist?

Well...
Not technically.
Gyaru has been stirring up controversy as the "B-Gal" substyle of Gyaru has resurfaced. Not only because the name quite literally means "Black Girl" but because of the racist caricatures made of black people as well as blackface.
B-Gyaru in Tokyo

The point of B-Gal is to "acknowledge" and "pay homage" to black culture, but I can tell you, as a black girl, that this is SUCH a racist caricature of black culture, I mean seriously. The braids, the hoops, the fashion? They claim to be inspired by "hip-hoppers", but I feel like they are only inspired by the black ones like Lil' Kim.

And there is so much more substyles to be talked about under the "desire to be black" circle. Let's dive in to Banba, "Black Manba"

Here are a few pictures, these Gyaru incorporate, of course, being Gyaru, specifically "Manba" Gyaru, which I talked about a few posts ago, but with elements added from Black Culture. These Gyaru can usually be spotted with over tanning as well as black hairstyles like braids, perms, dreadlocks, etc. 

This blog post is a bit shorter, but I couldn't really find a lot of info on these girls. 

- Goodbye, Babydoll ♡




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