Hi there! If you've noticed this post is a bit more formal in writing, it is because I would like to make it easy to understand when someone puts it through translation software, as Usatani is Japanese. I cannot speak or write in Japanese, but in case she does read this blog, it can be readable. This isn't a direct letter to Usatani, but I wanted to write this out in response to her video.
Also, a disclaimer, I am a white woman living in the USA. There are probably things I don't know about the community and its inner workings, and I would love to hear other perspectives from other western gyaru as well on their thoughts. Additionally, if any gals from across the globe have similar issues in their community that just aren't talked about a lot, I'd love to know. When I say "western", I am mostly speaking about gyaru and general online culture. in the United States of America, as that is where I live and what my algorithm shows me.
Recently, Usatani has made a few short videos about the western gyaru community. The most recent one regarding the bullying issues in the community. Watching the videos made me think a lot about our community, and the problems that have been apparent since I joined the online space as a quiet lurker in 2022/2023, and as a gyaru myself in late 2024.
For me personally, thinking that the western gyaru community is toxic is something that makes me uncomfortable, as I've had many good experiences in the gyaru space I've curated. However, I do realize we do have problems that have caused a lot of tension in the community. There is a lack of passion coming from well-known gals as they prioritize profit or policing, half of the western community struggles to accept the new Reiwa trends coming out of the East, and there's this invisible struggle to prove oneself, to perform, and to have it perfect the first attempt.
I think the most apparent issue is that there's been a huge issue of gyaru coming into the spaces who either want to spend time making profit, or policing other gyarus, instead of having a genuine passion for the gyaru subculture.
In the United States, influencer culture has blown up, and is seen as a highly profitable market. If one can gain enough followers to get on good terms with brands to make money, they can make more money than one could hope for. However, in the United States, the idea of the influencer has shifted from someone who shares their passion and gains a following over time, to someone who can artificially inflate their following and then turn into an online salesman. Are there people like this in the gyaru community? Yes. Yes there are. You can tell when someone is trying to put profit over passion by making a "create an outfit" video that is focused on using pieces from a sponsored clothing brand instead of trying to make a cohesive outfit. They tell people the perfect gal make is easily unlocked by buying a specific makeup brand's eyeshadow palette and they get a commission if you use their link, vs just telling people "I got this eyelash glue and it works really well, you can find it at your local drug store." It feels ingenuine as they're not focused on the love and passion of gyaru, to read through magazines.
Influencers who also start getting into gal and immediately try to become a resource just share the same information over and over and over and over again, and half the time the information isn't even right! It's very surface level. I would love to see gal influencers share their inspirations more, tisheir through process behind their make, their styling methodology, favorite magazines, etc.
Then there's also the heavy amount of policing. I will say, I love to give advice and concrit when people ask, and it's good to get advice from people who know what gal is, especially veterans who have been in the game. I do believe some people are trying to make gyaru fit for them, but they don't have the mindset yet. However, policing is getting a bit too extreme at times, and it's not even considered concrit, as the level of concrit is mediocre.
This is going to sound very mean. My current issue with the gyaru policing issue is that we have gyaru policing what should and shouldn't be gyaru when they have no authority to determine that. We have veteran gals in the community who have studied the magazines, share resources, know the heisei era and interact with those gals, I listen to them, and even if I don't agree at times, I still respect their viewpoint because they have experience to back it up, and it shows in how they present their look. However, there's this new type of gal in the western community who has been around for a while, but they don't prove they have knowledge of gyaru and it shows in how they style themselves, how all they can do is spread the same information as the influencer, and it's almost like they want to be an influencer in the space themselves, but they just can't figure out how to gain similar notoriety as the algorithm did not choose them to blow up. They demand respect when they spend more time policing and complaining about others vs posting about their passions. I feel as though these specific gals get tied with the vets somehow and the vets that are helpful keep getting called out.
Additionally, concrit(feedback) that I've seen is not helpful. Linking a blog post to generic advice on substyles is not helpful to help someone on a specific code. Linking one single gal makeup tutorial is not going to help. The concrit that helps is noting what colors clash in their eye make, if they should thicken their eyeliner to help bring the look together. If they're over accessorizing, if the hair doesn't work. You should point out what does not work and provide recommendations. Concrit should also not just be "this isn't gyaru.", concrit should be able to help someone improve.
When it comes to what the current trend of gyaru is in the western community, one half is romanticizing the Heisei era and wants to stick to the trends of the past, while other gals are moving forward with Reiwa trends and also including the yabi influence on current gyaru trends. There's a clash here because some people believe the current trends don't give homage of the old gyarus of the past, while other people are into the current and don't care about the past. It's hard because I can understand both sides, I lean more towards the older styles, but I also do like what some of the newer brands are coming out with. It can be hard to accept new trends if you don't like them, it can be hard when you see gyaru styling pieces that look off, and the easiest solution would be to let them be happy and style yourself in the way that makes you happy. However, in western social media spaces, we've learned to be more combative due to the political climate we have, we learned we have to fight, we cannot be silent. In my opinion, you should be fighting injustices, fighting against bigotry, but we don't need to be fighting another gyaru if they style themselves in a way you don't like. I have noticed a massive shift though, that western gals are starting to move more and more with Reiwa, and find new things. The ma*rs fits are slowly falling out of the main fashion trend on my social media feed(I however, will be keeping those forever lol)
Though we struggle with influencers, policing, stuck between what we want to be inspired by, the biggest struggle in the western gyaru community is this weird self-requirement to "perform" on social media, to be seen and approved as a gyaru by anyone online. I feel like this is a much deeper topic I would like to type out in another blog one day, but the western society has pushed for individuality, but also to prove authentic individuality. During the COVID-19 pandemic, many people became interested in alternative subcultures in the US, and realized they could profit from it, which lead to a lot of influencers in alternative spaces who weren't actually passionate, and seen as 'frauds'. This still happens today in many alternative spaces, including ours (see my paragraph above on influencers). So people feel this urge now to prove they're authentically into things for the sake of random commenters online.
With gals in the community wanting to prove they're a gyaru and not a poser, they're overcompensating to be seen as a gyaru, they're more focused on proving they're a gyaru versus having passion about the gyaru subculture. This leads into people with more costume-like makeup, wigs, slamming brands on top of each other as they believe the brand is what makes the look vs the styling, the care of putting a coordinate together. The new people to gyaru want to be a gyaru NOW, and have the perfect final product immediately. I think the r/actualgyaru reddit shows many instances of new gals trying to prove they're a gal, and being met with concrit, which causes them to give up as they didn't get it right the first time and are now discouraged. Gyaru cannot be achieved in one day, it's a subculture, it's working on understanding fashion, makeup, trends, and mindset over a period of time. You'll hit a point where you look back on yourself and realize you have grown a lot.
I also think a lot of gyaru end up policing the identity of other gyarus for the sake of their own identity. AKA, "If they're a gyaru dressed like that, people might think I'm not a gyaru!" And to that I say, if we don't live in Japan no one is going to think we're gyaru. They're going to think we're going to a Comic-Con or the club.
Ok... so I just did a bunch of complaining. What can the western gyaru community do? What can I do as the writer of this blog?
- Passion comes first, whether you are an influencer or not, share your inspirations, your thought processes, what you think of current trends, what brands are releasing! Are you keeping up to date with modern mags? Do you go back on old ones? You can share this with the community! I love reading think pieces.
- Stop trying to invalidate other gals if you don't like how they style themselves. Stop trying to tear gals down. If you think someone isn't good for the community, let them suffer in silence, if you keep bringing attention and hate to someone, they can turn it right back around at you.
- If someone asks for concrit, make sure it's good.
- Accept no matter what, you are a gyaru. You will be a gyaru as long as YOU think you are a gyaru. If you focus on your passion for gyaru and your improvement in the continuous journey.
- Stop trying to prove you're a gyaru to social media. If someone tells you you're not a gyaru or tries to police you, the block button is right there. It's a great button let me tell ya!
- Talk to gals IRL! It is a nice reminder the gyaru that actually go to the meets are good people!!!
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