How would you like it if you were treated like a Barbie doll, dragged everywhere by one person who received all the attention?Well, there are four girls with Gwen Stefani who go through this everyday.
I think Gwen is kind of trying to adapt Japanese culture by letting these girls join but I also think she is exploiting these girls for her own commercial gain because people are going to look at Gwen Stefani because she has the Harajuku girls with her everywhere she goes.
I think it’s not fair that she doesn’t let them talk. In one of the Much Music interviews in 2004 the video clip about her saying, the girls are my imagination so don’t talk to them. I thought that was a bit mean of her to say that. I know that they signed a contact and they get paid but not talking it’s kind of ridiculous. I think Gwen doesn’t want them to talk because then all the Media attention is going to go the Harajuku girls named Love, Angel, Music, Baby and obviously Gwen doesn’t want all the Media attention going to the girls so I guess that’s why she doesn’t want them to talk.
It’s like the Harajuku girls are her Barbie dolls and they are all together just to make Gwen look better. For some people who are Japanese do feel like their culture is being portrayed wrong and I can understand because if my culture was portrayed wrong I would be pretty upset too.
There are not that many Asian people out there who are in the media and for other Asian people see the Harajuku girls in the media and representing their culture. It makes them feel proud and accept whatever is out in the media because they don’t want to criticize it and lose it.
Margaret Cho’s is an Asian American who said something like that too “I think it is totally acceptable to enjoy the Harajuku girls, because there are not that many other Asian people out there in the media really, so we have to take whatever we can get.”
From a blog, Media Rants & Reflections Brittany Lennox said, “She is treating them as if they are animals although there are no physical leashes.” I totally agree with this comment because she is treated them like animals and not letting them talk and they wear tones of make-up and how they dress. The Harajuku girls may like it because they get paid but if they didn’t get paid I am pretty sure they would not be where they are now.
Gwen might be trying to adapt Japanese culture to fit in North America’s popular culture but making the girls like “her pets” is not the right way to do it.
Gwen can be paying them a lot of money not to say anything in public, like how Brittany mentioned in. If they are going to get a lot of money for keeping their mouth shut like why wouldn’t they work for her?
The Harajuku girl toy dolls look very fake and nothing like them. It just gives Asian girls the wrong message which is like saying if you don’t look like this then do something about it. The main thing is you should accept yourself as who you are and be proud of your culture and not try to be somebody you’re not.
Elizabeth Clark posted an article on her blog saying “When on the red carpet with the foursome, Stefani is the center of attention: she doesn’t acknowledge the presence of her entourage. In most published photos, she looks directly into the cameras while they look off to the sides, their gazes never meeting our own.” This is a big problem this does not help bring culture, it’s like discriminating them. It’s like she doesn’t want them to be center of attention. She only wants them to be there to help her be the most vivid person there.
How do you feel about these four accessories of Gwen’s? Do you feel multiculturalism is being endorsed or being insulted?
Work Cited
Lennox , Brittany. "Media Rants & Reflections." Exploitation or Adaptation? The Harajuku Girls of Gwen Stefani. 1 October 2007. 18 Oct 2007
http://media-patriot.blogspot.com/2007/10/exploitation-or-adaptation-harajuku.html.
Cho, Margaret. Harajuku Girls. 18 Oct 2007 http://www.margaretcho.com/blog/harajukugirls.htm.
Clark, Elizabeth. Gwen's Girl Trouble. 25 November 2005. 18 Oct 2007 http://www.thefighting44s.com/archives/2005/11/25/gwens-girl-trouble/
Stankovic, Marko. "Maksimalno." Gwen Stefani i Harajuku Devojke. 15 March 2005. 18 Oct 2007 http://www.maksimalno.com/artman/publish/lifestyle/clanak_145.php.
I think Gwen is kind of trying to adapt Japanese culture by letting these girls join but I also think she is exploiting these girls for her own commercial gain because people are going to look at Gwen Stefani because she has the Harajuku girls with her everywhere she goes.
I think it’s not fair that she doesn’t let them talk. In one of the Much Music interviews in 2004 the video clip about her saying, the girls are my imagination so don’t talk to them. I thought that was a bit mean of her to say that. I know that they signed a contact and they get paid but not talking it’s kind of ridiculous. I think Gwen doesn’t want them to talk because then all the Media attention is going to go the Harajuku girls named Love, Angel, Music, Baby and obviously Gwen doesn’t want all the Media attention going to the girls so I guess that’s why she doesn’t want them to talk.
It’s like the Harajuku girls are her Barbie dolls and they are all together just to make Gwen look better. For some people who are Japanese do feel like their culture is being portrayed wrong and I can understand because if my culture was portrayed wrong I would be pretty upset too.
There are not that many Asian people out there who are in the media and for other Asian people see the Harajuku girls in the media and representing their culture. It makes them feel proud and accept whatever is out in the media because they don’t want to criticize it and lose it.
Margaret Cho’s is an Asian American who said something like that too “I think it is totally acceptable to enjoy the Harajuku girls, because there are not that many other Asian people out there in the media really, so we have to take whatever we can get.”
From a blog, Media Rants & Reflections Brittany Lennox said, “She is treating them as if they are animals although there are no physical leashes.” I totally agree with this comment because she is treated them like animals and not letting them talk and they wear tones of make-up and how they dress. The Harajuku girls may like it because they get paid but if they didn’t get paid I am pretty sure they would not be where they are now.
Gwen might be trying to adapt Japanese culture to fit in North America’s popular culture but making the girls like “her pets” is not the right way to do it.
Gwen can be paying them a lot of money not to say anything in public, like how Brittany mentioned in. If they are going to get a lot of money for keeping their mouth shut like why wouldn’t they work for her?
The Harajuku girl toy dolls look very fake and nothing like them. It just gives Asian girls the wrong message which is like saying if you don’t look like this then do something about it. The main thing is you should accept yourself as who you are and be proud of your culture and not try to be somebody you’re not.
Elizabeth Clark posted an article on her blog saying “When on the red carpet with the foursome, Stefani is the center of attention: she doesn’t acknowledge the presence of her entourage. In most published photos, she looks directly into the cameras while they look off to the sides, their gazes never meeting our own.” This is a big problem this does not help bring culture, it’s like discriminating them. It’s like she doesn’t want them to be center of attention. She only wants them to be there to help her be the most vivid person there.
How do you feel about these four accessories of Gwen’s? Do you feel multiculturalism is being endorsed or being insulted?
Work Cited
Lennox , Brittany. "Media Rants & Reflections." Exploitation or Adaptation? The Harajuku Girls of Gwen Stefani. 1 October 2007. 18 Oct 2007
http://media-patriot.blogspot.com/2007/10/exploitation-or-adaptation-harajuku.html.
Cho, Margaret. Harajuku Girls. 18 Oct 2007 http://www.margaretcho.com/blog/harajukugirls.htm.
Clark, Elizabeth. Gwen's Girl Trouble. 25 November 2005. 18 Oct 2007 http://www.thefighting44s.com/archives/2005/11/25/gwens-girl-trouble/
Stankovic, Marko. "Maksimalno." Gwen Stefani i Harajuku Devojke. 15 March 2005. 18 Oct 2007 http://www.maksimalno.com/artman/publish/lifestyle/clanak_145.php.
By: Harp<3
