what it means to be a gyaru abroad

 

Hellowww,

I feel a little bit better today, done a couple rounds laundry, just sat down and have the energy to write some more again.

Today is a topic that is relevant to the gaijin gyaru community most and gaijin identity within the fashion: what it means to be a gyaru abroad.

Can I even be gyaru, if I am not japanese?

I think it is a difficult topic to discuss because the gaijin community is spread over the whole globus and each place is different in their values, in their culture and their national identity as well.

It is difficult, because you cannot speak about something in an umbrella-way that everyone experiences different and push it all into one drawer.

That's why please note here, I am trying to find words to explain it how it is to be a gyaru abroad from my perspective, specifically in the country/forest-side of germany in this case.

I remember reading Rays post about how gyaru is a japanese substyle and being a gaijin means you will never be authentically gyaru. That we find our place within the gaijin gyaru scene and it is to be seperated from the original gyaru scene. At first I agreed with it, the japanese gyaru are on their own and then theres the gaijins. Over the years it actually feels like it is split into 3 groups now: the "original" japanese, the gaijin newbies on tiktok and the gaijin vets, due to conflicts within the community over the past years. I have been thinking about this sentence so much, it actually gave me a little crisis a months back that made me question "can I count myself as gyaru even? what makes me gyaru then?" (maybe that was also because I don't have a connection to the gaijin community) and I rejected the label. I didn't feel like I wanna be a poser.

Little note to Ray here: don't worry, I don't think what you said was wrong...I think it was the right approach to start this topic and discuss it.

I saw a video a while ago on pinterest with the caption "makeup tutorial from an ACTUAL gyaru" and I thought: what a weird way to phrase this. Who is giving you the right to call yourself an ACTUAL gyaru and all the others are...not? People forget that they used to beginners too. Who are the "not actual" gyarus then? Is there a law about it? Maybe I think she is not an actual gyaru. If we follow Rays approach, nobody of us is an actual gyaru who is not japanese. What if someone is japanese but grows up in, let's say america? They do not have the same surroundings like jp gals from japan. Do they count as "actual" gyaru?

I read the ganguro girls book yesterday...I saw screenshots of it a couple times some years ago and I was interested in reading it before but how life is, when you have a job and responsibilities, you put something on your to-do list and it takes months until you are finally able to look it up, because it is going under sometimes. What I noticed is, the gals back in the days were mostly teens around 15/16. In that age you have no responsibilities, jobs and kids to take care off etc. and many of them said they want to practice ganguro until around 20 only. It is a little detail that immediately falls into your eyes. Most likely it was the culture in japan. The girls knew at some point they had to stop or prioritize other things. Although japan also changed throughout the years, it is still pretty much conservative. If you want to get a good-paying job, you have to look the part and get the education for it. It is actually pretty rare that you can do both: be gal and take care of your adult responsibilities...nobody knows that better than the onee gals of the community that are over 20. The environment in japan forces many ganguro to stop with their passion and although we in the western world may have more freedom in some cases, we also have our own struggles where gyaru mindset comes into action.

Gyaru mindset is having passion for fashion and makeup, being happy and just wanting to dance and enjoy life...and that by also rebelling against societal standards. That rebellious mindset can look different according to the place someone lives in.

In my case, I live in the black forest: most people prioritize practical clothes over fashion. The people are very minimalistic, focusing a lot on "saving money" and being efficient. Rebelling against standards here means to wear impractical clothes, just wearing something that is flashing and looks cool. The people here praise getting a good job, being a part of the "working system" and I don't take it as a priority...money comes and goes, I  rather have a job that allows me to be myself. 

The phrase "gyaru is mind" comes to action when gyaru mind is wanting to look the part. It has been abused in the couple years as an excuse why you can't look gyaru because it is "all mindset" apparently.

No, gyaru mind is wanting to look like that in every environment and making it work somehow.

Gyaru mind is having passion for fashion and makeup, being happy and just wanting to dance and enjoy life...

That applies to me. I don't feel less authentic just because I am not japanese. Although it took me a couple months now to get to this result. I personally feel less affiliation with the gaijin community than the japanese community in some way. The gaijin community is lacking too much creativity and independence in some way.

I remember when Black Diamond said a couple years ago, they want to spread the gyaru message across the world until everyone is gyaru. I doubt they had in mind, that the foreign gyaru have to be seperated from the japanese. 

Being a gyaru abroad means, that you want to style yourself and being rebellious to the standards of your surroundings, regardless of what standards that may be. Being gyaru abroad means having the gal mindset and acting that part, looking fashionable and wild and having fun with it.

xoxo rinmero