Japanese girls with darkened faces and glaring make-up is something I’ve noticed cropping up in anime, from time to time. I’d heard the words yamamba, mamba and in some cases, ganguro being bandied about but never gave it much thought, until recently.  At first glance, yamamba and mamba struck me as nothing more than a psychedelic parody of the goth subculture. Looking more closely, it becomes apparent that there’s more to the dark tans, white makeup and neon colored hair adopted by yamamba and mamba enthusiasts.

Subcultures & Feminist Anthropological Archetype

Sported with flamboyance and a casual air of self-assertion, these wildly creative styles are profound displays of non-conformity in a culture that on the surface, seems to be defined by pervasive ritualism and self-repression. The somewhat garish appearance of a mamba get-up bears some similarity to imaginings of Yama-uba, the mountain hag of Japanese folklore. While the resemblance between the yamamba/mamba subculture and this archetype is said to be nothing more than coincidence, I couldn’t help but wonder how feminism might relate to the manifestation of anthropological archetypes as earmarks of esoteric subcultures.

Yama-uba, also known as Yamamba or Yamanba is a youkai who takes the form of a crone, much like Baba Yagga of Russian mythology. Yama-uba lives in a hut, deep in the mountains of Japan. She wears a ragged, red kimono. Her long hair is white and wild, sometimes taking on a life of its own–in a Medusa-like fashion. A horrific smile splits her face from one end to the next.  She’s said to be a shape-shifter who deceives then devours lost travelers, yet there are stories of a Yama-uba who is kind to human children–even raising one as her own. Yama-uba seems to be one of many atavistic incarnations of the feminine psyche as a primal being with an incredible capacity for both savagery and benevolence.

This eerie parallel brought to mind, Women Who Run With the Wolves by Dr. Clarissa Pinkola Estes. In this book, she wrote about the Wild Woman. She stresses the importance of nurturing the essence of our beings in a culture that seems hell-bent on suppressing the instinctual nature of the feminine psyche.  She makes some very important points on the damaging effects of self-abnegation.

To gain acceptance in society, we are required to ritualize our existence to the point of obsession, leaving little to no room for original or independent thought. We must starve, carve and corset our bodies and desires into something unnatural. Society takes further steps to perpetuate this cruel cycle by masquerading bending over backwards and becoming a doormat in order to subscribe to these ridiculous demands, as issues of morality.

Even so, the primitive feminine nature isn’t something that can be eradicated or completely suppressed by cultural demands or expectations. Defiance manifests itself in interesting and often, unexpected ways. Extreme cross-cultural distortions of conventional trends speaks to the feminine psyche’s need to break free from the limitations of what is prescribed as desirable attitudes and appearances in civilized women.

We are always trying to liberate ourselves from the psychological bondage imposed upon us by modern society. The ways in which we push the envelope may vary from one continent or community to the next but that desire for freedom of growth and self-expression remains the same within us all. It is this collective need that brings many of us together in extraordinary ways, from the Women’s Liberation Movement to the the Riot Grrrl Movement. Sadly, it is often the fate of these groups to be ridiculed, misunderstood or misrepresented. In worst case scenarios, these people are vilified and fall victim to extreme prejudice and even violence.