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.
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Tonya R. Moore
Small Fish. Big Universe.
I love to write. I love the flexibility and weight of words and the infinite possibilities and magic that can be wrought by just the right combination of them.
Visit MY HOMEPAGE to Read my Short Stories, Flash Fiction, Poetry and on-going Web-Serials, as well as Browse and Add Listings to the Web Fiction Directory.
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Modern Subculture Meets Feminist Archetype
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The MAG in its endeavor to promote quality writing and thus encourage the good, old, reading habit, is holding a Short Story Writing Competition from 10th January 2010 to 31st May 2010. Visit The MAG's Short Story Writing Contest page for more information.
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