The Herbivore's DilemmaJapan panics about the rise of "grass-eating men," who shun sex, don't spend money, and like taking walks.
Posted Monday, June 15, 2009, at 2:04 PM ET
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StumbleUponBut it was the bursting of Japan's bubble in the early 1990s, coupled with this shift in the social landscape, that made the old model of Japanese manhood unsustainable. Before the bubble collapsed, Japanese companies offered jobs for life. Salarymen who knew exactly where their next paycheck was coming from were more confident buying a Tiffany necklace or an expensive French dinner for their girlfriend. Now, nearly 40 percent of Japanese work in nonstaff positions with much less job security.
"When the economy was good, Japanese men had only one lifestyle choice: They joined a company after they graduated from college, got married, bought a car, and regularly replaced it with a new one," says Fukasawa. "Men today simply can't live that stereotypical 'happy' life."
Yoto Hosho, a 22-year-old college dropout who considers himself and most of his friends herbivores, believes the term describes a diverse group of men who have no desire to live up to traditional social expectations in their relationships with women, their jobs, or anything else. "We don't care at all what people think about how we live," he says.
Many of Hosho's friends spend so much time playing computer games that they prefer the company of cyber women to the real thing. And the Internet, he says, has helped make alternative lifestyles more acceptable. Hosho believes that the lines between men and women in his generation have blurred. He points to the popularity of "boys love," a genre of manga and novels written for women about romantic relationships between men that has spawned its own line of videos, computer games, magazines, and cafes where women dress as men.
Fukasawa contends that while some grass-eating men may be gay, many are not. Nor are they metrosexuals. Rather, their behavior reflects a rejection of both the traditional Japanese definition of masculinity and what she calls the West's "commercialization" of relationships, under which men needed to be macho and purchase products to win a woman's affection. Some Western concepts, like going to dinner parties as a couple, never fit easily into Japanese culture, she says. Others never even made it into the language—the term "ladies first," for instance, is usually said in English in Japan. During Japan's bubble economy, "Japanese people had to live according to both Western standards and Japanese standards," says Fukasawa. "That trend has run its course."
Japanese women are not taking the herbivores' indifference lightly. In response to the herbivorous boys' tepidity, "carnivorous girls" are taking matters into their own hands, pursuing men more aggressively. Also known as "hunters," these women could be seen as Japan's version of America's cougars.
While many Japanese women might disagree, Fukasawa sees grass-eating boys as a positive development for Japanese society. She notes that before World War II, herbivores were more common: Novelists such as Osamu Dazai and Soseki Natsume would have been considered grass-eating boys. But in the postwar economic boom, men became increasingly macho, increasingly hungry for products to mark their personal economic progress. Young Japanese men today are choosing to have less to prove.
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Just because the roles for very young men in this very patriarchal society are evolving doesn't mean that the roles for women are changing, or changing fast enough. If half of Japan's population is undergoing their own personal r/evolution, while the other half is still expected to get married, have children, and assume a subordinate role in life, work, and society, then why would you be surprised that Japanese women are disturbed if this really is a growing trend? Just remember which side of the gender pool engineered societies in which women are helpless and dependent on men before you get in a snit about women's' reactions to profound changes that leave them out in the cold.
-- PeaceInAPod
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I see this shift as inevitable for different reasons. We've seen women's roles in the west change dramatically in the past 20 years. Gender role as it applies to homosexuals, women working, and divorce rates are all very much in the past in Japan. Roles of women are still nowhere near as equal in Japan as they are in the West. What we're seeing is more of an equalization of that (which is a good thing). Maybe soon they'll start NOT letting women go when they get pregnant, expand rights for the gay community, and have more tolerant working conditions.
Look at the description of the "grass eater" again. I'm not so sure it's that different from what our western ideals are. Look at the TV show "the Office" for example. The most "likeable" character is Jim Halpert, an unambitious guy who drifts through his career as something he does incidentally. Compare that with Dwight, who sees his job as the defining characteristic of who he is. I see the "grass eaters" as more like Jim, while the more traditional Japanese ideas of manhood are more like Dwight. I don't think it's uniquely Japanese for the younger folks in Japan to want to be more like Jim than like Dwight.
Also it should be important to keep in mind that "traditional" Japanese offices work a whole lot longer than their American counterparts. We've seen a depressed Japanese economy for the past 20 years or so. Is it any wonder that a new generation of men doesn't want to work for 12 hours in a job that isn't all that interesting?
-- watchreader
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