With the widespread use of social networking sites and advanced camera applications, we have much more opportunities to see the faces of many different people today.

Perhaps because of this, there is a growing tendency to one-sidedly judge the appearance of others, assigning superiority or inferiority to them, and discriminating against those who are judged to be inferior.

This focus on lookism or "appearances-above-all" can give people a distorted sense of values in which only beauty matters.

Kyary Pamyu Pamyu responds to slanderous comments on her appearance

On November 21, 2021, internationally famous Japanese singer Kyary Pamyu Pamyu commented on slander on her Twitter account.

According to her post, she says that she often receives comments criticizing her body shape in response to images of specific parts of her body.

"I show items such as rings and shoes (on my social media), but I get comments like, "You've got chubby fingers! or "You have no ankles!" or "You have flat feet!." It really makes me feel like not posting them anymore.
Would I be cute if I lost weight?
What I think is important is being the 'you' that you love."

What Kyary wants to show is not her body, but fashion items such as shoes and rings.

The reason why she takes pictures of herself wearing the items is probably that it's easier to convey the appeal of the items that way.

Whether that was her reasoning or not, Kyary naturally got fed up with all the slanderous comments she received.

After complaining about those who criticize the appearance of others from a safe distance, she expressed her thoughts in a simple but powerful way, in support of loving yourself rather than worrying about what others think about you.

Kyary's post has gone viral and she has received sympathetic comments, such as:

  • "That last sentence is brilliant! Even if people just think they're teasing, I want people to know that it's offensive."
  • "I think that people who criticize other people's appearance have a complex about their own appearance as well."
  • "There are some who make comments like this... People who point out other people's appearance based on their own values are really lame."

From the lyrics of Kyary's song 『100%のじぶんに』 "100% no Jibun ni" (being yourself 100%) some people seem to have realized something about their ideal selves.

Many people want to live in a society where each individual can love themselves and live without being limited by their appearance.


By - grape Japan editorial staff.