I was reading Marie Claire the other day and stumbled across a short article about a new DVD in Japan called Crying Girls. I was intrigued. Why on earth would someone want to watch a DVD featuring girls crying as they recalled sad moments in their lives; breaking up with a boyfriend, being yelled at by a boss, etc. I read on. It turns out, this DVD is meant to exhibit the "vulnerability" of women to help certain Japanese men feel more masculine. The DVD claims that men will not be able to resist the women's tears and sexy voices as they cry inconsolably to the camera. Disgusting.
The article goes on to say that in recent years, Japanese women have been asserting more independence in their lives. They expect to be treated as equals instead of as second-class citizens. How dare they. I think it's an amazing thing that women all over the world are empowering themselves, standing up for themselves, and becoming independent of men. But in a society where submissive, quiet women have been the norm, this is a major shift. The article quotes Hiroshi Ueno, an associate social psychologist at Tokyo's Meiji University, who says, "...modern women want to be treated as equals, and some men can't handle that." These men, who are incapable of handling strong, self-assured women, feel so emasculated that they need to watch DVDs like this to feel better about themselves.
This article made me sick to my stomach and incredibly angry. I wonder where these self-help DVDs were for the women who were oppressed and kept down for thousands of years. To these emasculated men, I say, It's time to grow up and learn to accept that women are your equals, your peers, your friends, because if you can't handle strong women, there's no place in society for the likes of you. Women around the world are becoming stronger by the day, and we won't bow down to you anymore.
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