“I’m Japanese,” is the singer’s response to accusations of cultural appropriation.
People are reluctant to part with their youth idols. Millennials – people somewhere between their late 20s and late 30s – mightn’t really ignore Gwen Stefani as a teenager. Some wondered regarding her ’90s “alt-girl” looks: bare midriff, crop top, statement belt, baggy cargo pants, pink or blue hair buns. (Did she come straight from the rave or did she go first?)
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The others were only impressed by her 2000 platinum quiff and her wide repertoire of styles, which ranged from elegant pin-up girl to white rap chic. At least you howled along when the radio played the song “Don’t Speak” from your band No Doubt, a love song regarding the end of the relationship between Stefani and band bassist Tony Kanal, later you rocked up and down on the steering wheel to “Hollaback Girl”. .
The music video for the song also takes us to Stefani’s most dubious stylistic era: During her solo career and around the release of the album “The Sweet Escape”, Stefani appeared once more and once more in videos and on red carpets with four young Asian women dressed in Harajuku-inspired outfits, on. The district located in Shibuya (Tokyo) was the cradle of the “Kawaii” style in the 80s: young girls in particular dress in bright colors, doll-like, cute, with interpretations ranging from Gothic to Lolita attitude. About Stefani’s make-up line Harajuku Lovers, a fragrance collection with five perfumes was also released in 2008, the bottles in the shapes of the singer and her four “Harajuku Girls”.
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Even then, her performance with the four Asian extras was criticized (note: not nearly as broadly effective), due to the discourse on cultural appropriation and a recent interview with Gwen Stefani published by “Allure Magazine” her appearance and entourage at that time once more became the focus The accusation is not simply limited to the fact that her admiration for Japanese culture is reflected in her appearance, but that as an entrepreneur she used a foreign culture to make money with it USA not balanced, many Asian-American people are victims of discrimination and violence Stefani can therefore freely use Japanese culture from her position of power, perhaps also misrepresent it or distort it, without ever experiencing first-hand the disadvantage of belonging to a group to have.
A “super fan”
When asked regarding her “Harajuku Lovers” episode, Stefani replies that her father worked in Japan for years. When she herself traveled to Tokyo as an adult, she knew: “I’m Japanese, I just didn’t know it yet.” She is a “superfan” of Japanese culture: “We learn from each other, we share with each other, we grow with each other. All these rules only separate us more and more,” explains the Italian-American singer. And she keeps repeating: “I’m Japanese.” The Asian-American interviewer was taken aback by such comments. Whether the singer meant the statement literally or only felt close to Japanese culture in the spirit, might not be determined even following repeated inquiries.
