Parasites in Pret-a Porter

Really great article! Parallels so obvious!
At first as I am reading it I am judging the Japanese women. Then, by the end, I am like, "Wow, I love these women, I can relate to them, I AM THEM (kinds sorta)!!
I think my students are different from me in that they would skip the judging part and go right to the relating part. I feel that my students especially out here in California are more materialistic than my students in were in Detroit. (I'm speaking mainly of the Latino population of California as compared to the Latino population of say, the Southwest Detroit area- just one that I taught in).
One obvious reason it's more materialistic out here is simply because the economic opportunities are better out here. People can buy more, and achieve more materialistically. As I talked more and more to my students and parents out here I understand the factors at play.
Many people in California come here from abject poverty. To be able to buy a house, car, computer, and to support a family is amazing. It is the end point of all goals. Why get an education if you can get reach all your goals without an education or with a partial (high school at most) education? Any ideas of education for an even better job, education's sake, or for prestige are completely foreign AND irrelevant. One could call them middle-class ideas really (OK middle-class American at least).

OK, I got a little off topic there, but I think that the part that would be mind expanding for my students would be looking at the similarities and differences that bring the the Japanese women to their current (more or less) position of being such material girls. Can my students relate or not? Why or why not?
It sounds like many Japanese women are jaded. The common outcome to unfettered capitalism and industrialization seems to be eventually facing the inconvenient abuse of power between men and women (add races and classes as well). None of their choices look very attractive. I can't say I blame them for choosing superficial fun. It seems to be a rational reaction to very rigidly proscribed choices put in front of them. Maybe as in America- women will lead the charge for a closer examination of the deeper values for everyone. Men may thank us later, but first, we may have to face and get through a very messy adjustment period!
As to creative ways to explore THIS with our students--please reply to me my social science colleagues!

I loved this article! I know sterotypes aren't always true, but I never would have imagined there was a slacker generation in Japan! A group big enough to have their own name. I love the social- gossipy parts of history so this modern history was especially fun for me to read. It is interesting for me to see how the Japanese women aren't feed the "you need to be married/have a kid etc" mantra that women here in America are feed. Another example I can use for my love sick 7th graders (they never can believe that in the past you would have gotten married for reasons other than love).

Another random thing that jumped out to me that maybe someone who was raised in another country can answer. When I watch tv in other countries I frequently see dubbed American shows. But even though I know we get shows from other countries we (usually) remake them, I've never seen a dubbed one in primetime. Are the people in these countries like Japan bothered by watching dubbed American shows, or is that the fact that the people are American (and therefore usually not looking like the people in that country) not an issue at all? Anyone?

I loved this article as well. I think it is bad that the girls are living off of their parents, but their parents are allowing them to do so. I did like how the women didn't define themselves by getting married and having children. As a 30 something whom is getting married this summer, I always got a lot of comments from my moms friends as to why I hadn't gotten married and had children yet. In my opinion, there seems to be a lot of pressure placed upon American women to settle down and have kids and your life isn't complete until you do so.
I think it is a personal choice and I don't think women should be defined based on their decision to wed or not. So I did agree with some of the view of the young ladies in the articles . It is ironic that they are considered parasites but they are contributing to the economy with their spending habits.
Very interesting.

Pret-a-Porter is indicative of a cultural change that seems to happen in societies that suffer from prosperity. It seems that when times are tough in a nation or large community, the people are willing to endure sacrifice for the survival and good of all. As a student of history, I've read about the sacrifices our American pioneers were very willing to accept to make a nation to be proud of for their children and the next generations. The generation previous to myself here went to war, the most horrific war in the history of man, to preserve the ideal of America. It cost tens of thousands of them their lives. The generation after me, for the most part, do not realize what the generation of the mid-1900's did to secure their way of life. It seems that they don't really care. They don't even seem to want to learn about it. The next generations are prone to forget the lessons of history. They live in a bubble of self-centeredness. I am beginning to realize and be grateful for many things my father encouraged me to appreciate. I hope to do this and encourage others to do the same.

Pret-a Porter is the story of a Japanese me generation, but it is happening here, too.

I love being Asian because I could relate to so many of these articles and give an unbiased opinion. The "parasites" that exist in Japan also exist here in Costa Mesa. Asians overall are known to be living with their parents until they get married regardless of the fact that they are Vietnamese, Japanese, Koreans, etc. The Asians that I know are not particularly "parasites" but they do use their parents' home as a place where they could live and eat. With all the extra money they have, they could invest it into homes if they are smart. If they are not so smart and are more superficial, they would spend their money on BWM and Louis Vuitton bags. It's almost a law that everyone lives with their parents until they are "married" off. What this means is that Asians save a lot of money in utility bills and rent; with the extra money they can do pretty much anything they want.