The Lolita Complex: - Scholarly Commons Home

For one thing it is widely believed (whether rightly or wrongly) that the
Lolita fashion style is unattractive to Japanese males. Makoto Sekikawa, the
founding editor of Japan’s CUTiE magazine, has supported this notion,
having stated that the cute aesthetic to which the Gothloli pertains is “not
pleasing to the eye of most men” because it is “the antithesis of [acceptable
and] traditional fashion”. 144 In general, he has claimed, the overriding
preference is for women to wear clothing that emphasises “womanliness
and common sense”. 145
This opinion that cute attire is not appealing to men is due to the
expectation that girls are raised to be mothers and wives. Demonstrating
that one is still a child and not ready to be responsible or sensible through
the adoption of childish behaviour and dress is, therefore, nonconformist
and culturally unacceptable. Hence my argument that the Lolita movement
represents rebellion or, in Sekikawa’s words, “there is rebelliousness in it”. 146
That the kawaii aesthetic, wherein the Lolita style resides, does not
conform for the young adult woman to the way that “respectable” women
should present themselves is emphasised when one remembers that cute
images of women are often related to Woman as a sexual object. Rejecting
the “norms” or expectations that nice, respectable, marriageable women
should be womanly (or mature), and have (adult) common sense in favour
of childishness and cuteness, is thus rebellious, as it rejects the ultimate duty
of growing up and acquiring a suitable husband.
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