The Lolita Complex: - Scholarly Commons Home

But, is this the end or just the beginning? History has shown, in regard
to movements of popular culture, that natural disasters, on a scale such as
this, will cause certain shifts in society. In association with Lolita, I believe
that these precedents will determine one of the following things:
Due to larger priorities it may be that running around in expensive,
pretty, frilly dresses, and playing at tea parties with dolls, will be considered
even more frivolous and superficial, and thus through guilt and or necessity,
this kind of behaviour may become obsolete. It may be that Japanese youth
itself wakes up and realises that it is no longer appropriate to shirk adult
responsibilities.
On the other hand, as argued throughout this thesis, at times of crisis,
and often as a reaction to trauma, upheaval and instability, it can be natural
to want to escape and to turn to something that feels safe and or even
joyous. It may be that the apparently waning Lolita subculture thus begins to
take off on a larger tangent than ever before. *
Only time will tell what the future holds for Lolita. Maybe she can be
an eternal princess, but perhaps the Perpetual Child will have to grow up.
* In any case, the tsunami, even if only temporarily, did something to break down barriers between
Japan and the rest of the world, in that the Japanese were not for that moment the “Other” but
kindred human beings at a time of suffering. It was an agony that was felt by many the world over.
It appeared to be our trauma, not just theirs. Perhaps this was felt on a greater scale in New
Zealand, coming so soon after the devastation of Christchurch, from which everyone was still
reeling. Sympathy must also have been felt in Australia by those who had just endured the
destruction caused by the terrible floods.
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