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27
03.08

Under 17 and °S-exy, Not °C-ute

 [Image: °C-ute's Namido no Iro Cover]


Even with my walk, I’m giving you hints
I’m not immodest
(Don’t Stop!) I’m not a child
°C-ute’s Tokaikko Junjou

I am not prudish but, seriously, °C-ute’s cover is a bit much. Isn’t it far more sexy than it is cute? The group’s name is °C-ute, so they should stick to being cute. When they get a bit older, they can change their name to °S-exy and sing things like, “Don’t stop! I’m not a child,” but until then they should avoid such inappropriateness.

You may think I’ve lost it, and that I’m really going too far when I label the cover inappropriate. They’re not showing any clevage; their expressions aren’t exceedingly sultry; they don’t have on a lot of makeup.

A combination of things (their ages, their clothes/makeup/poses, and their fanbase), not one thing, leads me to believe that this cover is inappropriate. The second girl from the left, the one rocking the lovely golden peep-toe heels, turned TWELVE last month. The others are a bit older, but they’re all under 17. What are pre-teens going to think, when they look at their role models and see them dressed like this?

Honestly, I don’t know if this group has a lot of young girl fans. They must have some fans their age and younger, but it’s hard to spot them at °C-ute events. What’s easy to spot? The hordes of older men.  Watch the first few seconds of this video and look at the crowd.

Their latest cover seems to discourage younger fans and  to encourage older men to join the already existent mob of older men fans. For various reasons, I’m not entirely comfortable with the group going more in that direction.

What do you think? Is the cover inappropriate?

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16 Comments to “Under 17 and °S-exy, Not °C-ute”

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Never heard of that band, so I’m just going to orientate myself on the cover and their ages.

12 and under 17 you say? Well, I wouldn’t let my kid dress that way. And then people wonder why young girls get raped…

Well, I don’t know if they dress like that outside of the band, I could assume that the managers focus on “sex sells”.

But yeah, their fans probably orientate themselves on their group idols and will dress the same way, at age 12, which, to me, doesn’t seem right. The one on the right and the third from the right, that’s ok. With their capris. The second from right looks like she’s about 10! Hot pants and short short skirts in that young age? A no-go for me.

Yep, I’d say the cover is inappropriate. I’ve never seen a 12-year old wearing such high-heels and boots. But I have no idea, I’m never around 12-year olds. But I don’t even see people in our age dress like that *shrugs*

Posted by: Tracy · March 27th, 2008 at 12:59 am · #

On the one hand, I’d say you’re right. On the other hand, this is showbiz and older men are the ones with more money… and apparently the parents/guardians of these girls prefer money to their girls’ safety.

It’s not inappropriate per se, but the picture does look slightly disturbing. The dresses they wear are appropriate for 20(and 20+) year olds, and these girls are clearly still kids. The one that disturbs me most, is the second form the right though. That dress is just not right for her…

Posted by: Vera · March 27th, 2008 at 1:15 am · #

My views of the management would probably not be popular with fans so I tend to keep them quiet.

Posted by: Charlie · March 27th, 2008 at 6:14 am · #

I think the problem is that everything is getting unsettlingly sexualised these days. I’m not so surprised to, in the example you gave, that the word “cute” and “sexy” would be used interchangeably by some to describe them. The kind of “I’m young and cute, but check out how short my shorts are!” look. =/

Posted by: Belinda · March 27th, 2008 at 7:23 am · #

Is the cover art appropriate? For a band? Yes. These girls have already been denied a childhood by simply being in the group. I don’t think any 12 year old should be working in a band and on tour. Wearing a mature dress is the least of her worries.

Personally, if I saw one of these girls on the street I would think she was trying to be older than she was. Again, I don’t think that is a healthy way to treat your childhood. Everyone does it, but looking back I wonder why I always wanted to be older.

These girls and their managers are trying to sell an image and that image is apparently supposed to be both girlish cute and mature sexy. They probably draw in fans who are young and see the cute side and also an older set that responds to the mature side.

Also, not that it sheds any true light, but these styles are extremely common in Japan. Even in rural Gunma girls in high school and middle school are wearing outfits almost identical to those depicted on the cover. Short shorts are very fashionable now.

Also, to the first commenter: Girls don’t get raped because of what they were wearing. Rape is an act of aggression and isn’t based on the victim’s behavior or their clothing choices.

Posted by: yondole · March 27th, 2008 at 8:28 am · #

I doubt that I would think anything about the cover if their fanbase wasn’t so old. They really don’t seem to have young fans… If I were a parent and if I saw all of the grown-up men who attended their events, I wouldn’t want to take my kids to see them.

I don’t see why they can’t be marketed to people their own age or even to teenage boys. People are willing to buy their children things; Hannah Montana (Miley Cirus) is one of the biggest artists in the US.

I also don’t think that anyone who has commented looked at the video (my stats say you didn’t :P). The video adds another layer to the perhaps inappropriateness of the cover (it shows their fans (3? little girls + 100 old men)).

Posted by: Chantelle · March 27th, 2008 at 12:39 pm · #

I think it’s disgusting. But then I also see young girls dressed like trollops on the street and wonder how parents could possibly even think of letting their children walk around like that. “Sexualisation” of someone old enough to be having sex? Fine… but 12 year old girls?

Maybe I AM a prude.

Posted by: Jem · March 27th, 2008 at 2:14 pm · #

It always bugs me when such young girls are pushed into roles where they are modeled to become sexual symbols. You’re right, their looks aren’t sultry, but their skirts are short. It’s totally offensive that a TWELVE year old is making money off of sex appeal. Sure, sex sells, but there should be laws against selling sex at only twelve years old.

Posted by: Brianna · March 27th, 2008 at 5:27 pm · #

They looks like a bunch of emo high schoolers standing outside the mall waiting for their parents to come pick them up or something.

So neither cute nor sexy, I’d say.

One of those girls look about the same age as my nephew. That’s the thing with being a girl though, it’s like if you want any kind of attention, you need to sex yourself up. If you’re smart, then maybe you can get by on your intelligence…

If you’re neither attractive nor smart… ugh, I don’t want to be going off on a tangent now, so I’ll stop myself before I go there.

Posted by: Stalin · March 27th, 2008 at 5:44 pm · #

The audience in the video is just a bunch of guys… pervs I’d say o_O
I didn’t spot any little girl in the audience, or maybe there were a couple and they were all blocked by that mob of… um, pedophiles. I don’t think it’s entirely the guy’s fault though, dressing like that means that is the kind of audience you are addressing, so yes, it is very inappropriate. The way they dress is of course part of marketing themselves, but whoever manages and dresses them is clearly not aiming for a public the same age of the girls, and that is reflected in the audience we see in that video.

Hm, that’s just too bad.

Posted by: Lene · March 28th, 2008 at 1:31 pm · #

I watched the video and all I could think was how creepy it all was :|! There were all these old men jumping up and getting all excited. Honestly the cover is a bit much for these young girls. It’s so disgusting how these days a twelve year old girl can go traipsing around looking like a twenty year old woman and be labelled ‘normal.’ Some people would look at the cover and go ‘Pfft that’s how other girls their age dress. It’s just normal for girls their age!’ But what isn’t normal is how we think it’s acceptable for young girls to be walking around with way too much makeup on, and barely there clothes. I think it’s wrong really. I’m fourteen and I just shudder at the fact that our youth are acting much too old for their age and this is a prime example!

Posted by: Yara · March 28th, 2008 at 4:02 pm · #

Whoa, that is really disturbing. The girls look so young in the video, and the older men just seem like creepy pedophiles. It’s inappropriate, but I also think it’s very sad :(

Posted by: Kaylee · March 28th, 2008 at 4:25 pm · #

I think girls that dress like this are just asking for trouble. Honestly, that girl’s only TWELVE! What happened to the hoodies and jeans? I find that young people are maturing quicker and quicker, which isn’t always a good thing. I don’t see any problem with enjoying our youth, why do they want to grow up so soon?

Posted by: Regina · March 28th, 2008 at 6:03 pm · #

I’ve never heard of them but they certainly look older than they are. And that’s not good if they’re all under seventeen. The second girl to the left is only twelve? I thought she’d be at least sixteen. I agree with you, they dress way too old for their ages and it’s not good for their younger fans. And why do they feel the need to dress like that anyway, they still have their whole lives ahead of themselves to dress like adults, now they should just enjoy their time as a teenager…

Posted by: Nanda · March 29th, 2008 at 3:16 am · #

@Regina and Nanda: They’re dressed as they are in the photo, because those are the clothes their staff picked out for them to wear. They’re young girls and their judgment might not be quite as sound as it would be if they were older, so even if they did pick out those clothes and posed on their own - one would hope that someone would tell them to do things differently…

And Nanda, yep that girl is only 12. She turned 12 this year too. The photo may have been taken when she was 11…

What I really hate is how these girls are being dressed like this and then marketed to old men. :(

Posted by: Chantelle · March 29th, 2008 at 3:55 am · #

What the fuck, twelve? Seriously?

:|

paedo!team :P

Posted by: Jenny · March 29th, 2008 at 12:51 pm · #

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