草食性男子 part 1

_:_:_ Bear in mind that from now on, this post will be in a mishmash of English and Japanese. Yeah, I admit it, I'm showing off._:_:_

先週の木曜日に、われわれは草食性男子のドキュメンタリーを見ました。草食性男子は日本に新興の象そうだ。
So, Thursday just gone, after having talked about Minamata disease and the dam controversy in... Hitoshi prefecture, if I remember correctly; the subject of 'herbivore men' (known in Japanese as 草食性男子/そうしょくせいだんし/ soushokusei danshi) came up and we watched a video about them that had been on the TV show Cool Japan the night before.
No, that doesn't mean they're vegetarians! And nor does it mean a term my mum came up with that I won't put down here as it was rather adult.

Herbivore men are, from what I've seen, a gentler, sweeter, less brutish kind of male figure.

Those in the UK who've never heard of herbivore men before but watched them in action [on TV or IRL] are probably thinking that these guys are:

1. Metrosexuals [as in the sort of straight man who takes A LOT of pride over his appearance and acts as a good boyfriend/husband/whatever other role he has to fulfill. Think along the lines of David Beckham]
2. Gay; which I can't imagine many Japanese men full stop - never mind the herbivores - would be very comfortable about telling.

Neither is true. Herbivore men aren't as stuck-up as metrosexuals and even if they WERE gay, would it really matter?

A lot of people looked confused/uncomfortable watching it. I however, saw these sweet, kind, down-to-earth, family-orientated men who were more than happy to talk about their girlfriends' appearances and go shopping with them; and an almost cloying - but somehow not unpleasant - feeling of.... almost-love(!!) came over me.

Worryingly, I even found myself swooning and wondering whether there were any boys like that only to realise that I did actually know the likes of the herbivore man outside of Japan.

そして、可笑しい理由どうしても、草食性男子は本社会に悩みと思います。

　草食性男子は家族と友達より儕輩と監督と入りびたります。草食性男子はお菓子で食べますより酒を飲みます。アグレッシブじゃない、けど「愛してる」と言うけして。かれでなんぱで興味ない。

ショッピングが大好きと恋人にうたいますでうれしい。
If it counts for anything, the fact that they never really say "I love you" and are quite unromantic doesn't bother me in the slightest!

Now, why would any of this be a problem? Certainly judging by the looks of things, none of these personality traits seem to be doing anybody any harm.
But company bosses say that it gets lonely without their herbivore colleagues at parties along with everyone else and that it's impossible to get to know a herbivore beyond a very basic work relationship.
And as anyone particularly familiar with Japanese culture knows, afterhours socialising is vital to the average work ethos.
This could be interpreted as harming the workforce.... somehow.

The 草食性's lack of interest in sex could be interpreted as harming the country's birth rate as Japan - like much of the rest of the developing world - is ageing faster than the rate of reproduction. Of course, we need babies to make up for the elderly and to look after future generations of the elderly once they've grown up. Balance, really.

Also, Japanese girls tend to find the fact that 草食性男子 are reluctant to pick them up annoying.

However, along with the 草食性男子 are the carnivorous women. We didn't find much out about them except they're a lot more proactive in dating than their male counterparts.

Anyway, before the next part, here's a link on what carnivorous women are: http://jccabulletin-geppo.ca/crosscurrents/of-herbivorous-men-and-carnivororous-women/