"Shojo". Girls, culture and comics Cover Image

"Shojo". Dziewczyny, kultura i komiksy
"Shojo". Girls, culture and comics

Author(s): Natalia Kućma
Subject(s): Gender Studies, Visual Arts, Studies of Literature, Recent History (1900 till today), Sociology of Culture
Published by: Szkoła Wyższa Psychologii Społecznej
Keywords: comics; Shōjo; manga; Japan; culture; body; pop culture; feminism;

Summary/Abstract: This article analyzes shōjo culture and shōjo girls as a participants and creators of this culture. The first part of the article presents the history of girls' schools from the beginning of the 20th century and the ideal of a good wife and wise mother (ryōsai kenbo). The second part focuses on the issue of the "privileged body" of shōjo (girl), which is on the edge between the body of a child and a woman, a boy and a girl. Shōjo manga, as comics addressed to girls, have evolved since the 70s, when women began to create them. At the end I examine aesthetic traits and „the aesthetics of sameness” as tools to create emotional involvement of readers. Shōjo culture is the Japanese version of girl power.

  • Issue Year: 62/2019
  • Issue No: 04
  • Page Range: 6-15
  • Page Count: 10
  • Language: Polish