Rankingu

I think it would be fair to call myself a feminist. Like, in terms of the actual definition of the word (not the made-up definition bandied about in comment threads and on talk radio):

[fem-uh-nist]

adjective

1. advocating social, political, legal, and economic rights for women equal to those of men.

noun

2. an advocate of such rights.

And this sometimes leads to an odd disconcert with my feelings towards Sakura Gakuin. This is one of those times. Women have historically been pitted against one another in competition for recognition and approval of a frankly male-dominated society at large - rather than encouraged to develop a sense of cooperation and teamwork.  I of course appreciate all of the girls each on their own unique merit, and I could never say that one is truly "better" than another.

But there is no denying the fact that fans find their oshimen. That's just the reality of the situation. And so inevitably we all engage in some form of ranking. It somehow seems kind of wrong to me to compose a list of the SG girls ranking them, but let's do it anyway. Here's my list, compiled about one month ago:

This list is still pretty representative of my feelings, though I think that if I were to take it again there would be some shuffling and rearrangement in the middle of the list.

While on this topic, I might as well bring up a discussion I had online a while ago with a very angry lady who did not like the fact that songs like 'Gimme Chokko' by Babymetal and 'Gokigen Mr. Toropikalory' by SG focus on girls worrying about their weight. She also had a problem with that one Meghan Trainer song about the bass or whatever, saying basically that songs should focus on appearance at all, but on the personality, intelligence, and other such qualities of females. And yeah, it would be great for society in general if people paid more attention to the inner workings and accomplishments of women and less to their superficial appearance.

But here's the thing: just because we wish for a world where girls are not unduly obsessed with their weight doesn't mean it is wrong to acknowledge that these thoughts/pressures are very real things they have to take into account in their lives, and that others can relate to. Just acknowledging - rather than sticking our heads in the sand and ignoring - the everyday experiences that women and girls feel is not necessarily an endorsement of the view that females should worry about their weight so much. It's wrong to downplay or devalue the feelings of others - what a cruel thing to do to another person - and it does nothing constructive to solve the problem they are so concerned about it the first place.

I used to be quite cynical about the world, seeing the wrong and the bad in every situation - not so different from that angry lady in the comments section. But Sakura Gakuin have really opened up a  long ago closed door to optimism and positivity and genuine happiness and the ability to see all the good in the world. I try not to let people put that heavy shroud of cynicism back on me. I can still see and recognize all the problems with the world we live in, but I'm no longer a slave to the idea that that is the only thing worth focusing on.