Dress Code Violation

I realize I've arrived a little late to the party, but I guess it's finally time to weigh in on the whole midriff controversy. I mean, every one lost their minds for a bit there, and a lot of people are still not over it. Some people, seeing photoshops like the one below, threatened to set themselves on fire if things ever came to that.

That was me. It was me who threatened to set himself on fire.

I loathe this picture with all my soul. I'm only including it out of obvious illustrative necessity. Once this post is published, I plan to rent a chipper/shredder and go all Fargo on my computer. This is just the worst effing thing ever. It pains me to look at it, or even remember that it is a thing that even exists. So I try to pretend it never happened, to just shut it completely out of my mind, but the more you try to avoid entertaining a thought, the more that thought finds clever ways to insinuate itself into your every mental process. It's like, brah... here I am now, entertain me.

Some people seem to think this whole brouhaha came out of nowhere but the fevered, craven mind of the internet, but it actually stems back to a comment Yui made about American fashion. She noticed that in America, women tended to show more skin than in her native Japan, and then expressed some interest (how serious she is, it's hard to tell...) in maybe performing in outfits that expressed their midriffs. Su and Moa seemed far less enthused about the possibility:

And of course Moa talked about food...

Without even realizing it, Yui set off a huge, panic-enducing, firestorm in the fandom. And then Pale (one of the coolest artists alive) poured gasoline on it like some kind of reverse Smoky the Bear asshole guy or something...

twitter.com/pale216

Obviously, for a lot of fukei out there, the key is just that: they identify as fukei, or older males supporting and looking out for their imotous. Yui's comments really strike a nerve by playing on the subconscious dread that many fukei have of the girls growing up.

But, obviously, the girls are growing up. They are continually developing both as ladies and as artists. If they ever were to decide that's the direction they want to go, I'll support them, at least initially. But I think part of what makes Babymetal work so perfectly is the juxtaposition of the darkness and maturity the genre of metal imbues with their innocent and effervescent personalities. But that's just me...

The larger problem is that this whole midriff thing has also coincided with a deluge of upskirt shots from their performance at the Leeds and Reading festivals. These types of photographs are of course going to happen given the high stage on which they perform, as well as the energetic nature of their performance. And it's not like we haven't seen shots like these for years - that's why they wear safety shorts. But to me it just seems like these types of pictures are being posted a disproportionate amount of the time that people post festival pics. So it's not so much that they exist, it's the sudden flood of them that seems a little exploitative to me, especially in conjunction with this whole belly matter.

TOO MUCH, TOO SOON, GUYS!!!