Negotiation among Children, Adults, and, Society on Body Decorations

KAZATO, Mari

This paper focuses on body decorations that are superior in aesthetic functions among dress and describes the chronological process of the Japanese female children's body decorations, conflicts they face in that process, and the relationship between adult women's body decorations and society. Then, it discusses how children, adults, and society negotiate on body decorations and how social norms, fashion, and convenience are related to aesthetic values. Body decorations were classified into accessories, body painting (makeup) and mutilation (piercing and tattooing). As for the results, firstly, children started to decorate their body during their school years with makeup. Besides aesthetic and amusement, their makeup had social meanings, such as resisting school regulations, negotiating with teachers, sympathizing with friends, and differentiating themselves from others. Secondly, body decorations were restrained in schools, part-time work places, the job-hunting process, and the relationship with parents. In other words, children had conflicts with external regulations, internal norms, and physical difficulties, especially with mutilation. Thirdly, about adult women's body decorations, based on the analysis of popular song lyrics, makeup was the most suitable to Japanese society, though tattoos and pierced earrings were attractively expressed in songs. In addition, as the behavior of taking off accessories represented the body with a private intimacy, accessories were used as tools to switch between public and private modes by taking them on and off. After examining the relationships among norms, fashion, and convenience in regard to bodily decoration, the following can be concluded from the viewpoint of aesthetics. People searched the outline of suitable dress through negotiation with their environment to enjoy differentiating themselves from others and to catch up with fashion. Mutilation, for which multiple meanings, including deviation, were given, was evaluated by its profitability and convenience to efficiently increase the aesthetic values of their body.

Negotiation among Children, Adults, and, Society on Body Decorations

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