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Sae & Ophelia
"Aggression" is defined as behavior that is intended to harm others. Aggression can take many forms, but physical forms of aggression (getting into physical fights, dating violence, violent crimes) have received the most attention from researchers, educators, and parents, who understandably are interested in protecting their children from the serious harm that physical aggression often inflicts. Because most females of all ages (with the exception of toddlers) engage in comparatively low levels of physical aggression, this focus on physical aggression has lead to the notion that females are "less aggressive" than males.
What we now know is that school-aged girls are far more aggressive than has been previously believed; their preferred expression of aggression, however, is not physical, but relational aggression.
Relational aggression encompasses behaviors that harm others by damaging (or threatening to damage) or manipulating one's relationships with his/her peers, or by injuring one's feelings of social acceptance. For example:
- Purposefully ignoring someone when angry (giving the "silent treatment")
In each of these examples, social relationships are used as the vehicle for harming a peer.
Sae in a nutshell? Female aggression has been in the news more and more recently. Sae is a perfect example. While fictional, and of course exagerrated, she's still an interesting insight into the psyche around Ophelias. Her relational aggression is in response to her lack of self-confidence (note she's only confident and proud after she gets something of Momo's), and the negative effects are easily seen on Momo. She gets fits of rage when Sae gets away with her tricks. And it's not just a phase - even after her ego was 'deflated' (hehe, yes, pun intended), pretty soon she's back to normal and didn't learn a single lesson. I just find a very interesting comparison between Sae and all that's been in the media recently.
Momo & Ganguro Girls For more info and lots of freaky pics: Ganguro @ livemusicstudio.com.
Don't know what's going on? Peach Girl is a manga (Japanese comic) by Miwa Ueda. It's been translated into English by Tokyopop, and installments are published in Smile magazine. They're also collected into volumes and sold in bookstores. At its heart, Peach Girl is a romance story, geared towards teen girls. Anyone who likes Japanese series such as To Heart would probably enjoy reading it.
Peach Girl is available at any major bookstore such as Barnes and Noble or Borders/Amazon. Also, specialty anime/manga stores like AnimeNation have the manga, and also the artbook. AnimeNation also has imported novels (the original Japanese).
Mary Pipher's book Reviving Ophelia: Saving the Selves of Adolescent Girls has brought new light into what young females lives are like in the modern day. In short, it's not a pretty picture. The Ophelia Project was created in response. One key issue it notes is on "Relational Aggression". Check out what they have to say:
- Spreading rumors about a disliked classmate
- Telling others not to play with a certain classmate as a means of retaliation.
The premise of Peach Girl sounds, honestly, stupid. Some girl tans too much? WEAK! But a look into a cultural trend in Japan shows that perhaps it's not as weak as you'd think. Just a couple of years ago, gangoru girls in Shibuya were setting their own fashion trend. They would tan or 'fake-bake' until they were perfectly bronzed, and covered themselves in weird glittery makeup and trendy, sexy clothes (usually mini skirts, high boots, etc). Also recall that to the Japanese, fair skin is a sign of beauty. This was not your 'every teenage girl does it' trend, it was only for a select few who thought of themselves as gangoru girls. Momo doesn't appreciate being stereotyped as one of these 'concerned-only-with-fashion', airhead types. Can't blame her.