Soushokudanshi: The Herbivore Man

Periodically, I like to look at some popular slang terms in Japan. They may not necessarily increase your knowledge of the Japanese language in a meaningful way, but I think they provide some interesting or funny insight into the culture.

Today's term is　

草食男子　(そうしょくだんし）soushoku danshi

The 'danshi' part means boy/boys or man/men. (Alternate: 草食男　(そうしょくおとこ) soushoku otoko) The 'soushoku' part has sometimes been translated as 'vegetarian', but the more accurate meaning would be 'herbivore'. Here are some herbivores in the animal kingdom:

While this would be your typical carnivore:

(Lion photo credit: Arno and Louise)

In Japan, a lot of credibility has traditionally been given to the concept of "you are what you eat", (and for UK readers, I don't mean in the Gillian McKeith way). A person who eats a lot of meat is supposed to be more stereotypically masculine and aggressive, while a person who eats a lot of vegetables and non-meat foods is supposed to be gentle and compliant, like a well behaved donkey or cow.

So, a 'soushoku danshi' is the approximate Japanese equivalent of a metrosexual; someone who is gentle, refined, concerned about his appearance, kind or respectful to the females in his life. He might be more inclined to be perfectly okay with doing the dishes, or babysitting the kids. A soushoku danshi is typically in his teens to 30s - the younger generation, in other words.

Sounds like the perfect modern man, no? Well not really. In that paradoxical way that females want their men to do the dishes but still be 'in charge' and 'manly' and all that, the soushoku danshi is also seen as weak, indecisive, spineless, and just not Man Enough. This past Valentine's Day, there were even 'soushoku otoko' chocolates, for female bosses to give to their spineless underlings to tell them to get a...um, spine. (see Valentine's Day in Japan).

An even more derogatory term for this modern Japanese man is

お嬢マン　(おじょうまん) ojou-man

An お嬢さん　(おじょうさん　ojou-san) or お嬢様　（おじょうさま　ojou-sama) is a refined, sometimes spoiled, young lady. 'Ojou-man' is the male version of a young spoiled lady - in other words, a refined being who is passionately interested things like his appearance and fashion.

The soushoku danshi is alternately seen as the doom of Japanese society, or its future, mainly depending on the age of the person talking about them.

Incidentally, the current Prime Minister, Mr. Hatoyama, is seen as being somewhat of a soushoku danshi for his so-far general inability to get much done.

A modern Japanese man really has it tough. He's supposed to be kind and considerate, but still be manly and take-charge. He's supposed to be masculine, but woe on him if he smells bad.

See also: Himono onna.

Comments

[Ryan]

Great little article. It was covered on my blog over at http://caught-redhanded.com/archives/840/trackback too by Yuko.

It's a funny concept, being manly but washing the dishes! And your translation of the phrase pretty much hits it square on the head, though I tend to think that as it is used more and more, the negative connotations of the phrase (such as being ineffectual for example) will probably overtake the positive aspects.

[kim]

Ha, I love these articles. It's so much fun that the Japanese use puns for there derogatory terms, much more creative haha.
And thanks to your Himono Onna article I started watching Hotaru no Hikari, my new favourite show :D

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Do passive-aggressive people piss you off? Here's a video about it. http://youtu.be/zvXXsgMgxiI