Slut Shaming 101: Ponytails Banned In Japan Schools As They “Sexually Excite” Boys

Schools in Japan have allegedly advised girls against wearing ponytails for fear that it could "sexually excite" boys in class, a recent report claims. The East Asian country is notorious for its tight regulations on school-going children, monitoring details like the length of the uniform and apparently even the colour of underwear that is allowed. The ponytail ban is in effect since the hairstyle would expose the flesh on the neck.

It is appalling that despite talk of women's empowerment on important global platforms, our society is still held back by regressive ideologies. Traditionalist ideas about women being held responsible for men's behaviours should have begun to erode by now, given the intensity with which feminist ideals are progressing today.

But no. Slut-shaming, victim-blaming, sexism are all taking root in the public consciousness with greater force.

As per VICE, the ponytail ban in Japanese schools is part of the larger culture of 'buraku kosoku' - harsh rules - that bind the school-going youth. A teacher quoted in the report says that the lack of criticism for these regulations has led to their normalisation and that "students have no choice but to accept them."

Suggested Reading: Enough With The Sexist Headlines Objectifying Women!

Controlling the behaviour and manner of girls, lest they have any effect on boys in school, is precisely the idea that graduates into blaming the survivor, not the rapist. This deep-rooted patriarchal privilege that affords men to never be held liable for their own selves starts with conditioning in childhood - such as is being proffered by Japanese schools.

But the culture in Indian schools is no less, when it comes to legitimising the practice of &t=5s">slut-shaming. Girl students are constantly policed under the watchful gaze of teachers, who tell them to pull up their socks, sit properly, not make too much friendly contact with boys, wear only white/nude shades of underwear.

What are these so-called discipline checks planting in the heads of boys, who are witnessing their female classmates being censured at every step, for how they look and what they do? Will it not subconsciously or consciously incorporate the entitlement to similarly slut-shame women when they grow up? Is this not how male dominance is further emboldened?

Suggested Reading: Stop Slut-Shaming Women Who Own Their Sexuality

Despite all the moral lectures schools subject girls to, there is a deafening silence on how unsafe schools' own premises often turn out to be for their female students. What are schools going to do about that? Will they have the integrity to address the issue, stand with their girls and actively change the misogynist cultures they knowingly perpetrate?

As per a report by Japan Times, a shocking 200 educators were held accountable for sexual assault in some form in 2020, according to official government numbers. Less than half of the offenders were dismissed from duty for their actions, the report states.

In India too, the #MeToo wave swept across Chennai schools prominently in 2020 and has since encouraged students from all over the country to come forward with incidents of inappropriateness they faced from teachers. More on #MeToo in schools here.

So why are schools still focusing their energies on sexualisation of girls, when they should be committed to their duty of keeping their students safe? Shouldn't schools ditch gender-biased practices and instead, educate students about gender equality? How about schools start telling boys that each of us - despite what male privilege will tell them otherwise - is accountable for our actions? Surely, they will wizen up enough to check their behaviour around girls' ponytails.

Views expressed are the author's own.