Japanese Guys Playing Field Hockey...
 

I don't want to start a thread about the rapid feminization of Japan's male population (a pretty significant sociological problem right now), but I do want to point a finger at this thing I just saw a few seconds ago on TV and say "wtf?"

Japanese guys play field hockey now.

Now, I'm not up on the sports world or anything, I've only heard of guys playing field hockey as a joke, and they wear the skirts and everything. Do guys really play this previously women-only sport now? (And if so why the hell aren't women playing football on a noticeable level? haha)

Still... seeing these tallish college guys running around hunched over to use the sticks was nothing short of hilarious.

Insights?

Japanese guys playing field hockey?! Oh my god! Why would they want to play a game that a long history of men playing it?!

Alright, smart guy. I've never seen a guy play it in my entire life. I know some DO, but hell if I know about the "long history" of the sport.

Doesn't that tell you something? Read before you flame, then at least make sure you're JUSTIFIED in flaming, like how the rest of us do.

i think its only in certain countries where its only the women playing field hockey. kinda like how soccer used to be a girls game in the us.

i know i have come across a tournament being televised, possibly a european thing.

actually after a quick google, its an olympic sport haha.

Crazy sauce! Yeah in my country it's only women. Guess we're the exception! :)

Field hockey isn't Women-only, same as football, isn't exclusively male. That's just a media perception, which should really by now be out-dated but sadly doesn't seem to be. Damned shame because there are men's teams in 'female' sports doing crackingly well and the British Women's football team won the world cup. Not that anyone saw it televised, of course.

That's my take on it. It's not that they've just lately decided that flippy hair and pink sparkles aren't quite girly enough and picked up a sport for the 'ladies', it's just the first time you've ever seen it on TV because it's so rarely publicized.

The hunching is just characteristic of the sport. You're generally not allowed to lift the head of the stick above waist height and the sticks come in sizes to 'fit' to the height of the player's hip. However to get better control, you need to set a hand lower down the stick to control the ball.

Yeah I always wondered why the women's soccer (sorry, football) league in America never got more press. Mia Hamm took off her shirt when they won the world cup and that was the buzz for a few minutes and then nothing.

At least I get to watch women's volleyball and rhythm gymnastics here!

You know, you could've just done this before making a thread.

PS: Forgot to add this - ;)

Hehehe, I always try to be careful to cover my ass before I make threads so nobody swings that wonderful site back at me :D

Maybe I was too busy taken in by the pretty colors and flashing lights of Japanese TV.. ;)

You don't want to start a thread about it... yet you're willing to put such a controversial statement?

I'll be honest... I am sceptical of such a statement to the point where I think it's bullsh*t off the bat.

I'm not sure if you'll reply to this... you not wanting to talk about it and all... but I want to talk about it because you brought it up.

It's such a deep subject that the discussion would be huge, long, heated, and tiring. So by saying that I was trying to lay out some tracks such that we not derail from them. Of course leave it to someone to try ;) Plus I think there's enough truth behind the statement that it's not "controversial".

If you want, go ahead and start a thread. Do you even live in Japan? Have you spent any time studying modern sociological issues or Japanese anthropology with accredited and highly published professors? Have you seen the literal sh*t TON of evidence pointing to Japanese guys becoming, on the large, more feminine (which would be a culturally imperialistic statement considering the ideas of masculinity differ from the West to the East but it's long since crossed the point of cultural differences and has even started garnering the attention of the media)?

I mean, if you REALLY wanna get into it, go nuts. On another thread.

First of all.. I'm not interested in who you think supports your statement.

I'm interested in the reasoning behind it.

Second of all... I'll talk about it on this thread because you brought it up on this thread.

I'll start with the most obvious question...

If Japanese men are supposedly becoming feminised... and it's supposedly a problem... then why do the majority of Japanese women date Japanese men?

Statistics? Because only 1% of the population aren't Japanese and if you spent all your time hanging around for one of them (a further large percentage of which aren't going to be suitable) you're going to end up single for a looong time. Language barrier? Parental objection? Find foreign men scary or creepy? Or simply that they don't have enough money or prospects of earning well in Japan if they're not western foreign? It's got nothing to do with how women in Japan consider men to be manly or not, it's just logical. Also people create relationships with those closest to them, in literal proximity or socially. People date those who live in the same town, or go to the same school, or work in the same office. Rich people tend to marry rich people, Christians don't tend to marry Hindus. If you are a Japanese woman in a Japanese town at a Japanese speaking university, chances are the men in your immediate vicinity are Japanese. Sure you may fancy the lone foreign student there, but he can only date so many women. The majority will go elsewhere.

Why are you telling me this?

GTJ said it was a social problem... obviously it's not otherwise Japanese women wouldn't be dating ANYONE.

Furthermore... I have a problem with what you're implying...

Are you implying that Japanese men are inferior to Western men?

Such attitudes really piss me off and are racist and ethnocentric as well as sexist to a degree.

[quote=Ronin4hire;771372]Why are you telling me this?[quote]

Because you asked?

I said it was a social problem, not a rule that applies completely to every male on Japanese soil.

Are you serious?

Is this guy serious?

He's just trying to start a flame war so he can declare himself the winner regardless of truth. That's all. It's his operating procedure.

It wasn't an answer to what I was asking

Explain how it's a social problem then? I'm all ears...

I am serious.

I asked why if it's such a social problem that Japanese women still date Japanese men (as opposed to nobody)

Columbine responded that the reason was because of statistics... that they have no other choice. What I was meaning to ask (notice how there was a question mark there) was whether he was implying that if they did have a broader choice, that they would choose foreigners. As I understood his post as being in defence of your position (perhaps mistakenly.. but he can let me know if that's the case) then I don't think what I asked was unreasonable.

An attempt to diffuse rational discussion via character assassination because of some grudge that you can't get over seems to be your operating procedure.

Seriously dude.. I hardly ever interact with you so please stop with all the sniping from the sidelines.

This is not about size. Read the thread.

[quote=GTJ;771374][quote=Ronin4hire;771372]Why are you telling me this?I think he just might be? Wow.

Ronin, please calm down. I was addressing you because even though I agree with you that Japanese men aren't necessarily becoming feminized, your argument was flawed. Japanese women mostly date Japanese men because most men in Japan are Japanese. It's just numbers plain and simple. I answered what you asked. I gave the most clearly obvious answer.

I have no comment on if it's a 'social problem' or not, which is why I didn't mention it. I was simply addressing literally why the majority of japanese women might date Japanese men. Again. Numbers. I even said it probably had nothing to do with perceptions of masculinity in Japan.

I also have a problem. Your getting worked up and starting a very needless argument, which GTJ didn't even want to get into for precisely these reasons and I think that even for the best of reasons, your so determined to argue your corner that your reading implications that simply aren't there. I was NOT implying that Japanese men are inferior to anyone. Also I'm female.

If anything, I was implying that there's practicalities in Japan that actually, in terms of a Japanese woman dating choices, Japanese men have distinct advantages, REGARDLESS of if she prefers foreigners or not, simply based on who she may meet and share the most in common with.

For example,I could have a burning passion for Sardinian men, but the fact is I am living in a place where I am highly unlikely to meet one, and much more likely to meet several dozen charming men from somerset and date one of them. And even if I DO run into a Sardinian man, there's nothing to guarantee that we'll get along enough to date. He might smoke and be allergic to horses and hate Japan. He might not like ME.

And that's how it would be If I were Japanese and liked foreign men. I could, if i really wanted to, stay single and wait and hope I meet one, or I could move to somewhere where I'm more likely to meet someone like that. But ten to one, if i don't care that much, I'm not going to bother, not when there's 99 Japanese men around me of whom one might be perfect for my needs, without the bother of language problems or Visas or upsetting mum and dad.

So I'm not saying that women in Japan don't have a choice. If they really have a preference, they'd find a way to enact it, and in saying that, I was actually backing you up.
Right until you accused me of racism, egocentrism and sexist. Oh, and assumed I'm a man (with a strangely girly name? Should have been a hint really, shouldn't it?). Thanks for that.

*applauds* Excellent post, Columbine. Encapsulated the entire argument quite well.

*flops* Thank you. I'm tired now!

Otsukare! Haha, I agree, it was a fantastic post. Well done.

If ever you wander 'round to Osaka, I'll treat you to an okonomiyaki. :)

Sweet~<3 I'm am such an okono-addict.

Since when has field hockey been a women's only sport?



This is the first time I have heard anyone say that.

Then you have said nothing of relevance. I'm quite aware of the statistical probabilities.

And no my argument isn't flawed.

If in fact the supposed feminisation of Japanese men is true, and that it is a social problem, then why do Japanese women tend to date Japanese men as opposed to dating nobody

In fact it wasn't even an argument. I posed it as a question to GTJ.

I'm not getting worked up... I asked some pretty straightforward questions. If I'm reading implications that aren't there then fine. It's why they were questions.

Furthermore you can't blame me for reading such implications into your post. After all it was you that posted irrelevantly and out of context.

And what does being female have to do with anything?


I didn't accuse you of anything. In fact I pre-empted my statement with the question as to whether or not that was what you were implying and then went on to say that "such attitudes piss me off...."

the rest of your post is not even relevant. I didn't assume you were a man either... Or are you implying that only males can be guilty of sexism?

I notice your posts in this thread have been reduced to mere cheerleading. How about you answer my questions?

I'll reword them to make them easier to answer shall I?

-Why do you percieve the feminisation of Japanese men to be occuring?
-Why is this a social problem? (as you put it)

wow 3 page thread cos GTJ didnt know about mens hockey haha.

Hahaha yeah, right? :D
I've honestly never seen it! The only men's hockey I've ever been aware of is the ice or roller variety, not field hockey.
Oh well, I learned something, hehe :cool:

I had never heard of 'field hockey' either until now. Ice and street was all.
I don't know, guess I'm just biased from my background, but 'ice' hockey is the only 'real' variant in my opinion ;p Mens' or womens'.

Well you ARE Canadian... you're entitled to the sport your country demolishes every other country at! ;)

GTJ; Hockey on ice here in America is ...mostly white guys beating each other up, though sometimes they actually play hockey. Field hockey is probaly similer I would think, I prefer lacross over Hockey or soccer though. Better yet is American football, I like that.

I suspect Field hockey in Japan was "deemed" a womans game because it wasn't on Ice.

It's funny because in Ireland they play Hurling, which is similar to field hockey, but that seems to be mostly men. And it's hugely popular. I saw it televised a lot when I was in Dublin, but it's not shown in the rest of the UK. Then again, I think it's a lot more violent.

Oh man.. nothing to add?

I guess I've made my point then. Next time GTJ... think before you speak.

He prolly has nothing to add because he wasn't talking about the same thing you were there Ronin.