By: Stephen Diggs
Heavy metal, which is widely considered one of the most testosterone-fueled genres of music, takes an unlikely appearance for a particular group of bands in Japan.
What do I mean? I won’t skirt around the issue: it’s popular for male artists that follow the Visual Kei (VK) subculture to take on an entirely feminine appearance.
[caption id=”attachment_3892" align=”alignleft” width=”259"]
X Japan is the musical group that founded Visual Kei. Photo Credit to jpopasia.com[/caption]
So you’re probably thinking, “There’s a music movement for people into drag? Now I’ve heard of everything. Oh, and I get the skirt pun now. That was terrible.” After looking into the history, though, I’ve determined that VK artists who cross-dress shouldn’t be included in the same group with those who do drag.
The term ‘Visual Kei’ originates from the slogan of X Japan, a band that founded the movement, Psychedelic violence crime of visual shock. Aesthetics and shock value are both at the heart and soul of Visual Kei, as they employ a visually stunning style to promote their art as a unique and individualistic alternative to the mainstream.
This is where the androgynous attire men wear comes in. But why is that aesthetic so popular? A possible explanation relates back to Kabuki (a type of dance-drama), in which men played the parts of women.
The Japanese culture traditionally views transvestitism as a form of beauty, desirable by people of both genders. In turn, those in the Visual Kei subculture don’t look at one’s attire as a reflection of sexual identity. This makes for a unique dynamic in consideration of gender roles.
Male VK artists are idolized as role models of female fashion, but conversely fill the role of someone viewed as sexually desirable. Additionally, the VK men act as leaders at a live (the Japanese term for concerts) by inviting the crowd to participate in gestures (called furi), which places women in the role of follower. The presence of a female role model is conspicuously absent.
With all these things considered, I find the mentality of a Visual Kei artist to be quite different than one who dresses drag. They may look similar on the outside (as many students I’ve asked have said), but the diverse artistic ideas that represent Visual Kei are far more expansive in scope than the single-mindedness of the drag subculture.
