Or Plus size women (in America). Recently RocketNews24 posted an article about Japan’s newest trend acknowledging “Marshmallow Girls”. A “Marshmallow Girl” is a voluptuous/”chubby” Japanese woman.
TGIF everybody…
This recent acceptance really surprised me. Why? Well, any American who has ever dated a Japanese woman (let alone married one) must be aware of the tremendous pressure for Japanese women to be super skinny in Japanese society. The pressure is very intense, ten fold what we put up with in America. It’s a nightmare for any girl who is bigger than a (American) size four .
To get an idea of what I mean, the picture below illustrates, “how plump the figure is thought to be, and assuming that “0% chubbiness” is the representation of the average “acceptable” size, you should get a pretty good idea of how strict Japanese society is with curvy figures.” – Joan Coello, RocketNews24
When I first met my wife she was around 60% and (over the years) went up to 80% but is now down 50% with her goal being 40%. Her goal is 40% because that’s comfortable for her and is what she wants. I love 100% of her all the time but my opinion doesn’t matter when she’s looking in the mirror and shopping for a new outfit. She strongly believes Japan is way over due in changing its attitude towards larger women.
I can’t imagine the social repercussions this will have on little girls’ self image/confidence. I hope this will broaden perceptions of what people consider to be healthy & attractive. It’s really why I’m taking the time to even mention this.
Welcome to the new millennium Japan!
What do you think?
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Related articles
- Don’t call them fat, call them Marshmallow Girls! (en.rocketnews24.com)
- Japan Introduces Term “Marshmallow Girls” To Combat Fat-Shaming (audreymagazine.com)
- Call Larger Women “Marshmallow Girls”, Says Magazine (japan crush.com)
- Marshmallow Girls (japanrealm.com)
- Japanese magazine says call larger women, “Marshmallow Girls” instead of fat (kayoforum.com)
AMERICAN HIKIKOMORI: The Blog 
It’s the first time I hear about Marshmallow girls and find it really interesting. I have to admit I didn’t see many overweight japanese people when I spent one year over there but noticed even then an increase in “metabo” commercials (for drinks that will help increase your metabolism to loose weight).
Japan is amazing in it’s duality; amazing technological advancement vs. male chauvinist attitudes towards women. They are getting better but not fast enough according to people I have encountered.
Thanks for reading!