Masafumi Monden
Biographic Data
| ID | 4222803 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Masafumi Monden |
| GIVEN NAMES | Masafumi |
| FAMILY NAME | Monden |
| SIGNATURE | MONDEN M |
| AFFILIATIONS | University of Technology Sydney |
| ORCID | 0000-0001-5672-5279 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 10 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 8 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 10 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2010 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2026 |
| H-INDEX | 1 |
The Rise of the Stylist: Male Models and Style Literacy in Japan, 1960s to 1980s
Fashion models are often dismissed as beautiful blanks, passive bodies onto which meanings are projected. This article challenges such reductive characterizations through examination of Japanese male models working from the 1960s through the 1980s. Drawing on oral history interviews, I demonstrate that these men functioned as skilled professionals performing extensive creative labor in the absence of dedicated stylists. They selected garments, co…
Masculinity and Body Weight in Japan: Grappling with Metabolic Syndrome
The second volume of Toyota Yuu’s highly popular manga series Cherry Magic! Thirty Years of Virginity Can Make You a Wizard?! (2019) has a bonus episode in which 30-year-old inconspicuous salaryman Adachi goes on a company trip where he bathes in an onsen with his male work mates. One of his colleagues, the handsome and ever popular Kurosawa, turns out to be in love with Adachi and shows off his slim, muscular body with six-pack abs, toned specif…
Midnight Cinderella: Amoral Shōjo (Girl) and Japanese Girl Culture
Boys at the Barre: Boys, Men and the Ballet in Japan
Since the introduction of ballet to Japan in the early 1900s, male dancers have figured prominently, with a profile equal to that of female dancers. Despite this, the association between ballet and girls’ cultures has been dominant in Japan, as in other cultures. As a consequence, ballet is often considered to be a highly ‘feminine’ activity, with associations as a ‘queer’ activity for males in contemporary culture. What does the increase in visi…
The Maiden Switch: New Possibilities for Understanding Japanese Shōjo Manga (Girls’ Comics)
This paper aims to expand the scope of studies of Japanese shōjo manga (girls’ comics) by examining early 1980s and 1990s shōjo manga that were primarily targeted at the youngest band of readers, stories with early adolescent heroines in light, romantic, and fairytale-like narratives. These have been paid comparatively little scholarly attention thus far compared with texts that enact more explicit gender subversion, such as stories that feature …
Layers of the Ethereal: A Cultural Investigation of Beauty, Girlhood, and Ballet in Japanese Shōjo Manga
The popularity of classical ballet as a cultural form grows apace in a global context. Even in a country like Japan, which has not been previously identified as a “ballet capital,” it is receiving wide public attention. As a conventionally female-dominated arena, ballet and the ideas that circulate around it reveal the complex interrelationship between femininity, beauty, and selfhood. A prime example is the understudied genre of “ballet manga” i…
Being Alice in Japan: Performing a Cute, ‘Girlish’ Revolt
There is a certain curiosity inscribed to the character Alice of Lewis Carroll's famous children's books. Perhaps reflecting the ‘enigmatic’ sexuality of the author, Alice herself has been perceived and interpreted in a dualistic way, namely as an innocent child and as a self-assertively sexualized ‘Lolita’. However, Alice can also be perceived as an emotionally flat yet autonomous character. My article explores this reading of the heroine, which…
Representations of Hair in Victorian Literature and Culture by Galia Ofek
(2012). Representations of Hair in Victorian Literature and Culture by Galia Ofek. Fashion Theory: Vol. 16, No. 2, pp. 259-264
The Importance of Looking Pleasant: Reading Japanese Men's Fashion Magazines
Readers unfamiliar with contemporary Japanese media might be puzzled by the appearance of men in fashion magazines. This is particularly the case for images of Japanese young men whose strong concerns over their appearance and slender physicality seem to enhance their (hetero) sexual desirability. These publications suggest to their male readers that crafting fashionable looks through selection of the right clothes, cosmetics, fragrances, and mai…
Extended Review: Le Steele Gothique
This is a fully-referenced, original research, peer-reviewed article inspired by Valerie Steele's exhibition and accompanying book on gothic fashion
Being Alice in Japan: Performing a Cute, ‘Girlish’ Revolt
There is a certain curiosity inscribed to the character Alice of Lewis Carroll's famous children's books. Perhaps reflecting the ‘enigmatic’ sexuality of the author, Alice herself has been perceived and interpreted in a dualistic way, namely as an innocent child and as a self-assertively sexualized ‘Lolita’. However, Alice can also be perceived as an emotionally flat yet autonomous character. My article explores this reading of the heroine, which…
Boys at the Barre: Boys, Men and the Ballet in Japan
Since the introduction of ballet to Japan in the early 1900s, male dancers have figured prominently, with a profile equal to that of female dancers. Despite this, the association between ballet and girls’ cultures has been dominant in Japan, as in other cultures. As a consequence, ballet is often considered to be a highly ‘feminine’ activity, with associations as a ‘queer’ activity for males in contemporary culture. What does the increase in visi…
The Importance of Looking Pleasant: Reading Japanese Men's Fashion Magazines
Readers unfamiliar with contemporary Japanese media might be puzzled by the appearance of men in fashion magazines. This is particularly the case for images of Japanese young men whose strong concerns over their appearance and slender physicality seem to enhance their (hetero) sexual desirability. These publications suggest to their male readers that crafting fashionable looks through selection of the right clothes, cosmetics, fragrances, and mai…
Extended Review: Le Steele Gothique
This is a fully-referenced, original research, peer-reviewed article inspired by Valerie Steele's exhibition and accompanying book on gothic fashion
Representations of Hair in Victorian Literature and Culture by Galia Ofek
(2012). Representations of Hair in Victorian Literature and Culture by Galia Ofek. Fashion Theory: Vol. 16, No. 2, pp. 259-264
The Importance of Looking Pleasant: Reading Japanese Men's Fashion Magazines
Readers unfamiliar with contemporary Japanese media might be puzzled by the appearance of men in fashion magazines. This is particularly the case for images of Japanese young men whose strong concerns over their appearance and slender physicality seem to enhance their (hetero) sexual desirability. These publications suggest to their male readers that crafting fashionable looks through selection of the right clothes, cosmetics, fragrances, and mai…
Layers of the Ethereal: A Cultural Investigation of Beauty, Girlhood, and Ballet in Japanese Shōjo Manga
The popularity of classical ballet as a cultural form grows apace in a global context. Even in a country like Japan, which has not been previously identified as a “ballet capital,” it is receiving wide public attention. As a conventionally female-dominated arena, ballet and the ideas that circulate around it reveal the complex interrelationship between femininity, beauty, and selfhood. A prime example is the understudied genre of “ballet manga” i…
Being Alice in Japan: Performing a Cute, ‘Girlish’ Revolt
There is a certain curiosity inscribed to the character Alice of Lewis Carroll's famous children's books. Perhaps reflecting the ‘enigmatic’ sexuality of the author, Alice herself has been perceived and interpreted in a dualistic way, namely as an innocent child and as a self-assertively sexualized ‘Lolita’. However, Alice can also be perceived as an emotionally flat yet autonomous character. My article explores this reading of the heroine, which…
The Maiden Switch: New Possibilities for Understanding Japanese Shōjo Manga (Girls’ Comics)
This paper aims to expand the scope of studies of Japanese shōjo manga (girls’ comics) by examining early 1980s and 1990s shōjo manga that were primarily targeted at the youngest band of readers, stories with early adolescent heroines in light, romantic, and fairytale-like narratives. These have been paid comparatively little scholarly attention thus far compared with texts that enact more explicit gender subversion, such as stories that feature …
Boys at the Barre: Boys, Men and the Ballet in Japan
Since the introduction of ballet to Japan in the early 1900s, male dancers have figured prominently, with a profile equal to that of female dancers. Despite this, the association between ballet and girls’ cultures has been dominant in Japan, as in other cultures. As a consequence, ballet is often considered to be a highly ‘feminine’ activity, with associations as a ‘queer’ activity for males in contemporary culture. What does the increase in visi…
Midnight Cinderella: Amoral Shōjo (Girl) and Japanese Girl Culture
Masculinity and Body Weight in Japan: Grappling with Metabolic Syndrome
The second volume of Toyota Yuu’s highly popular manga series Cherry Magic! Thirty Years of Virginity Can Make You a Wizard?! (2019) has a bonus episode in which 30-year-old inconspicuous salaryman Adachi goes on a company trip where he bathes in an onsen with his male work mates. One of his colleagues, the handsome and ever popular Kurosawa, turns out to be in love with Adachi and shows off his slim, muscular body with six-pack abs, toned specif…
The Rise of the Stylist: Male Models and Style Literacy in Japan, 1960s to 1980s
Fashion models are often dismissed as beautiful blanks, passive bodies onto which meanings are projected. This article challenges such reductive characterizations through examination of Japanese male models working from the 1960s through the 1980s. Drawing on oral history interviews, I demonstrate that these men functioned as skilled professionals performing extensive creative labor in the absence of dedicated stylists. They selected garments, co…
Art (9 works) · Psychology (7 works) · Sociology (7 works) · Aesthetics (6 works) · Gender Studies (6 works) · Japanese History and Culture (6 works) · Asian Culture and Media Studies (5 works) · Gender Studies (5 works) · History (5 works) · History (5 works)