Relay Column: The Day a Boy Became "Gyaru" – Personal Reflections on Little "Drag" (Taiki Miyashita)

As I delve into my childhood memories with "fashion" as a keyword, I encounter a scene like this.

Was it when I was in the second year of middle school? Our cram school had a tradition of participating in the local summer festival. Many volunteer groups, young and old, from the community gathered, dancing to music while parading through the streets. On that day, the boy was full of excitement—his first experience with gyaru makeup awaited him!

Before dusk, we gathered at the park, sat on a bench, and the two senior students began applying makeup. Unfamiliar cosmetics like eyeliner, mascara, and glittery eyeshadow were applied to my face one after another. Finally, donning a blonde curly wig completed the vibrant "gyaru" look I had envisioned. With such a special outfit, it goes without saying that the festival that followed was incredibly exhilarating.

What was it that brought me that intense feeling of joy that day?

Thinking simply, I could say I was engaging in "disguise" or "cosplay" by mimicking the image of those commonly perceived as "gyaru" in society. From the perspective of being recognized as "male" in most situations back then, I could also say I was enjoying "cross-dressing." As a sociology student, I had never previously focused on themes such as fashion or makeup, so I searched for literature that might be enlightening, and I came across the essay collection "コスプレする社会――サブカルチャーの身体文化" published in 2009. Upon opening the table of contents, I found several terms that seemed related. In the following sections, I would like to explore the depths of my one-day gyaru experience, partially relying on the content of this book.

Cultural researcher Hiroshi Narumi refers to Roland Barthes' discussion of fashion as "playing with the question of 'self'" and views disguise as a form of self-exploration or expression of identity. In other words, while harboring a desire for identification with different others, individuals recognize their differences from others through the imitation of someone’s appearance and find a new self within that remainder. In that process, "becoming another" and "becoming oneself" compete and occur simultaneously.

Junko Mitsuhashi, a specialist in transgender studies, attempts to categorize the reasons why some people engage in cross-dressing. She identifies four types—fetishism type, narcissism type, cross-dressing gay type, gender dysphoria type—and analyzes herself from the perspective of being an affected party, identifying as a "mixed type of 70% gender dysphoria and 30% narcissism." She positions cross-dressing as a practice that expresses oneself and liberates "another self."

On the other hand, many may also think of drag queens as an exaggerated form of femininity. Toru Dodo, an expert in fashion culture studies, interprets drag queens as an effort to escape from a daily life where one must "be someone." He argues that the "excess" they embody is not aimed at aspiring to become female, but rather is a social action aiming to amplify the stereotypes of femininity—namely, presenting and performing feminine attire and behaviors—to escape from the constraints of defining who they are.