The Gyaru Comm is Failing!

 The Gyaru comm is failing! What is causing our community to fail? After 17 active years in the comm and observations of the good, the bad, and the ugly, there are several reasons that I've deduced a few reasons why this is. 

Negativity

During the early to late 2010s, there was Gyaru Secrets, a place to originally air out how you felt about certain styles or your views on being a gyaru. The rules changed to be able to allow secrets to be made about individuals, allowing people to talk crap about another gyaru (whether they were gyaru or not) and to still be close to the object of their hate. When Livejournal updated their policies on how people could post, the anonymity fell away, and groups like G_S participation dwindled. 

But, sites like LolCow and a secret gyaru group named Gyaru Tea Party, where a select number of individuals were invited to join, allowed people a space to continue to 

Lack of Direction

With very few people adhering to the subculture rules, misinformation, and lack of gyaru circles, where do we go? Subcultures thrive and exist when there are rules to abide by, after all, it is a culture functioning outside of the main society. Newcomers barge in, attack others based on where they shop for their clothes based on misinformation, deem what can and cannot be gal as too extreme and stuffy, yet those rules and guidelines were what kept the community and any others in existence. Do they think about other subcultures, like Scene, Goth, the same way and want to change what it means to be one as well?

With those that value what the community deems to be gyaru, at minimum wearing the make and cute coords/codes (coordinates, outfits), they are putting their energy into explaining to those too scared to want to do the style as it is. That precious time could be used elsewhere.

Soft Newbies, Mean Vets, and Criticism

There is a stark difference between someone hating your makeup attempts verbally and someone giving another constructive criticism to level up their look. Of course, if the critique or commentary is unwarranted and mean, then it may not be regarded at all. 

On TikTok, I have seen comments stating that some Veteran Gyaru were mean, and they were getting hate comments from them. Some newbies over the years did not want to take solid advice from those who lived the lifestyle and wore the fashion constantly. Is it propaganda to deter Vetgyaru from participating in the community and to see our experiences as invalid? Is it a way for newbies who are unaware of how these subcultures work to evade putting in the work to make their make actually look gal and deem themselves perfect from the start? 

On the other hand, Vetgyaru get disrespected and their time wasted from beginners, some not at all interested in long-term commitment in the scene, but only want to get a few quick likes for an ego boost and to dip if it doesn't work out for them or because they can't take the stares from normies. 

Disrespect

Not everyone is going to like each other, that is a facet of life that just is. Some people tend to not center their lives around someone that they find annoying or can't stand, while others make it into some sort of fixation.  But when people feel it necessary to disrespect someone on someone else's behalf because they want to be seen as cool and not put in the work for their circle, it shows a level of maturity or lack thereof, that deters people from wanting to be in the comm. Some people may feel happy that someone else may be having a hard time with others rather than being accepted, or that the spotlight is on someone else's perceived wrongdoing rather than their own misdeeds. What a way to not have to hold your actions accountable or even apologize to the target of your disdain and form of keeping yourself relevant, right? After all, that target will be going through a lot of confusion and pain than possibly fighting back and returning that energy. 

Lack of Conflict Resolution

People will disagree, and fallouts happen between gyaru circle members and friends. Everybody won't like everyone else. It is inevitable. However, when drama happens due to trying to "win" because they feel overlooked and unliked by people, girl code (like not sleeping with someone else's partner) being broken to retaliate because of the "popularity" of someone else, and much more things get messy. That mess spills over and isn't confined in the gyaru comm. Those on the periphery of the comm looking in see the drama and bickering and are less likely to participate and see us all as unprofessional. 

If conflict resolution skills were strong, and emotional intelligence as well, at least the community would be able to focus their energies on maintaining their style and circles instead of battling someone else in petty and discreet ways to alleviate the pain they feel from insecurity and their egos being bruised. The participants in the comm and in their respective circle would be able to express how they feel because they value the connection and at least come to a level of understanding and cordiality. However, if the connection is not valued and they live for the drama of hurting and disrespecting someone else, then it continues, showcasing the drama for the world to see.

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