The Use of Gender and Sexuality in the Marketing of w-inds.
written by Pan (LELOLA.net)


Since their formation in 2000, the Japanese boy band “w-inds.” has become arguably one of the most popular boy bands in Asia. They have released three albums to date. They continue to release multiple singles every year (over the last two years, most of which have gone to number one), and perform in front of hundreds of thousands of fans at their sold out concerts and performances¹. Not a month goes by that their faces aren’t featured on the covers of popular Japanese magazines. They are marketed to teenage women, and their female fan following has propelled w-inds. into unprecedented success.

Their success can be attributed to the way in which they were and continue to be marketed. w-inds. is one of the many boy bands in Japan in which the masculinity of the male members has been carefully constructed to appeal to the young female market (Darling-Wolf "SMAP" 357). What is interesting about this kind of marketing construction is how it breaks down and challenges Western notions of rigid gender identities and sexual identities. Rigid social constructions place people into polarized categories of either masculine or feminine, or heterosexual or homosexual (Pascoe 273). The way gender and sexuality are carefully created in order to market w-inds. proves that these categories are more fluid and complex then they appear to be.

In this essay I plan to answer the question: How and why w-inds. is marketed as androgynous and sexually fluid, and how and why does this attract such a large female fan base? I will do this by exploring the ways gender and sexuality have been used in the marketing of w-inds. First, I will explore the marketing of w-inds. as androgynous by looking at how they can be defined as feminine and non-threatening through both their image and their music. Secondly, I will examine the absence of women in the way w-inds. is marketed and how this absence is related to female fantasy. After which, I will discuss how their marketing proves that gender and sexuality are social constructions.

w-inds. is composed of three members. Keita Tachibana provides the group’s main vocals, and Ryohei Chiba and Ryuichi Ogata sing backup vocals and perform secondary musical parts, such as rapping. They were formed when Pony Canyon Inc. took Keita, a young boy who had recently won a singing competition, and placed him into a group with two dancers, Ryohei and Ryuichi².

Although all three members of w-inds. are male, they are marketed as feminine males, and even as gender ambiguous. It is important to note that the members of w-inds. do not represent typical Japanese males, and instead represent a beautiful feminized ideal. Moreover, their faces have been smoothed with makeup, and their photos have been airbrushed to remove all imperfections. In group images, consistency is created by almost always placing Keita in the center, with Ryohei on the left and Ryuichi on the right. Their limbs are often on one another, creating a sense of connection between them. In magazine spreads they are shown as non-aggressors, and in passive and submissive poses that are similar to the way women appear in Western magazines. Furthermore, much like images of women in magazines, w-inds. is portrayed as beautiful and sexual, yet innocent. However, it is important to note that they are still represented as male, and are never portrayed as completely feminine.

A magazine image from around the time they premiered (Appendix 1) illustrates this. The three boys are photographed in a bathroom, with Ryohei sitting in a bathtub, Ryuichi sitting on a stool, and Keita sitting on the floor. They appear male, but their submissive poses, innocent expressions, and their small physical frames, coupled with their beautiful faces, make them appear androgynous, and even feminine.

They appear so feminine that w-inds. is often mistaken as a group of three young women. However, it should be noted that as they’ve gotten older, their image has become increasingly masculine. When they premiered back in 2001, Ryohei and Keita appeared the most feminine. Since the spring of 2004 after he grew out his hair, Ryuichi is the member most often mistaken as a woman (Appendix 2). Although they have become increasingly masculine, they are still marketed as feminine, and even recent images of w-inds. portray them as beautifully androgynous (Appendix 3). Their gender ambiguity is not relieved by the fact that Keita’s voice is high, and is often mistaken for that of a woman³.

Unlike other Japanese boy bands, such as SMAP, which uses violence as a way to assert its members’ masculinity (Darling-Wolf “SMAP” 362), w-inds. is marketed as non-violent and non-threatening. This is unsurprising if one considers that w-inds. is marketed as feminine, and that “violent behaviour is considered masculine (as opposed to feminine) behaviour” (Katz 350). Moreover, the three members of w-inds. are presented as “innocent” boys whose behaviour and song lyrics are virtually void⁴ of sexual innuendo (Moka). Their music falls under the category of “J-pop” which is “characterized by idealism, innocence and romance” (Darling-Wolf “SMAP” 362). The group’s dancing is not sexual either, with simple moves that don’t do anything to show off their bodies. The only exception is when they breakdance (usually performed by Ryohei), in which their upper body strength is emphasized. For the most part, their dancing is gender ambiguous and could be easily performed by men or women. Sex is never mentioned and rarely hinted at. Therefore w-inds. appears as non-threatening (and non-aggressive) even in sexual sense.

The group’s non-threatening feminine image appeals to a wide-range of people since it serves to create a sense of comfort with female fans. The success of their image is further explained by the fact that images of feminine non-threatening young men strike a chord with Japanese women who feel trapped by a society that is more male-dominated and patriarchal than any other Western power (McLelland). Moreover, as feminine, w-inds. is on some level perceived to relate to and understand women’s experiences. This creates a level of comfort that allows female fans to “connect” with w-inds..

The most striking aspect that I have noticed about the way in which w-inds. is marketed is the complete and total absence of women in the images in which they appear. Besides female television hosts that interview or introduce them, and the rare occasion they appear on a program with female performers, w-inds. is never pictured with women⁵. I have gone through over three thousand w-inds. images from magazines and other official sources, and not one has a female presence. Even behind-the-scenes footage of w-inds. lacks women. From a marketing point of view, this seems strange, since North American boy bands, such as the Backstreet Boys, are shown with women to reaffirm their heterosexuality⁶.

However, paradoxically, this absence of women is crucial to the group’s image. Without women around them, w-inds. is marketed as forever single. Moreover, the absence of women signals that the perfect girl for w-inds. could be anyone at all. With no image ever presented, female fans are easily and comfortably able to imagine themselves with w-inds.. In terms of romantic relationships with w-inds., any person could be the “one”. This has allowed w-inds. to gain a large fan base in Asiatic countries such as Taiwan and Korea, as well as fans all over the world, since anyone, no matter what they look like or where they’re from, can imagine themselves with w-inds.. The absence of women is therefore a powerful marketing technique to increase fan support, and therefore increase the sales of w-inds. albums. Buying w-inds. albums has come to represent a way fans can feel closer to w-inds. (Bignall 32).

Considering the absence of women coupled with their androgynous image, it is no surprise that w-inds. has attracted a substantial male homosexual fan base. This is also aided by the ambiguity of w-inds. lyrics. In their songs, w-inds. often sing to “you”, rather than to “her” (or even “him”), making the object of desire ambiguous as well.

However, w-inds. is marketed as heterosexual. They reaffirm their heterosexuality mostly in interviews where they are often asked about what they look for in a girlfriend. Although such interviews prove that they are assumed to be heterosexual, w-inds. is often interpreted and marketed as homosexual. I argue that this is done to appease their large female fan base, to allow them to appear as conforming to society’s heterosexual norms, and to appeal to female fantasy.

Some images of w-inds. present them in a manner that can be easily interpreted as homosexual. In some images of w-inds., Keita is shown lying against or even on top of his two bandmates. In one magazine spread, Keita was pictured lying with his head in Ryohei’s lap, with his legs entwined with Ryuichi’s body (Appendix 4). Moreover, they often hug each other, hold each other’s hands, and “play fight” together. With a few minor exceptions of male celebrities and other music groups, the only people the members of w-inds. are ever seen being intimate with are each other, and never with a woman. In this way, w-inds. are sexually fluid or sexually ambiguous as they are presented as both heterosexual and homosexual.

As McLelland points out, homosexuality in Japan is very “differently conceptualized”. Although heterosexuality is the norm for relationships and the family system, a historic connection to fluid gender roles (Schalow), as well as a different mind-set means that homosexuality is not frowned upon in Japanese society the way it is in Western ones. The use of homosexuality as a marketing tool can be explained by examining the phenomenon of “shonen-ai”⁷ manga. Shounen-ai manga refers to an extremely popular genre of comic books typically created by women for women that feature “bishoonen” or “beautiful boys/youths” in romantic homosexual relationships. The men in this type of manga are “drawn in such a way as to suggest an androgynous ideal”⁸ (McLelland). Darling-Wolf (“SMAP” 361) relates this notion to the way “androgynous romance” can be interpreted to take place within music groups.

Being marketed as objects for “androgynous romance” helps w-inds. attract a large female following because it caters to female fantasy. Thanks to the extreme patriarchal nature of Japanese society (McLelland), “homoeroticism and androgyny may give female readers a chance to engage in fantasizing about loving relationships between equals, unimaginable if they were to take place between male and female partners” (Darling-Wolf “SMAP”361). The marketing of w-inds. as androgynous, non-threatening, and sexually fluid therefore provides a space in which women can safely engage in pleasurable fantasies (Darling-Wolf “SMAP” 367).

Finally, the use of androgyny and sexual fluidity in the marketing of the boy band w-inds. illustrates how gender and sexuality are socially constructed concepts that vary over time and place (Pascoe 273). In the case of w-inds., their gender was carefully constructed as androgynous and their sexuality as fluid in order to attract female fans and boost the sales of the music. This androgyny and fluidity proves that rigid and polarized Western conventions of gender (masculine or feminine) and sexuality (heterosexual or homosexual) fail to take into account this complexity and fluidity. This is emphasized by the reaction of many North American fans to the image of w-inds.. If they are uncertain, more often than not they will immediately ask if w-inds. is male or female. Fluidity isn’t even considered, since “fluidity seems to pose such a threat that its possibility is rarely, if ever acknowledged” (Raymond 106). Therefore, the marketing of w-inds. can be used not only to illustrate a Japanese marketing strategy, but to illuminate the rigidity of Western definitions of gender and sexuality.

In conclusion, w-inds. owes much of their success with female fans not simply to their talent and music, but also to the way in which they are marketed. The ways their image is controlled and maintained as androgynous and non-threatening, coupled with the absence of women and the homosexual readings of their image, allow w-inds. to be a viewed as a comfortable and pleasurable place for the female imagination. Considering this, it’s no wonder that w-inds. is as popular as they are.




Appendixes


Appendix 1


w-inds. from early 2001, around the time of the premiere of their first single
[L-R: Ryohei, Keita, and Ryuichi]


Appendix 2


1 – Ryuichi from a series of w-inds. images that appeared in the April 2005 issue of the magazine “ARENA37c” [w-inds. was on the cover as well]


Appendix 3


Vision Factory’s w-inds. e-calendar for December 2004
[L-R: Ryohei, Keita, and Ryuichi]


Appendix 4


w-inds. from an issue of “Junon” magazine early 2004(?)
[L-R: Ryohei, Keita, and Ryuichi]




Endnotes


¹ w-inds. is currently averaging a new single every one or two months, and a new album every year and a half, which is tied into their annual concert performances. w-inds. also perform "lives" frequently throughout the year - usually in conjunction with the promotion of a new single.
² This is general knowledge. It was reported by the media back when they premiered, but I can't find a definite source.
³ Every w-inds. fan I have very met has mentioned how someone has mistaken w-inds. for a group of girls. I have experienced this myself and last Christmas was told by one of my cousins that Ryuichi is "one hot chick" and the "hottest" of the three. It was only until I showed him one of their music videos and he saw Ryuichi rap, that he realized his error.
⁴ It's notable that the only w-inds. song with overt sexual undertones is "Super Lover", in which the only remotely sexual lyrics are in English. (These lyrics can be found at the website "wFL Lyrics", which is listed in the works cited list.)
⁵ I've watched over two hundred clips of w-inds. television appearances and performances and the only women that are ever shown with w-inds. are TV hosts and other female celebrities. Even when pictured with other female celebrities or music groups, w-inds. is never seen interacting with their members.
⁶ For example, in the Backstreet Boys music video "As Long You Love Me", each five members of the band are given female counterparts.
⁷ All the sources I found used the term "shoujo manga". While this is not incorrect, what they really mean to identify is a sub-genre of shoujo manga that revolves around homosexual relationships between two men. In the English-speaking community, this is commonly known as "shounen-ai manga". A large percentage of shoujo manga is heterosexual in nature.
⁸ They are also, as McLelland points out, a problematic representation of gay men.




Works Cited List


Bignell, Jonathan, Media Semiotics: An Introduction. Manchester: Manchester University Press, 2002. (pg 28-54)

Darling-Wolf, Fabienne. “Gender, Beauty and Western Influence: Negotiating Femininity in Japanese Women’s Magazines,” The Gender Challenge to the Media, ed. E.L. Toth & L. Aldoory. Cresskill, NJ: Hampton Press, Inc., 2001. (pg 277-318)

Darling-Wolf, Febienne. “SMAP, Sex, and Masculinity: Constructing the Perfect Female Fantasy in Japanese Popular Music.” Popular Music and Society, Vol. 27, No. 3. 2004. (pg 357-370)

Katz, Jackson. “Advertising and the Construction of Violent White Masculinity: From Eminem to Clinique for Men.” in Gender, Race and Class in Media: A Text Reader, eds. G Dines and J. M. Humez. 2nd ed. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications, 2003. (pg 349-358.)

Moka. “wFL Lyrics”. <http://wfllyrics.mognet.net/> (13 March 2005).

Pascoe, Peggy. “Gender”. A companion to American Thought. Eds. R. W. Fox and J. T. Kloppenburg. New York: Blackwell, 1995.

McLelland, Mark. “Male Homosexuality and Popular Culture in Modern Japan.” INTERSECTIONS: Gender, History & Culture in the Asian Context. Issue 3.
9 January 2000. 12 March 2004.
<http://wwwsshe.murdoch.edu.au/intersections/issue3/mclelland2.html> (13 March 2005).

Raymond, Diance. “Popular Culture and Queer Representation: A Critical Perspective.” in Gender, Race and Class in Media: A Text-Reader, eds. G Dines and J. M. Humez. 2nd ed. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications, 2003. (pg 98-110.)

Schalow, Paul Gordon. “Male Love in Early Modern Japan: A Literary Depiction of the ‘Youth’”, in Hidden From History: Reclaiming the Gay and Lesbian Past. eds. M.B. Duberman, M. Vicinus, and G. Chaucey Jr. Signet: 1989. (pg 118-128)

"w-inds.tv." The Official w-inds. Homepage. <http://www.w-inds.tv/> (13 March 2005).




General Information


Written by Pan [LELOLA.net] for NEW271: Gender, Race and Class in Contemporary Popular Culture at the University of Toronto, mid-February - March 13, 2005.

Last Updated: March 28, 2005

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