“Start a story with the arrows of the Native Americans,
and not with the arrival of the British, you have an entirely different story.”
This quotation from Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s TED talk, “The Danger of the
Single Story” discusses a thought that she presented during that presentation
that she refers to as “the single story.” This is a concept that puts forth the
idea of a single viewpoint being a dangerous thing without any other
information being provided. While Adichie presents the idea of the single story
very well in her TED talk, single stories exist outside of the life experiences
she shared as well. For example, the fashion subculture known as Lolita, a
street fashion from Japan that has made its way into American cultural stream,
has quite the large single story surrounding it in the form of stereotypes and
preconceived notions as to why people wear it and what it is about, when there
is much more to the style’s history and the people who wear it than what people
initially believe.
Outside of the simple words “a single story,”
Adichie was referring to a larger concept than the one she presented to the
audience when she spoke to and, subsequently, the people who watched her TED
talk online. What she really meant when talking about her experiences was that
there are two or more sides to every story, not just a single, all-encompassing
viewpoint. As she said, “The single story creates stereotypes, and the
problem with stereotypes is not that they are untrue, but that they are
incomplete. They make one story become the only story,” and this thought really
sums up the idea she was trying to propose to her audience (Adichie). As she
goes on to speak, she elaborates further on the concept further by talking
about people she knew in her own life: her roommate, her professor, and herself
as well, and as she does so, she brings to light the idea of stereotyping and
that it is based in single-sided stories we are fed through the media and the
world around us, thus creating a “single story” (Adichie).
While Adichie may have cited many examples of
“single stories” from her own life, there are many that are occurring in the
United States right now that affect its people. However, to focus on one, a
very niche group of Japanese fashion enthusiasts have to take the spotlight.
One group of scholars notes that “Japanese Lolita fashion…is characterized by
images of women adorned in elaborate dresses with delicate fabrics inspired by
stylistic interpretations of early-modern European clothing such as Rococo and
Victorian dresses. The style thus exudes the look of European bisque dolls” (Nakamura
et al.). Another interviewer states that “Many argue that the Lolita style has
its origins in the French Rococo period of the 18th century, an era
defined by wide skirts, delicate colors, ornate details, and generous lace
trimming” (“Cuteness”). These statements represent the aesthetic of the fashion
rather well, though there is more to Lolita fashion than just the ruffles and
frills on the surface.
Lolita fashion comes from Japan, specifically
from a part of Tokyo called Harajuku (“Cuteness”). Known internationally as a
center of youth culture and entertainment, Harajuku is the home to some of the
most well-known Lolita clothing brands such as Angelic Pretty, Baby, the Stars
Shine Bright, and their offshoot brand, Alice and the Pirates (“Angelic”;“Baby”).
Angelic Pretty, while it was established in 1979 under a different name, gave
itself its current name in 2001, and has subsequently become one of the most
well-known Lolita brands worldwide and producing clothes that represent the
sweet Lolita archetype of dress (“Angelic”). There are many different types of
Lolita fashion, and all of them help people express what they may not be able
to with ordinary clothing. These styles range from sweet Lolita, which is
characterized by dresses in pastel colors with prints that depict cute animals,
delicious desserts, and other adorable things, to the other side of the
spectrum in a style called gothic Lolita. Gothic Lolita is characterized by
gothic elements including skulls, crosses, and dark colored dresses and
accessories (“Cuteness”). The styles are so varied, in fact, that when someone
takes a picture at a Lolita fashion meetup, odds are that you will not find two
people dressed in exactly the same style.
Where there is a fashion style, there are
bound to be people who spread stereotypes about it, and Lolita fashion
certainly has its share of them surrounding it. One of the “single stories”
surrounding Lolita fashion is that it is one and the same with a book titled Lolita,
by an author named Vladimir Nabokov. The book tells the tale of a sexually
promiscuous young girl who attempts to seduce the older male present in the
story, who he refers to as a “nymphet”. So, naturally, the “single story”
surrounding Lolita fashion is that the members of the community dress the way
they do to attract pedophiles and/or older men (“10 Misconceptions”). This is
not at all true; in fact, all the fashion style and the book share is a name
(“Cuteness”). The style itself has no ties whatsoever to the book, or its movie
adaptation, and the idea that people dress in the style to attract the type of
attention seen in those stories is repugnant. As to how the style got its name
is still up for speculation, but one theory is that Japan saw the word in
Western culture and loosely translated it to mean “young girl,” and so they
applied it to a style of dress that can sometimes resemble that of a young girl
dressing up like a princess (“10 Misconceptions”).
Another one of the “single stories” surrounding
Lolita fashion related slightly to the aforementioned topic, and that is that
people who wear Lolita are trying to relive their childhoods, either because
they have a sexual fetish for it or because they had a disappointing childhood
(“10 Misconceptions”). As one Lolita fashion enthusiast pointed out:
I think
the idea that Lolita is some kind of fetish is partly due to the fact that we
say "I AM a Lolita" as opposed to "I dress IN Lolita fashion.” I
mean obviously the Lolita book is the main culprit in the stereotype, but I
feel like it's weird we call ourselves "a Lolita" as if clothing
changes our identity. I kinda prefer to say I "dress in Lolita"
because it differentiates it as a clothing style and not a costume/lifestyle/identity.
(Ottai)
This is a valid point for many reasons, and it
really hits on the idea that the “single story” is very present outside of the
fashion style’s ever growing community, and that Lolita fashion enthusiasts can
perpetuate this idea without even realizing that they are simply by stating
things the wrong way.
One final “single story” that surrounds Lolita
fashion is the idea that, the reason people wear these out of the ordinary
clothing items, is because they just want attention and for people to stare at
and notice them (“10 Misconceptions”). And while there are events like Lolita
tea parties that can allow Lolita fashion enthusiasts to get together to show
off their outfits and be proud of the work they put into them, they do not do
it for the attention of the public. Reasons why people are drawn to the style
vary; some say it is because the community is accepting, others come for the
aesthetic of it all, and others still use the fashion to escape from their own
self-confidence issues and to feel cute for once. Another reason many people
are drawn to this sub-style is because it feels empowering to them. In the
1990’s, much of what the media put forth in terms of female beauty standards
was the idea that, to be considered feminine, you had to dress sexually, and
Lolita fashion rejects that idea in a lot of ways (“Cuteness”). The fashion is
very feminine, with its lace and frills, but it is also relatively
conservative, requiring blouses under sleeveless dresses, along with either
tights or knee socks to cover your legs, and hardly any of the dresses are cut
above the knee. This reinforces the idea that you can dress femininely without
being sexual, and that idea appeals and empowers a lot of people who wear the
fashion. So, there are many reasons people are attracted to this style genre,
and none of them really involve fishing for attention and/or praise.
Adichie talked about many things in her TED
talk, but the underlying theme remained that people needed to educate
themselves to avoid being ignorant to the ways of the world that surrounded
them. Whether the issue is the cultures of countries abroad, or a simple
fashion style, the concept of “the single story” is damaging to everyone it
touches. It can perpetuate hurtful stereotypes about people or places that are
nowhere near true, and yet people will believe them because they do not know
any better. However, the concept is ever present, and to avoid it, you need to
read more than a single story to grasp the whole truth.
