is a Japanese term meaning , and the female equivalent to the male in Japanese culture. The usage of the word refers to either the leader of a girl gang or the entire gang itself, and is not used to refer to any one member of a girl gang.Yonekawa, Akihiko. ''Beyond Polite Japanese: A Dictionary of Japanese Slang and Colloquialisms'', 2001, pages 26–27. . The word was originally used by delinquents, but has been used by the general population to describe the

subculture A subculture is a group of people within a culture, cultural society that differentiates itself from the values of the conservative, standard or dominant culture to which it belongs, often maintaining some of its founding principles. Subcultures ...

since 1972. were formed as a direct result of male gangs' refusal to accept female members, consequently the term has come to refer to the massive movement that brought

feminism Feminism is a range of socio-political movements and ideology, ideologies that aim to define and establish the political, economic, personal, and social gender equality, equality of the sexes. Feminism holds the position that modern soci ...

to public attention at a time when men of the

yakuza , also known as , are members of transnational organized crime syndicates originating in Japan. The Japanese police and media (by request of the police) call them , while the yakuza call themselves . The English equivalent for the term ''yak ...

were thriving. reportedly first appeared in Japan during the 1960s, presenting themselves as the female equivalent to the gangs, which were composed mostly of men. During the 1970s, as gangs began to die out, girl gangs began to rise in number. Gangs were initially small groups of girls sneaking cigarettes in school bathrooms, but eventually grew in numbers, as did their level of criminality. These gangs were commonly associated by violence and shop-lifting. Gangs ranged in size from Tokyo's United Shoplifters group, comprising roughly 80 members, to the Kanto Women Delinquent Alliance, rumored to have had around 20,000 members. Criminal activities and violence of the girl gangs in Japan reached such a high that sketches used to identify them in Japanese police pamphlets in the 1980s described aspects of their fashion as "omens of downfall".

Characteristics

Appearance and other signifiers

The common signifiers of include brightly-dyed or permed hair, in colours of either

blond Blond () or blonde (), also referred to as fair hair, is a human hair color characterized by low levels of eumelanin, the dark pigment. The resultant visible hue depends on various factors, but always has some yellowish color. The color can be ...

e or light brown. Members of also modified their

school uniform A school uniform is a uniform worn by students primarily for a school or otherwise an educational institution. They are common in primary school, primary and secondary schools in various countries and are generally widespread in Africa, Asia, O ...

by wearing coloured socks, rolling up their sleeves and lengthening their skirt, which were sometimes decorated with gang-affiliated symbols,

kanji are logographic Chinese characters, adapted from Chinese family of scripts, Chinese script, used in the writing of Japanese language, Japanese. They were made a major part of the Japanese writing system during the time of Old Japanese and are ...

and/or slogans. The long skirts were a rejection of the popularity of the miniskirt, which had become popular in the 1960s during the sexual revolution. Though their skirts were long, often cut their shirts to expose their midriffs. Converse sneakers were also another addition, and their clothes often had handmade modifications, including badges and buttons. They wore very little make-up and sported thin eyebrows. Adding to these features, usually wore surgical masks, and often carried with them razor blades, bamboo swords and chains, which could be concealed under their skirts. The style of the ''sukeban'' have been interpreted as a rebellion against traditional gender norms, sexism, and the objectification of women, while, more specifically, the length of their skirts has been read as a reaction to the

sexual revolution The sexual revolution, also known as the sexual liberation, was a social movement that challenged traditional codes of behavior related to sexuality and interpersonal relationships throughout the Western world from the late 1950s to the early 1 ...

Codes of Conduct and similar attitudes

girls followed strict rules and codes of conduct within their gangs. Each gang possessed a hierarchy as well as their own means of punishment; cigarette burns were considered a minor punishment for stealing a boyfriend or disrespecting a senior member. were reported to engage in activities such as stimulant use, shoplifting, theft, and violence, but if arrested, could be charged with the lesser offence of "pre-delinquency". Stimulants used often included sniffing paint thinner or glue.

Media and cultural influence

In the 1970s and 1980s, became popular characters in manga. characters could also be seen in manga publications. , '' Tales of Yajikita College'' and were three popular series that had a mostly cast.

Pink film refers in Japan to movies produced by independent studios that includes nudity (hence 'pink') or deals with sexual content. This encompasses everything from dramas to action thrillers and exploitation film features. Many pink films would be a ...

director Norifumi Suzuki made the first films in the seven-film ''Girl Boss'' () series. He also started the four-film '' Terrifying Girls' High School'' series (1971–1972) featuring characters. Both series featured prominent ''Pinky violent'' actresses Reiko Ike and

Miki Sugimoto is a Japanese people, Japanese actress best known for her roles in the ''sukeban'' (delinquent girl) subgenre of Toei Company, Toei's action/erotic form of "pink film" known as ''Pinky Violence''. Life and career Sugimoto began her career as a M ...

, as well as former beauty queen Reiko Oshida. On December 6, 2005, Panik House company released a four-disc region-1

DVD The DVD (common abbreviation for digital video disc or digital versatile disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any ki ...

collection surveying films entitled ''The Pinky Violence Collection''. These films challenged traditional constructions of gender and female sexuality in postwar Japan. Japanese crime writer Jake Adelstein said with regards to :

Footnotes

Sources