A FILM STILL FROM 'SUKEBAN DEKA VOLUME 1 & 2.' PHOTO VIA TOEI COMPANY
A FILM STILL FROM 'SUKEBAN DEKA VOLUME 1 & 2.' PHOTO VIA TOEI COMPANY
Annons
Dr Laura Miller, a professor at the University of Missouri, was working in Osaka during the sukeban's heyday."I admired them for rebelling against mainstream gender and femininity norms," she recalls. "Walking around different districts it soon became clear that they were all from working class neighborhoods. It seemed that their rebellion was linked to the fact that they knew they would never become princess office ladies and adorable marriage fodder for white-collar salarymen."Read More: Ride-or-Die Chicks: Photos from an All-Girl Motorcycle Ride
Annons

Annons
"They became representations for the social, cultural, and political dichotomies that Japanese society was experiencing at the time," says Kozma. "On a broader, more universal level, the idea of women 'behaving badly' has always been appealing to audiences, specifically because it is a challenge to the way women are universally taught to act. Seeing this type of resistance to those expectations is thrilling for most and cathartic for many."And it didn't stop there. Whether you loved or hated these girl they were everywhere, spreading a message of either empowerment or terror depending on your position within Japanese society at the time.
"There were countless films, comics, novels, anime, and also of course porn versions of all the sukeban media products," Dr. Miller recalls from her time in Osaka. "For middle-class women, sukeban in the media were a welcome relief from chirpy, babyish idols such as Matsuda Seiko. For girls in working class schools who were bullied by real sukeban, they were a source of fear and distaste, similar to how Japanese view yakuza. At the same time, also similar to the yakuza, they were admired for having their own code of ethics and for the value they placed on loyalty to the gang."The idea of women 'behaving badly' has always been appealing to audiences, specifically because it is a challenge to the way women are universally taught to act.
A DVD cover of a sukeban film. Image via Toei Company
Annons
The same can be said for its cinema screens—whereas the sukeban are now commonly found in children's cartoons, it's Western films like Kill Bill that today most reflect the essence their leaders."The type of self-confidence, social-consciousness, the middle-finger to oppressive society, and unrepentant independence that is really at the core of the Pinky Violence films has been sadly lost," says Kozma.Contemporary girl gangs now ride bikes, paint their nails and hike up their skirts as a new means of solidarity. Considerably more polished than their predecessors, these groups are still acutely aware of class status and the social constructs of their country. Their notions of the sukeban may well be romanticized—or as Adelstein puts it, a "deliberate attempt to recreate a gang mystique, the way it was reported [and] not as it was". But by honoring their heritage these new gangs have found comfort, and a platform for individuality and rebellion that suits them, not anyone else.Read More: We Interviewed the Youths Who Tweet 'Fuck Me Daddy' at the Pope
