Ahegao Clothing
After looking at the findings about anime/manga-themed shirts in general, now we are taking a look more specifically at the controversy of ahegao clothing. Among our respondents, there are actually only a small number, 55 people, who report having clothing with ahegao print. The majority identify as males, but 10 identify as females. “The design is interesting/funny” is most cited as the reason to get such clothing by 45 respondents or 82% of those who report having such clothing. The next most cited reason (13 respondents) is because they are inspired from seeing another person or their friend who have the clothing, and there are also people who buy the clothing because of their friends’ suggestion/recommendation (6 respondents). Two respondents report receiving the clothing as a gift from their friends, but only one wear it willingly (the other one just ignore the clothing). One female respondent report having to buy it because she lost a dare.
The most detailed reason comes from a respondent (male, age 24-29, Borneo) who claim to use the clothing as a social experiment. In his claim, the respondent observes that in general, people are not actually aware that the pictures are from pornographic manga and just think of them as funny pictures. Thus, it is reasoned that the people who recognize that the pictures are from pornographic materials must be people who are already familiar or have knowledge about pornographic manga to begin with.
When it comes to the use of ahegao clothing at events/cons, there are 488 respondents who perceive it to be very inappropriate and 226 respondents perceive it to be somewhat inappropriate. The most often mentioned reason is concern regarding underage visitors in events that do not restrict the age of their visitors. Since the pictures used on the clothing come from materials that are supposed to be age-restricted, taking the pictures to public view in all-ages spaces expose such materials to children whom the materials should have been restricted from. There are also respondents who mention personal disgust toward the clothing and the perceived deviancy of the people wearing them, while others state concerns that the image of anime and manga fan communities could become poor if there are fans that show their interest in pornographic materials in public through such clothing.
“Events are not only attended by visitors above the age of 18. There are also children attending with their parents. Wearing such clothing at events or other public spaces directly exposes children to pornographic content. It would also instill negative stigma towards anime and manga fans in general if normies see the clothing.” (Female, age 19-23, Greater Jakarta)
“The clothing is very and inappropriate and should be banned, especially in all-ages events because the picture can influence children and it will disturb the adults who are not too familiar with anime and manga. It might still be appropriate if the event is restricted to adult attendees only.” (Male, age 24-29, Greater Jakarta)
“It’s just disgusting to see anyone showing their perversion in public, even if it’s at an anime con.” (Female, age 19-23, Central Java/Yogyakarta)
In general, 288 feel neutral to the use of ahegao clothing at events/cons while 77 think it’s somewhat appropriate or very appropriate. One of the reasons most often given by those who perceive the clothing neutrally or positively is because they are already used to seeing the clothing being used at events/cons. Also, there are arguments that since consumption of pornographic manga is considered common among anime and manga fans, using ahegao clothing at events where other anime and manga fans gather is the most sensible option. It is the only space where fans can most comfortably reveal their interests in pornographic manga with others who also consume such materials.
“I think it’s still considered normal (to wear ahegao clothing) at events since they can often be spotted there.” (Female, age 19-23, Greater Jakarta)
“It’s still fitting to use if it’s at anime event and doesn’t break the event’s regulations, because it’s the individual’s preference to choose their clothing and to express themselves.” (Male, age 19-23, Greater Jakarta)
“It’s still in the right place since they are gathering with their kin there.” (Male, age 19-23, West Java)
Specific among the respondents who own ahegao clothing themselves, 26 out of 55 feel neutral to the use of the clothing at events/cons, and 19 others regard it very appropriate, while only 4 feel it’s actually somewhat or very inappropriate. Among the owners of ahegao clothing, wearing the clothing is said to allow them to be identified as a consumer of hentai materials by other fans of similar interests, which would then lead to sharing recommendations between them. In this sense, the clothing still has the same social function as regular anime/manga-themed shirts to identify fans who share similar specific interests.
“The clothing is part of weaboo culture.” (Male, age 19-23, West Java)
“Events are the place to identify yourself as a fan of such materials, and the picture can’t really be said to be vulgar.” (Male, age 24-29, East Java)
“Using the clothing makes it easier to find others to share recommendations for erotic manga.” (Male, age 24-29, Borneo)
Furthermore, those who perceive the use of ahegao clothing at cons to be appropriate also argue that since the clothing only depict the facial expressions and not the nude body, let alone the sexual organs, they cannot be considered explicit and the general public who are not familiar with hentai wouldn’t think of them to be arousing. They even argue that the pictures of the facial expressions expose even less than cosplays that use revealing clothing like bikini. However, those who are concerned about ahegao clothing being seen by kids reject the argument that the pictures on the clothing cannot be considered explicit even if they only show faces, since they still come from materials that are not supposed to be seen by kids. And even though the kids may not understand what the pictures are, it is argued, they might still become curious about the pictures and ask or look for information about them. It can be noted, though, that among these people who are concerned about kids seeing ahegao clothing, some state that they would tolerate the clothing more if they are worn at events that restrict the age of their visitors.
“I don’t think ahegao clothing is explicit since the genitals are not shown. They’re just faces with unique expressions. If you feel annoyed seeing them, just don’t see and ignore them.” (Male, age 24-29, Central Java, owns ahegao clothing)
“It’s someone’s right to wear them. Besides, the clothing is not arousing, and not exposed like bikini or clothing that that shows cleavage.” (Female, age 19-23, West Java, owns ahegao clothing)
“To show clothing with erotic faces in public is not good manners, especially if there are children that can see them.” (Male, age 19-23, East Java)
“Even if they only show the faces, they contain sexual theme nevertheless. It’s not a problem if the clothing is used only at home.” (Female, age 24-29, Greater Jakarta)
How about using ahegao clothing outside of events/cons? For casual situations, the number of respondents who think wearing such clothing is very inappropriate becomes 677, though there are still 141 who feel neutral about it. But when it comes to using the clothing in formal situations, an overwhelming 933 respondents feel it’s very inappropriate. Even among the owners of the clothing, 26 out of 55 perceive using the clothing in formal situations to be very inappropriate and 6 others think it’s somewhat inappropriate.
In regards to casual situations, those who think ahegao clothing is inappropriate to use are concerned about there being more general public who are not anime and manga fans compared to event/con situations, who would judge such clothing badly. On the other hand, those who are more permissive towards the use of the clothing in casual situations think the non-fans’ lack of familiarity of erotic manga would mean the general public will just ignore people who wear such clothing. Another commonly appearing comment from the latter group also say that they wouldn’t intervene with other people’s choice to wear what clothing they want in public, because it’s up to the wearer themselves to be responsible for any consequences of wearing the clothing in public, if there are any.
“There are many people out there who don’t understand it and would even judge negatively (to using the clothing outside of events).” (Male, age 24-29, Central Java, owns ahegao clothing)
“There are many normies outside of events. Though some of them may not care, I think many of them would feel strange just to see someone wearing ahegao clothing” (Male, age 19-23, Greater Jakarta)
“It depends on the situation. It’s fine as long as you understand when it’s okay to wear it and when it’s not okay.” (Male, age >30, Greater Jakarta, owns ahegao clothing)
“It’s okay since people out there don’t understand (what the clothing is). If anyone get called out about wearing it, that’s their own problem.” (Male, age 19-23, Greater Jakarta)
As for formal situations, since they tend to have their own specific rules regarding what could/should or couldn’t/shouldn’t be worn, so the majority opinion is that those rules are to be followed, as they are not spaces meant to be for people to show the hobbies they are interested in. This is actually not much different from opinions about wearing ordinary anime/manga-themed clothing in formal situations, the difference is that that the proportion of strongly negative perceptions compared to mildly negative ones are higher when it comes to ahegao clothing than regular anime/manga-themed clothing.
“It’s just common sense™ (not to wear ahegao clothing in formal situations).” (Male, age 19-23, East Java, owns ahegao clothing)
“Again, any shirt with pictures is not appropriate for formal situations to begin with.” (Female, age 19-23, West Java, owns ahegao clothing)
