Japan’s latest”plus-sized” girl band Chubbiness have perfectly normal bodies and all 10 members aren’t even remotely chubby.
The J-pop group debuted in 2013 through an open casting call collaboration between the music company Avex and CanCam, a fashion magazine targeted to young collegians, and while they’re yet to release a song, a lot of effort has been put into building the girls’ public, chubby persona.
Chubbiness’ Twitter feed is filled with food-themed-posts – one band member poses with a plate of cake and another drinks from a jumbo takeaway cup, for instance, while early interviews with these young women have highlighted the topic of eating.
Reports suggest that executives were keen to tap into the body acceptance movement for “marshmallow girls”, a trendy name for Japanese females whose bodies fall outside “the norm” of a small, slight figures.
In Nikkan Spa, a Japanese news site, the reporter notes that “all members of Chubbiness enjoy eating and when the conversation revolves around the topic of food, the girls become very lively and happy”. Another magazine asked the band members to name the “favourite chubby part” of their bodies.
If the message was supposed to encourage females to be positive about their bodies, the gimmick has definitely failed. While adults may reject the notion of labelling regular, healthy body shapes “chubby”, young girls may not be so discerning.
As a reminder, Japan is a country with very specific beauty ideals perpetuated by low obesity rates and an obsession with mass-produced “idols”.
Putting aside the “chubby” persona, we can’t wait to find out just how talented these girls are. Their music is supposed to be released in March this year.
What do you think of these “chubby” girls?
