Young Japanese men are
starting to resemble their female
counterparts when it comes to the pursuit
of beauty, with the nation awash in salons dedicated to male grooming and
products such as hair removal creams, electric nose-hair trimmers and
face-firming masks targeting the image-conscious man.
Men in their 20s and 30s today were teenagers when the now-common
expression "ikemen" - meaning a good-looking man - was a new buzzword. The advent of the term and
a social phenomenon lionizing
ikemen have given males of this particular age group a belief that looking
pretty is pretty cool. At the same time, gaining a more attractive look is a
way to compensate for a lack of
self-confidence.
Panasonic Corp. initially launched a scalp-cleansing machine in 2011
targeting women. But after finding out that 30 percent of the purchasers were
actually men, the company launched a new model for men in April this year.
Sales are 1.5 times higher than the consumer electronics giant expected.
In a sign of the times, the sales area for male beauty products at
retailer Tokyu Hands' store in Tokyo's Shibuya district is 50 percent larger
than it was last September.
Not everybody is happy with this trend. A male executive in his 50s
said men should "make more effort to clean up what's on the
inside." Meanwhile, a company employee in her 20s said, "I feel
depressed when I see a man who has skin that's prettier than mine."
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VOCABULARY
1.
Resemble
- to look like or be similar to someone or something
2.
Pursuit -
when someone tries to get, achieve, or find something in a determined way [↪ pursue]
3.
Buzzword
- a word or phrase from one special area of knowledge that people suddenly
think is very important
4.
social - relating
to human society and its organization, or the quality of people's lives
5.
phenomenon
- something that is observable or an extraordinary thing or person
6.
compensate
- to replace or balance the effect of something bad
QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION
1.
What do you think about men trying to look
pretty?
2.
Is beauty salon only for women? Why?
3.
Do you do the same activity as mentioned in the
article?
4.
Share your idea about gay?
5.
Is same sex marriage accepted in your country?
Give your opinion.
