Tokyo (AFP) – Donning doll-like dresses with voluminous skirts, young women on stage roar in rage about rape and sexism they experienced in Japan, using theatre and "cute" fashion to denounce male-dominated society.
Meet TremendousCircus, Japan's self-described radical feminist theatre troupe that embraces the flamboyant Gothic Lolita aesthetic as a powerful symbol of womanhood and defence against sexual violence. The global #MeToo movement hasn't caught on in Japan, and many survivors are too scared to come forward despite a handful of high-profile cases that have forced a reckoning.Driven by what it terms "radical victim feminism", the fringe group weaves its shows with accounts of sexual violence and harassment faced by members and their fandom, collectively dubbed "militants".During a recent performance in Tokyo, actors screamed slogans such as "war for women" as they portrayed stylised revolutionists fighting an AI tyrant dubbed "Big Father" in a dystopian future.Dressed in pink, white and black, the nine women sported Japanese Lolita fashion, a substyle that fuses the bell-shaped silhouettes of Victorian clothing with macabre goth motifs.
Hina Haruka, member of a radical feminist theatre group in Japan, says the Gothic Lolita style helps her find 'the version of myself that I love' © Toshifumi KITAMURA / AFP
