Important Discussion about Women & the Community

But this post is originally about the objectification of women, and pole dancing is objectifying women. As I just said in my previous post, a woman had to be okay with posing for the picture in the poster. So does that mean it’s okay for them to objectify themselves, in turn further propagating the objectivity of women in general?

 

Wait - I know that this all has nothing to do with the overall thread's topic, but I have interject here and point out that while I am completely against the slut shaming culture that has developed around things like stripping, pole dancing, etc - Stripping as a profession is still largely one that sexualizes women as a service for men. And has historically been an outlet that many women have turned to for financial gain vs. their own love of "dancing" being that it is one of the few professions that women can more easily turn to for money - as it's an industry that will always have demand. Just wanted to point that out.

Not saying that you can't be a stripper, or that you can't be a stripper that loves and finds her job empowering. But overall, as an industry, it can't be pointed to as a body positive one for women - at least not yet. Hence, would still be considered incredibly inappropriate as a kid's toy - especially one that promotes an image for young girls to aspire towards.

For the record, I definitely wouldn't want to give my kid a stripper barbie. I'm not sure if saying this makes me a complete asshole, but I hope to god that if I have the good fortune to raise a sensible, self-respecting young lady, that she would maybe aim a little higher in her career goals. : /

 

@Ben Lowe Thank you for your thoughts, Ben. I have always respected and enjoyed your kendama content, and I'm truly sorry to see that your overall view on the community has diminished due to some of these issues, and that you don't feel comfortable posting as much content as a result. While I don't feel that this particular "adult" direction that kendama is being pushed towards really represents the large majority of the community and its spirit (and I know you and I either equally, or almost equally dislike this direction), I do get where you're coming from.

I also agree with what you've outlined in your response in terms of the damage that the support of some of these larger pros and companies backing sources like OSS can do. I do think that the context of our community being small matters, as you've pointed out, and that these things can definitely be more impactful as a result. But seeing as it's a free market, and that there are many out there who enjoy the vibe that BMX culture has brought into kendama, I'm not sure how to directly combat that. I get where you might feel irresponsible for perpetuating a community that can steer youngsters into negative influences, but it's precisely because I see some of kendama going that way, that I feel a responsibility to stay in and prove that there are still many people in this community who aren't for that image.

I know that myself and a number of others I know who actually do have connections to some of these companies, feel conflicted about this, seeing that those connections exist. But to just run away from it doesn't seem the answer for us, when there are still so many positives to highlight about this toy, and the joy that it can bring to people. I'm not trying to get you to change your mind, and I understand and respect your decision to be less involved - I'm just pointing to how staying active, or maybe even being more active can actually have a stronger influence on this issue.

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As for this poster and however any other future events/marketing choices go - Me posting this on Downspike and FKC doesn't actually change how things will be handled. I just wanted to provide a point of conversation - thinking that as a woman, pointing out how this type of imagery can be viewed, would create enough of a buzz to provoke more thought before creating similar types of content. Continually releasing sexualized images for the sake promoting a "bad boy" or counterculture image is totally still the choice of the company or people who want it, but considering that I've mentioned how it makes me and other women feel, I'd hope that there IS a certain amount of respect that is put forth into that. That saying something might make somewhat of a change, instead of being brushed off, dismissed, and ignored just because women are a small subset of the demographic, and our objections don't actually matter as much from a business perspective.

I also don't want everyone to forget that sexual harassment DOES exist within this community for the women of this community. Just because we don't say anything all the time, doesn't mean that it doesn't happen. Most of the time it probably comes from kids who are young and not mature enough to "know better", but I'd also like to toss out there that those youngsters are greatly influenced by their role models and types of things their role models put out.

 

But when they go to elementary schools, they are going to introduce kids to kendama, it isn’t like they are all already players. I don’t know what age group kendama is most associated with, but in my own personal experience it’s been late teens to early twenties.

I absolutely still appreciate and understand your viewpoint, but I don’t at all think dama is just for kids. I mean several of the OGs of the community discovered dama through a film called Ski Porn. I think kendama is great for kids but obviously not limited to. I also think the older/skate scene would probably have more success with people sticking to dama and continually play. So I don’t think it’s a bad thing for companies to try to advertise in an appealing way to that group. This obviously is just my personal opinion, and I still respect yours of course.

 

>'I am against slut shaming'

>'No strippers have self respect, sensibility, nor career goals'

Can you see your hypocrisy here? The only way to stop the sexualisation and objectification of these careers is to stop thinking of strippers as lower beings and start thinking of the profession as a career just like everything else. Just because they use their bodies doesn't mean they have no self respect.

I know this is off topic but it's an important point when talking about 'sex sells'

 

I am not surprised. Seems like quite a lot of the OG dudes discovered dama that way. Pretty cool it reached so many people and helped influence the start to an awesome community.

 

I 100% agree with this statement. As a teenage player, I love this simple skill toy, and it has led me to new friends, big events, and lifelong experiences that I could not live without. All of these "darker" parts popping up in the community like drugs and sexualizing things that do not need that context definitely are bad for the community. I started playing kendama roughly 3 years ago, but had one major break somewhere through that, but in the early times I had played kendama, there was nothing like this showing up, and kendama was like the most innocent toy that anyone could enjoy. Occasionally there were hints at drugs, and adult references that were in videos, but nothing compared to more recent OSS advertising, Kendama is a Gang, and more. They ruin the look of kendama to parents, like when my mom saw one of the OSS flyers, she immediately thought that was not going to be a peaceful event, even when the turnout was amazing. Also lots of drug reference like weed makes lots of teens think, "oh, to fit in maybe I have to do that too" which is completely wrong. It is their own choice to consume drugs, and it doesn't mean anything towards anyone else being forced to do it. Some people chose to do drugs, and that is completely their choice. But these topics are now being brought up in the ken community, and may cause negative influence. In lots of places these drugs are legal for medical use, and in CA where I reside it is completely fine for recreation too. That doesn't mean anyone has to do it, especially underage teens, and young children in the community shouldn't even be introduced to that in my opinion. I am completely fine actually with the sub-sections of the kendama community, such as the more streetwear sub-sections, adult sub-sections, nerdy sub-sections, cannabis sub-sections, and others, they all are unique, but it doesn't mean everything should be completely available to everyone, because some people will look at it negatively.

 

Spot on