{"id":1291,"date":"2010-10-01T15:45:48","date_gmt":"2010-10-01T15:45:48","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.dimsumdolly.com\/?p=1291"},"modified":"2010-10-01T15:45:48","modified_gmt":"2010-10-01T15:45:48","slug":"herbivorous_male_carnivorous_fe","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.dimsumdolly.net\/?p=1291","title":{"rendered":"The Herbivorous Male \u8349\u98df\u7537 & Carnivorous Female \u8089\u98df\u5973"},"content":{"rendered":"

The English-speaking world has yet to latch on to the terms \u8349\u98df\u7537 (herbivorous male) and \u8089\u98df\u5973 (carnivorous female), but in Japan, Taiwan, China and Hong Kong, the terms have already been buzz words in the discussion of gender issues for a few years.
\nA friend of mine had sent me the article<\/a>, published online early last year in Taiwan. I had meant to translate it since I thought it was pretty interesting and the terms are related to food – loosely so anyway.
\nHere’s my translation:
\nJapan’s gender revolution – carnivorous females prey on herbivorous males<\/b>
\nOutdated are those who still think that the Japanese people believe it should be the man who makes the first move, while the woman waits passively for him, in a relationship. Apparently there is now a reversal in the way Japanese men and women in their 20s and early 30s view love and sex, such that the terms \u8349\u98df\u7537 (herbivorous male) and \u8089\u98df\u5973 (carnivorous female) have evolved to describe these new breeds of men and women.
\nVarious platforms in the Japanese media describe the herbivorous male as a quiet, non-predatory grazer in the lush, green pastures of love. However, in these pastures they are also surrounded by predatory carnivorous females who have their eyes and ears pricked, ready to pounce on and hunt down anyone they have identified as Mr Right.
\nPassive males vs eager females<\/i>
\nVarious studies in Japan have shown that among people in their 20s to early 30s, the men are considerably more laid-back when it comes to love, sex and marriage. The Japanese newspaper Mainichi<\/i> reported that many young men are unconcerned about not having a girlfriend and they feel that courting a woman and going to singles dating events are much too troublesome. A large number of their peers share the same sentiments. Conversely, women in the same age group actively take part in dating events and are not coy about declaring their affections for the man they’ve set their eyes on. At the same time, they boldly state their need for sex.
\n‘Sex and the City’ characters hailed as the goddesses of carnivorous females<\/i>
\nUnder such circumstances, the terms \u8349\u98df\u7537 and \u8089\u98df\u5973 have become popular terms. Not only have various books been published about this social phenomenon, but many popular women’s magazines have also published columns and books teaching women to understand the psyche of the herbivorous male and how to ‘attack’ them. Some columns have even labelled the four sexy female protagonists in Sex and the City<\/i> as the goddesses of carnivorous females.
\nJapanese author, \u6df1\u6fa4\u771f\u7d00, who coined the term \u8349\u98df\u7537, says that these herbivorous males grew up in an era where they had enough to eat and had a roof over their heads; they didn’t have to worry about basic survival and hence have become laid-back and haven’t developed the drive nor initiative to strive for more in their lives. The bursting of the Japanese economic bubble as well as the world economy’s financial meltdown have left these passive herbivorous males without much expectations of the future.
\nThe evolution of the carnivorous female, however, can be attributed to the worsening economy. With more and more men turning into passive, laid-back pasture grazers, the women have no choice but to be pro-active in pursuing potential marriage partners. \u6df1\u6fa4\u771f\u7d00 also pointed out that the Japanese workplace is, at its core, a male-chauvinistic one, resulting in women having to face another battle in their bid for career advancement. Thus women have to depend on their other half in order to attain a higher standard of living.
\nThe Japanese also define the herbivorous male as someone who isn’t fond of entering into relationships nor is too keen on sex. He is someone who only maintains platonic friendships with women and does not take the initiative to pursue anything or anyone. He tends to be very sensitive and is scared of being hurt. The carnivorous female, on other hand, is a woman who’s focused on hunting down a Mr Right that comes with deep pockets. She is a predator always on the prowl, and isn’t shy to proclaim her voracious sexual appetite.
\n~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
\nSo, dear reader, would you happen to be a \u8349\u98df\u7537 or \u8089\u98df\u5973? ;p<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The English-speaking world has yet to latch on to the terms \u8349\u98df\u7537 (herbivorous male) and \u8089\u98df\u5973 (carnivorous female), but in Japan, Taiwan, China and Hong Kong, the terms have already been buzz words in the discussion of gender issues for … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1291","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-books-literature-writings"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dimsumdolly.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1291","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dimsumdolly.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dimsumdolly.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dimsumdolly.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dimsumdolly.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1291"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.dimsumdolly.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1291\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dimsumdolly.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1291"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dimsumdolly.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1291"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dimsumdolly.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1291"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}