On Being a Lolita [paper written on INTERVIEWS of you]

[Kyuumu]

HERE IT IS! My paper of "Being a Lolita"

Please, tell me, did I do us justice? I may have it wrong, but I tried my hardest sweatdrop I got an 81/80!! I tried to do MY VIEW, since i realized, upon reading your words, that lolita means alot of different things to different people, so I tried to simplify it


Mr. M. Williams
AP English
19 March 2008

'On Being a Lolita'

Webster’s English Definition of a ‘Lolita’ is “sexually precocious young girl”. But it’s actually far from that. A Lolita, in the fashion world and sense of the word, is a very prim, proper, and typically egotistical person. The style is a combination of the Rococo style’s elegant designs and architecture made famous through the infamous Marie Antoinette of France, and the children’s clothing from the Victorian Age. But, a Lolita is a Girl, or Boy, that is justly labeled Sweet and Innocent because of their outward appearance. We want to be a physical manifestation of innocence, purity, uprightness, and perfection, and that’s just how we act. A Lolita is just what the world makes it out to be.

I first found out about Lolita when a girl was complaining that a roleplaying site did not offer Lolita clothes for her avatar. The first thing to catch my eye was a picture of a boy in black capri-type pants with suspenders, a white lace shirt, small top hat, stockings, and a large platform shoes. A girl adjacent to him was in a gorgeous black dress with lace and bows in platform ‘Mary Janes’. I know that every one who falls in love with Lolita must have had the same thought when seeing their first picture: “Beautiful!” And it is just that. The first thought is that everything is beautiful, elegant, cute, and pretty much what every girl and some boys want to be. From that day on I carried around Pictures and listened to music with guitarists who wore Lolita. But being a fan means nothing. A Lolita, in their simplest form, is a person in a dress that meet three requirements; It must have a Bell Shape, Must be knee Length and no higher, and Must be of a simple pattern or color. That’s all it means to most. But to be a Lolita, not just a mannequin, the wearer has to be an over all good person. It’s really just a simple concept. Look the part, act the part. If you are dressed like an angel, you better act like one.
To most people who wear Lolita, and therefor consider themselves Lolita, image is everything. Everyone has a different view, it is “ a personal style”, “ a way of life”, “a statement”, “It's the attitude which qualifies a Lolita.” I’ve been lucky enough to be in an environment with other Lolita, which some people never have the chance to, and most people try to exude a quiet, sweet dominance. It’s rude to make yourself stand out above your peer, but you want to be seen. A Lolita wants to be noticed and respected. I’ve spoken with numerous girls who all confess that Lolita is their niche. Some feel they have been going their whole life “searching for a "clique" or something in which [They] fit.” (Interview) Upon finding this subculture they can feel they belong and fit in, have a group, while still standing out and being noticed like most outsiders want. To the faithful, it is much more than a style. It is a sisterhood, where in we all seek each other out for comfort and common bonds. It is a career, fueling a passion and talent for sewing and design. It is an idea, started with some bows and lace on an expensive dress, transforming into a lifestyle and ideology of being something beautiful and elegant. To Lolita, it is a way of life. We gather and talk about the compliments we get, discuss the mean looks and laughs and jeers we endure, we sit around and eat pretty food on pretty plates in pretty clothes and forget everything. We live a fantasy, and force it to work even when it seems impossible.

To the World, we are kids with high allowances, or patience for sewing, who line the streets in busy sections of cities. We have our picture taken on a regular basis by strangers and major magazines, by people fascinated and intrigued. By people admiring and mocking us. Some people look at Lolita and see people afraid to grow up. We are often times labeled as having “peter pan syndrome”, which is just as it sounds. But in all honesty, age rarely crosses our minds.

“I think everyone should at least stop doing it at a certain age, because it simply looks bad on a lot of older people, and the whole focus of it is on being youthful. Not that I think people have to stop loving it just because their older, they should just stop trying to look like a little girl.” (Interview) You can scour forums and blogs and never see the word “age”, “young”, or even the mention of time itself, unless of course we are talking about how long shipping will take. To some people we are in denial that we have to grow up, and we are just protecting ourselves from the real world by closing our eyes and sipping tea and pretending it’s the 19th century again. It’s simply not the case. We do find escape from the hardships of life, but we don’t hide from it. Some people do drugs, some throw themselves into their work, and still some people find other distractions. Us Lolita have our clothes and our image to keep us busy. We hear things from people that we are trying to attract ***** or are perverts. Another falsehood. Most Lolita do not kiss in public, let alone sell themselves like some other people. Yet, we can be called this and we typically take it with a grain of salt. A true Lolita doesn’t fight.

And, of course, we are judged by our leaders. Lolita, like all groups, have leaders. Our God and our spokesperson, is Mana. One word. Mana is what the world thinks of when they think of Lolita. Mana became famous when he was the guitarist in a band that revolutionized a new genre of bands and Music called ‘Visual Kei’. Mana is a man. He is the one who started the movement and he is one of the owners of the major Lolita labels. He even started a magazine that is now considered the Lolita's “Bible”. Most people do not even know he is man. Outsiders who come to look at Lolita and hear about him, get scared and leave. But he isn’t the only role model for us. There is Kana, the girl who made being the “baby” a cute thing. She appears in magazines, Television shows, music videos, and on stage and speaks with a voice so high pitched and so similar to a child no older than three, that most people can not listen to her speak for more then the length of a common interview. These two people basically decide what the world thinks of us, but we can be judged by what we allow represent us, and we take pride in each other.

And thus, we are what they are. Lolita are these cute people in cute clothes saying cute things. The World looks at us and sees children playing dress up, adults hiding from age, and people afraid of being “normal”. Either way, A true Lolita will always deny all these things and go with the most virtuous of answers and play her part.
Lolita are actresses and heroines. We are ideas. Being a Lolita is an experiment in social acceptance. Being an outsider while belonging to something. Being a contradiction and acting naive to the whole affair. A Lolita is just a human wrapped in so much lace you can barely tell they are human anymore. Just the way we Lolita like it. We are, as defined by the Lolita and Gothic Bible, “cute girls and boys who belongs to one of the many Lolita styles and ideologies.”










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