Forum

jetz wrote:

This kind of thing happened in my high school. When I was watching Maria-sama ga miteru, it reminded me so much of the stuff that happened in my school (minus the sister system thing). I actually came from an exclusive, all-girls Catholic school, so there were definitely similarities.

The Valentine's episode reminded me of what I used to experience during Valentine's day in our school. I would see girls preparing gifts for.. err.. other girls and some would even plan dates. Since most of us had little or no contact with guys, some of us would crush on other girls that it seemed normal. The school administrators knew about it, but they only punished those who were caught (They were very conservative nuns Very Happy

).

I also remember this one incident when a new student transferred to our school. She was very pretty, so when she first came in a lot of girls were standing outside her classroom's door, waiting for her to come out so they could catch a glimpse of her.

So you're saying that all these anime series set in all-girls schools where girls rampantly crush on other girls actually isn't that much of an exaggeration? I'm not sure if I find that more creepy or amusing.

daxomni wrote:

What I think is unique to Japan are adults openly idolizing high school students.

Openly? Definitely; that kind of behavior would, at best, get you closely scrutinized at a U.S. school and would more likely have the administration trying to find a way to get rid of you. Speaking as a former high school teacher, teachers in the U.S. are reluctant to even discuss such things privately; male teachers never talk about which female student is especially hot, for instance, even if we do entertain such thoughts. Wink

Key wrote:

So you're saying that all these anime series set in all-girls schools where girls rampantly crush on other girls actually isn't that much of an exaggeration? I'm not sure if I find that more creepy or amusing.

I think it's kind of sweet -- a testament to the human ability to love. "Amusing" it might be, depending on the circumstances (people who are smitten tend to do hilariously foolish things), but I don't see how it could be "creepy", unless one were a puritanical homophobe who reacted with revulsion to anything with even a hint of same-sex attraction.

- abunai
I really don't understand how anyone can be offended by love.

abunai wrote:

I think it's kind of sweet -- a testament to the human ability to love. "Amusing" it might be, depending on the circumstances (people who are smitten tend to do hilariously foolish things), but I don't see how it could be "creepy", unless one were a puritanical homophobe who reacted with revulsion to anything with even a hint of same-sex attraction.

Apparently a poor choice of words on my part. The idea that something I always thought was an over-exaggerated anime cliche actually has a foundation in reality just throws me a bit.

You can holster those pistols now, abunai.

Key wrote:

Apparently a poor choice of words on my part. The idea that something I always thought was an over-exaggerated anime cliche actually has a foundation in reality just throws me a bit.

I am well familiar with the feeling. The first time I saw a Japanese girl (in Copenhagen, but she was Japanese) do the "sitting down with knees together but legs at a 90-degree angle" thing that I'd always thought was an anime exaggeration, you could have knocked me down with a feather. Still hurts my knees to look at that. How do they do it without injury?

Key wrote:

You can holster those pistols now, abunai.

Pistols? Oh, these pistols? Why, where did they come from? I wasn't planning on using them, or anything. Honest.

- abunai

abunai wrote:

Still hurts my knees to look at that. How do they do it without injury?

They don't. That's why the elderly tend to have bad knees.

Something that was also funny while I was going to school, was that nobody was mobbing Inoue Mao. Everybody knew who she was, but they were treating her like a normal person and stuff. I remember seeing her just sitting down with some of the girls, and they'd just be talking. Some kids who do have somewhat of celebrity status, can also lead normal school lives as well.

Key wrote:

So you're saying that all these anime series set in all-girls schools where girls rampantly crush on other girls actually isn't that much of an exaggeration? I'm not sure if I find that more creepy or amusing.

What we see in anime is still pretty exaggerated. Ordinary school girls turning into rabid fan girls is a rare sight, and can only be seen when we had school fairs, or the sports festivals (we call them intramurals). They usually kept their feelings to themselves or only do these things outside school - like I mentioned before, the school administrators (as well as parents and other outsiders) aren't too happy about this sort of thing happening.

Just so you know, when we graduated, the girls who liked other girls became really ladylike and started going out with boys because most of us went to co-ed schools during college. Like I said before, it was an all girls school, and most of us had little or no contact with guys back then, and that really affected our behavior/personality.

jetz wrote:

Just so you know, when we graduated, the girls who liked other girls became really ladylike and started going out with boys because most of us went to co-ed schools during college. Like I said before, it was an all girls school, and most of us had little or no contact with guys back then, and that really affected our behavior/personality.

From the way you were describing things earlier, that's pretty much what I would have expected. Still, I have to wonder if your case is unusual or fairly typical for a single-gender school environment.

Key wrote:

jetz wrote:

Just so you know, when we graduated, the girls who liked other girls became really ladylike and started going out with boys because most of us went to co-ed schools during college. Like I said before, it was an all girls school, and most of us had little or no contact with guys back then, and that really affected our behavior/personality.

From the way you were describing things earlier, that's pretty much what I would have expected. Still, I have to wonder if your case is unusual or fairly typical for a single-gender school environment.

I would expect it to be typical of any single-gender environment. There has been ample casework done on the alteration of sexual mores in single-sex environments to support this.

- abunai

I would like to hear from a male who went to a boys only high-school. Does isolating males from females produce the same effects as isolating females from males? If they do, is it to the same degree? In Anime, we hear about girls crushing on girls far more than boys crushing on boys.

I went to a boys only primary and intermediate school (up to age thirteen, and located in the city), but co-ed high-school and university. So therefore, my only experience with same-sex schooling doesn't give me any good examples from the male perspective. No-one really expects twelve and thirteen year-old boys to be eyeing up other boys, especially when the school is located in the suburbs and not in the Alps of Austria or whatnot.

So to sum up, anyone got actual experience with males resorting to this kind of behaviour?

dtm42 wrote:

I would like to hear from a male who went to a boys only high-school.

//me raising hand

dtm42 wrote:

Does isolating males from females produce the same effects as isolating females from males? If they do, is it to the same degree?

I think it depends on the level of "isolating" here. We have a co-ed (but mostly girls due to the nature of that school) right next to our campus, and the girls-only high school is just five minutes away with a bicycle. With the "isolation" only a formality, I didn't notice any relationship developing between boys.

Not to mention my own classroom had the best view of that co-ed's swimming pool... some students even brought binoculars. Mr. Green