Since coming to Japan, there are things about my own body that I've had to come to grips with. Body image is a different beast here, thus forcing me to sometimes completely about-face on notions I'd carried from the States.
Let's go with the positives first.
Thanks to Japan's pop-culture obsession with "America," as a white male I enjoy an advantage I couldn't have dreamed of back home. I'm no longer run-of-the-mill but exotic, even desirable (despite my dorky appearance). Don't believe me (you should)? Just walk around Tokyo and count the number of dorky-looking-white-guy-with-amazingly-hot-Japanese girl couples. You'll be astounded.
At the gym, I and Pete happen to be two of the biggest men there. It's refreshing. Back home, I'm almost always the runt, despite how much I might work out and get muscly. 75% of the male gym population back home is always bigger. Being at the top of the pile gleans not only instant grudging respect from the other "big" guys in the gym, but it also is a nice boost to the ol' ego. Never would I have dreamed of calling myself "huge." Here, I can do it with impunity.
There are negatives.
Even back home, my most noticeable feature is not my rugged good looks (ha!) or my bulging biceps or anything like that; it's my nose. It's sharp, bloody enormous, and has funny nostrils. Even when people aren't making fun of it, secretly I know they're marvelling at it. Fast forward to Japan. Japanese people claim that they have flat noses. For the most part, it's true. Many people have a hard time wearing "wraparound" sunglasses because they simply lack the nose bridge to support such eyewear. So many Japanese people have these cute little button noses it makes me sick with envy. For some mind bogglingly stupid reason, people like "tall" noses. This is where I fit in. Remember, enormous, pointy? They love it. I can't tell me how many times I've overheard (or directly been told) exclamations to the height of my nose. I suppose they think it's a compliment, but every time I hear it I cringe and want to rip my own olfactory unit right off. "If you like it so much, let's friggin trade!" Next person who says "ooh his nose is so tall!" is gonna get pecked in the eye.
Similarly, there seems to be the perception here that Japanese people have wide/big faces. Naturally, the white model is better, meaning a small face/head is better. I remember one of the first things that was said to me when I got in the car to drive to Gyoda for the first time was "My you have a small head. Mine is so huge!" While "Oh!" was my proper response, I do remember thinking "What the fuck?" My response hasn't much changed in two years. Daily students who have seen me around comment on how small my face is. WTF, am I a pygmy or something? So basically what I'm hearing is that I has a small face with an enormous nose. Doesn't really paint a pleasant picture, does it? I always knew my head was kinda small thanks to the fact that I look like an idiot in hats (sigh), but it's getting drilled in here with unprecedented ferocity. God, why didn't you give me a bigger skull!!
Finally, there's the teeth. Here I fit in nicely because I have bunk teeth. I've always prided myself on the fact that my teeth are always very well-brushed and sparkly. But just today I noticed an alarming amount of unexplainable junk on the inside of my teeth. I still brush every day. I still use Listerine every day. I floss every other day. I don't smoke at all, and neither do I drink coffee or much cola. So what is this crap? Upon seeing it, naturally I freaked out. I absolutely must go to the dentist now, but like most foreigners, I am terrified of Japanese dentists. We are told that Japanese dentistry is at the height of technology and among the best in the world. So why do so many Japanese people have horrible teeth? I fear that I'll go to the dentist for a simple cleaning and come out with three fake teeth. Yeek.
There you have the gist of it. There are other things, and I do think things are worse here for foreign women. For now, I'll try to enjoy my status...while going to the dentist.