{"id":333,"date":"2020-01-02T17:39:09","date_gmt":"2020-01-03T01:39:09","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/anthro.wsu.edu\/newsletter\/?page_id=333"},"modified":"2025-06-24T09:58:01","modified_gmt":"2025-06-24T16:58:01","slug":"grad-student-spotlight","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/anthro.wsu.edu\/newsletter\/grad-student-spotlight\/","title":{"rendered":"Grad Student Spotlight – Fall-Winter 2019 – Gatlin-Anderson"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\r\n\t\tGrad Student Spotlight\t<\/h1>\r\n\t\t<\/header>\r\n\n\n
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\"Chancy
Chancy Gatlin-Anderson, center, poses with models (l\u2013r) Enduusan, Uransan, Ohashi Michiko, and Yoshino Nao during a La Farfa<\/em> magazine event in the Takadanobaba neighborhood of Tokyo, Japan.<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

Chancy J. Gatlin-Anderson<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Doctoral student and instructor of General Anthropology and Global Cultural Diversity
Advisor:<\/strong> Clare Wilkinson
MA: <\/strong>anthropology, Georgia State University
Research Project: <\/strong>Tokyo\u2019s Potchari Girls: Shifting Body Image within Japan\u2019s Plus-Sized Fashion Community<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I study Japanese plus-size women, body diversity, community organization, and plus-size fashion. I aim to learn about body-image related struggles that Japanese plus-size women face, how they work to overcome those struggles, how they form community, and the ways in which they turn to fashion to form that community.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I spent two months in Tokyo this summer, carrying out a four-phase pilot research study for my dissertation project. I also participated in an intensive Japanese language program with support from an International Education of Students Grant. In the first phase, I attended plus-size fashion events hosted by Japan\u2019s premier plus-size fashion magazine, La farfa<\/em>, where I built rapport with plus-size models, designers, magazine editors, consumers, and fans. In phase two, I interviewed four La farfa<\/em> models, the magazine’s chief editor, and numerous plus-size clothing store workers and consumers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In phase three, I went shopping! I aimed to document my personal experience as a plus-size clothing shopper in Japan. In phase four, I carried out a qualitative retail survey of the Shibuya 109 shopping mall. I surveyed each store and collected style information, recorded the presence or absence of free sizes (one-size-fits-all), and the availability of plus-sized clothing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Based on my pilot data, I argue that (1) many Japanese plus-sized women have experienced body shaming, (2) Japanese women create community through mutual body-related struggle, (3) plus-size models are significant contributors to body acceptance, and (4) models influence plus-size Japanese women\u2019s attraction to plus-size fashion as a means to create community. My preliminary research suggests that Japanese women have created community through mutual struggles with body shaming and limited clothing access.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

My research illustrates this community\u2019s positioning at the forefront of the Japanese body positive movement through plus-sized fashion. I presented my pilot research data at the American Anthropological Association Annual Meeting in Vancouver, Canada, in November on a panel titled The Climate of Commodity Discourses: Values We Produce, Market, and Consume.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Moving forward, I plan to collect more interview data and to conduct an analysis of Japanese plus-size women, their social media discourse, and their online community organization. I plan to return to Japan in 2020 for further research.<\/p>\n\n<\/div>\r\n\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":244,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":[],"wsuwp_university_location":[],"wsuwp_university_org":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/anthro.wsu.edu\/newsletter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/333"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/anthro.wsu.edu\/newsletter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/anthro.wsu.edu\/newsletter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/anthro.wsu.edu\/newsletter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/244"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/anthro.wsu.edu\/newsletter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=333"}],"version-history":[{"count":23,"href":"https:\/\/anthro.wsu.edu\/newsletter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/333\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1315,"href":"https:\/\/anthro.wsu.edu\/newsletter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/333\/revisions\/1315"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/anthro.wsu.edu\/newsletter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=333"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"wsuwp_university_location","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/anthro.wsu.edu\/newsletter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/wsuwp_university_location?post=333"},{"taxonomy":"wsuwp_university_org","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/anthro.wsu.edu\/newsletter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/wsuwp_university_org?post=333"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}