Another disparity that the USA fails to (or refuses to) recognize is the way other cultures fight for equality and recognition, as cultural discrimination and inequality tends to differ. I’m mainly using Japan as an example here since the example is stark. In the USA, the issue is the objectification and over-sexualization of women by men, so American feminism has taken a neo-puritian stance, protesting the ‘male gaze’ and repressing advertising or design that over-sexualizes the female body. Although this neo-puritan movement has gotten so aggressive they’ve attempted to censor and repress women for expressing their own sexual freedom as well… In Japan, the issue is the other way around; the government has been aggressively puritan, repressing and censoring sexual expression and freedom across the board. They crack down hard on men, but even harder on women. So how do the people respond? By unleashing the most of their sexual freedom short of streaking in protest, basically. No really, one woman 3D-prints a canoe seat out of a model of her vagina and takes it for a ride as a feminist protest. (The infamous anime Shimoneta is also a commentary on this.) You can see how this can uh… really put Japanese feminists at odds with American ones. This also shows through in their belief in which anime support or oppose feminism; Madoka Magica is seen by Americans as ‘feminist’ because the characters dress modestly and are powerful, but Japanese feminists criticize the show because it exhibits the old-fashioned and conservative mentality that women are disposable and should sacrifice themselves for the good of others.
Excerpted from this post by explaining-social-justice, discussing Americentrism (over-focus on the USA and assuming that its characteristics and cultural make-up are universal, or very similar in other places) with regard to feminism, sexism, and racism (Sept. 2017)
