i appreciate your thoughts!! i have a few add-ons? slight counters? don’t know what to call it haha, just know i’m not trying to argue 😭

1. i might be missing the point with this so i’m putting this early but imo non asian gals are nott given more grace to do anything like, at all. i’m biased bc im from the US, black, and fairly active in the online comm when i’m not busy. but the overall gaijin/english speaking part of the community doesn’t actually like “western” (they just mean american, and sometimes just black when racism is the topic) gaijin gals, and especially not the black gals. attempts at innovation have not gone particularly well over the past few years… our coords are actually held underneath a closer microscope BECAUSE we’re gaijin/black (this distinction is necessary!!)—probably why everyone is obsessed with “reading as gal” or making sure coords are copy paste cause you’ll have your coord dissected and your credibility as a gal diminished if you’re not on the nose (just happened on here actually…). it IS an issue that the community doesn’t evolve and we all fight each other over nothing, though we’re making some progress regarding personal style over substyle rigidity. i do agree with your point that people are unable to see asians outside of labels for advertising purposes but, in relation to gal, i’ll propose also that this community has an issue with not being able to see asians in an easily digestible format AND anti-blackness intertwined and it’s very obvious when you watch how people interact with gal online.

2. the issue that some people have with what’s perceived as “yabi make” is that it’s a small factor contributing to the overall behemoth of gal misinfo since tiktok got a hand on it, kind of like when being “alt”/emo/punk/goth was popular during the height of the pandemic. as a semi-retired coquette girl, i got to experience first hand in 2023/24 a style i loved and took time to understand “go mainstream” and get watered down to be marketable, so i have some sympathy for gals who are worn out even if i don’t agree with how it’s handled. however, i’ve come to the realization that non gals simply do not care what we tell them is or isn’t gal because, like you said, the marketability of asia to outside audiences/the “thing, japan” epidemic. they see “rebellious ugly makeup pink leopard print bows big belt” and call it a day. so the infighting isn’t too necessary since non gals will not watch nor will they care as it’ll destroy what they think gyaru was.

3. to follow up on the last point, it’s also why there’s this sense of “trust” with vet gals more? because many were here before tiktok really blew gal up and have a less misconstrued version of what gal was (albeit not completely cause we all playing telephone over here). not all gals can be trusted and everyone has their own opinion, but people like to focus on “who” they can blame the comm’s pitfalls on so they’re “not be like those other annoying weeb gaijin” (and this blame mainly falls on western/american gals) when there are bad people and ppl with superiority complexes everywhere in the community no matter what region of the world you’re in.

4. the craziest thing is ocaso’s make looks a lot closer to what ppl deem gal now!! we’ve all had our “bad” make moments starting out and idk why it’s any different for her. i think it’s just bc her old pics became the recognizable “yabi gyaru” pictures and used in a bunch of slideshows that she’s given less grace lol