2015 Volume 66 Issue 4 Pages 516-533
This study utilized an exploratory factor analysis and structural equation modeling to reveal through quantitative analysis the hardship of living as young women in modern-day Japan. The focus is specifically on girls in their late teens, including high school students. Their hardship was measured from three points of view: Riaju, which refers to recognition from others; supremacy of good looks based on the hierarchy of evaluated beauty and ugliness in terms of physical appearance, and the ideology of beauty. A sample of students aged 15 to 19 years was examined. The results of the analysis from a social survey utilizing the Internet that reached 458 respondents via a web questionnaire showed a tendency that the more “non-Riaju” they were perceived, the greater the hardships they experienced. Results also revealed a tendency that the more Riaju they were, the stronger their desires were to change their physical appearances.