loli origin

[Youko]

since based on the posts I have read we seem to have a decent number of loli fans here I thought this might be an interesting poll.

I will use myself as an example For some time I believed that the term loli was either based on the word low or little, or on a Japanese word that I did not know. I came across the book while reading some other things the same author wrote and read it. so for the first question before that point I would have voted for answer three now I would vote for one.

[Satsuki]

I do know that the term loli came from "lolita", but aside from that, I know nothing else. (and don't really care either)

[Nosebleed]

I haven't read the book.

I knew the term loli stemmed from the word lolita, but i didn't know the term lolita originated in a book with the same name until i actually looked it up.

The original meaning is basically meant to describe sexually attractive young females that have barely hit puberty.

Nowadays it's used in a variety of ways but it easily still retains the sexual nuance. At the very least it still stands for "attractive young females"

[GetterEmperor]

I knew the term loli comes from the book Lolita. Haven't read it though. Also, yep was aware of the original meaning.

[Youko]

The original meaning is basically meant to describe sexually attractive young females that have barely hit puberty.

Nowadays it's used in a variety of ways but it easily still retains the sexual nuance. At the very least it still stands for "attractive young females"

[Nosebleed]

Well that's when you're using the term loli wrong, though.

You see, in anime they only call child characters lolis when they intend for it to have the whole lolicon nuance.

Normally they'd just use the term elementary schooler.

Just like how when they use the term lolicon it's almost always derrogatory.

Westerners who use the term loli to refer to every single elementary schooler character are the ones tarnishing the original meaning of it because they don't understand the difference so they just decided to call every character that's childlike a loli thus the sexual nuance is a lot more absent for us.

[Youko]

Well that's when you're using the term loli wrong, though.

You see, in anime they only call child characters lolis when they intend for it to have the whole lolicon nuance.

Normally they'd just use the term elementary schooler.

Just like how when they use the term lolicon it's almost always derrogatory.

Westerners who use the term loli to refer to every single elementary schooler character are the ones tarnishing the original meaning of it because they don't understand the difference so they just decided to call every character that's childlike a loli thus the sexual nuance is a lot more absent for us.

[arakura]

Again a fair point and one that I was not fully aware of, but lets face it, how many characters are drawn ugly, and when they are small, especially in middle or high school, they generally are given the whole loli package.

 

This is the thing that has always bothered me. Of course the whole basis of the word loli comes equally from age and sexual representation. That's what a loli is. While age is a straightforward thing to measure, the sexual aspect of the definition is not in the young girl herself. It is in you, so to speak. You say that it's uncommon for anime to have young girls who are ugly, but even if they are pretty they are not necessarily lolis. And even if they are ugly they may be lolis. What is sexually desirable to you may be cute to me may be ugly to another. It's hardly a definition we should be worried about defining because the definition is so useless. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. Desire is as well.

 

So young anime-watching fools grow up thinking that loli is a good thing to call a cute young anime girl and it hurts me every time I see it. Or maybe they do stop and think that what they're saying is that they are personally sexually attracted to said loli. Which also somewhat unnerves me, generally speaking. I mean, I'm not straight-laced to the core, but it bothers me. In the same (albeit less brutal) way it might bother you if someone said "damn, that rabbit is so hot I want to ******* ****** ********** ********** it right now". Censored for my sanity. Use your imagination. A bit of exaggeration may have been used, but it's just a matter of scale.

 

And now you know why I dislike the term loli. I hope you learn to as well

[phersu]

Loli comes from Lolita, a book by Vladimir Nabokov. The contents of the book are....obvious. A rather intriguing read, all around. But yeah, as for the actual word Lolita?

 

It's the main character's nickname for the girl Dolores in the book. It's not an actual word, really. It's just a nickname the main character uses in the book for the young girl Dolores. And thus, lolita and loli are created.

[sanahtlig]

As phersu said.  As applied to anime culture, in keeping with its origin the most "correct" usage is to refer to a sexualized childlike character.  If the character isn't sexualized in some way, she's not a loli.

[mbl]

In response to the arguing about the "correct" usage of "loli" and this silly concept of a "modern loli", i'd say both are acceptable usages of a slang term, just from opposite sides of the fence.

 

Lolicon was coined as a derogatory term for sure, and thus it is viable to use "loli" in a derogatory light as a pre-pubescent girl who is being sexuallized in a work of fiction. A bad thing.

 

But lolicon culture has grown to a good portion of otaku culture and wears the term as a badge of honor. In this sense it is viable for a lolicon to use "loli" to describe a pre-pubescent girl (hopefully in a work of fiction) that they feel sexually attracted to. Kinda creepy when you think about it but it is done and not something people generally freak out about in otaku communities

 

Then you've got the weeaboo sect of western otaku culture who see someone use "loli" to describe an underage girl and start using it to describe any underage girl without giving a shit as to why they should use it instead of works like "child". This has no connection to the origin of the term and is a pretty common thing to happen with any word.

[Lefon]

It came from the bowls of hell when the people stopped worshipping demon kind as gods. So the demons sent a new plauge to test our resolve. Many have falled to the corrupting influence of lolis sonce.