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Nevada-Tan is one of the more fucked up examples of lookism getting mixed with early internet culture.
In 2004, Natsumi Tsuji, an 11-year-old girl, killed her 12-year-old classmate Satomi Mitarai at school in Sasebo. She took her into a study room and attacked her with a box cutter, cutting her neck and arms before going back to class.
The two had been friends and talked through personal websites. Their friendship went bad after things they were saying online, including comments about Natsumi's appearance and weight. Contemporary reports said Satomi called her overweight, and Natsumi later told investigators that the final comment about her weight was what pushed her toward the murder.
That's why the lookism angle is pretty obvious. It wasn't just some random insult. Her weight and appearance were being used against her, apparently hitting an insecurity she already had.
The fact that this happened online makes it even more relevant. This was 2004, so personal websites and bulletin boards were basically the social media of the time. Something that would normally be a stupid schoolyard insult could sit online and keep the conflict going.
I hate that the situation ended with another kid getting murdered. It's an absolutely fucked up outcome and there's nothing admirable about it.
Then after the murder, Japanese imageboards identified Tsuji from a school photo and started calling her Nevada-tan because of the Nevada sweatshirt she was wearing. She ended up becoming an internet meme and character in her own right.
So the whole case is basically an early example of appearance being used as social ammunition online, followed by the internet turning the murderer herself into a fucking image.
That's why the lookism connection is worth discussing. The appearance part isn't some modern interpretation. It was part of the reported conflict from the start.
In 2004, Natsumi Tsuji, an 11-year-old girl, killed her 12-year-old classmate Satomi Mitarai at school in Sasebo. She took her into a study room and attacked her with a box cutter, cutting her neck and arms before going back to class.
The two had been friends and talked through personal websites. Their friendship went bad after things they were saying online, including comments about Natsumi's appearance and weight. Contemporary reports said Satomi called her overweight, and Natsumi later told investigators that the final comment about her weight was what pushed her toward the murder.
That's why the lookism angle is pretty obvious. It wasn't just some random insult. Her weight and appearance were being used against her, apparently hitting an insecurity she already had.
The fact that this happened online makes it even more relevant. This was 2004, so personal websites and bulletin boards were basically the social media of the time. Something that would normally be a stupid schoolyard insult could sit online and keep the conflict going.
I hate that the situation ended with another kid getting murdered. It's an absolutely fucked up outcome and there's nothing admirable about it.
Then after the murder, Japanese imageboards identified Tsuji from a school photo and started calling her Nevada-tan because of the Nevada sweatshirt she was wearing. She ended up becoming an internet meme and character in her own right.
So the whole case is basically an early example of appearance being used as social ammunition online, followed by the internet turning the murderer herself into a fucking image.
That's why the lookism connection is worth discussing. The appearance part isn't some modern interpretation. It was part of the reported conflict from the start.
