The "Absolute Territory" terrifies me as a concept

[Hairless Mammoth]

When it comes to absolutes in fiction, I generally prefer Absolute Cleavage [http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/AbsoluteCleavage] (It's TV tropes but maybe NSFW in some places), but I have no problem with absolute territory. As long as the character is of age. No creepy loli stuff. That's what weirds me out.

 

[EyeReaper]

As someone who has worn outfits with "Absolute Territory" (I rock that Lucky star cosplay) I can safely say there is absolutely nothing spooky about it.

Unless you're talking about like, someone incessantly staring at the exposed thigh in public. That would be right up there on the convention creeps scale alongside "Guy with painfully obvious erection in morphsuit and no awareness of personal space"

 

[an annoyed writer]

I figured it was 50/50 this was an Evangelion thing. Looks like I was wrong, but nor is it anything to get myself in a tizzy over either.

If you read the article, it is in fact an Evangelion thing.

To be totally correct it's a term adapted from Evangelion by the otaku community, that then came in to common parlance in Japanese. It's a bit over simplistic and factually incorrect to say that it's all Evangelion, the term came from the force fields in Evangelion called: "Zettai Kyōfu Ryōiki" ("Absolute Terror Field/Area/Territory"), but in common parlance now is a direct reference to the space of bare skin between stockings, or socks and skirts, or shorts.

Hehe... I kinda find it hilarious that what is basically the upper thigh is referred to as the "Absolute Terror Field", especially in regards to modern Japanese culture and the whole birth rate drop ;3

 

[happyninja42]

Congratulations to Japan on creating a name that doesn't make sense, but still sounds creepy and dirty.

Absolute Territory? I'm so lost, what a weird slang term for something like that.

I know right? I was thinking it was referring to some kind of territory indicator when talking about country borders being contested or something.

"This area is the Absolute Territory of great Mother Russia!" for example.

OT: Nothing really strange to me about this. It's a term for a fashion trend, hardly the first outfit description to establish a system of ideal measurements for the "right look".

 

[Dreiko_v1legacy]

This kind of thing being a fetish/having sex appeal has a LONG history in Japan.


Back in the olden times, skin behind the nape of the neck between the hair and Kimono had a similar allure. Kimonos would be sexy by having more and more of the back visible, thus showing more of that space between the nape of the neck and below. It's a very common type of thing wherein if you live in a society that covers people up constantly, even seeing a little bit of skin can illicit a reaction.


Zettai Ryouiki is actually a term from Neon Genesis Evangelion, btw, and there it was a reference to the field souls have which separate beings from each-other as individuals. Anime fans in Japan just adapted that term from the skirt+kneesocks fetish.

 

[Fox12]

Zettai Ryouiki is actually a term from Neon Genesis Evangelion, btw, and there it was a reference to the field souls have which separate beings from each-other as individuals. Anime fans in Japan just adapted that term from the skirt+kneesocks fetish.

Oh, shit, I remember that. How could I forget the AT fields? Worst fanboy ever. I'm sure Anno appreciated this.

*makes show about rejecting otaku culture and embracing reality*
*terms from show are used by Otaku to describe fetish outfits*

It still doesn't make much sense, though. It's kind of like if we used "the force" to describe a bare midrif.

 

[Pseudonym]

I thought for a moment that this was about Turkey shooting down that Russian plane and it was a term used to describe the invasion of airspace...

Apparently it just means "lower thigh".

That is what I thought. In any case, why is this so terrifiying? A word to describe a certain part of the body. Whatever. And if some people get their rocks of on that part of the body, again, whatever.

 

[Secondhand Revenant]

Well I mean it is kinda creepy that people would be paying attention to that kind of thing. Even creepier if some are obsessing over it.

 

[Secondhand Revenant]

Well I mean it is kinda creepy that people would be paying attention to that kind of thing. Even creepier if some are obsessing over it.

Yeah, what next? People looking at cleavage, whale-tail, butt, booty, lips, feet, legs, abs... and so on and so on. Yeah, that would be crazy and weird. /s

Paying overly much attention to such things is a bit creepy. Notice it's not just legs now it's gotten into some specific area and context they had to get a new word for. And to get a perfect ratio thing as is mentioned in the wiki link, it's clearly gotten into creepy territory, Sammael.

 

[Something Amyss]

Not really seeing any new ground broken here. Why is this particular fetishisation of women's bodies/attires the one that crosses into creepy territory?

 

[KyuubiNoKitsune-Hime]

Not really seeing any new ground broken here. Why is this particular fetishisation of women's bodies/attires the one that crosses into creepy territory?

It's basically being seen here in the same vein as a foot fetish, basically "I think that's weird so it's creepy!"... Also "Absolute Territory" is something girls pay more attention to than guys from what I can gather. If a guy is paying attention to it, you're likely to find very feminine things in his closet, at least in Japan.

 

[Something Amyss]

It's basically being seen here in the same vein as a foot fetish, basically "I think that's weird so it's creepy!"... Also "Absolute Territory" is something girls pay more attention to than guys from what I can gather. If a guy is paying attention to it, you're likely to find very feminine things in his closet, at least in Japan.

Given a cursory search on the subject, I'm going to go out on a limb and say nothing about this is true.

 

[chadachada123]

Well I mean it is kinda creepy that people would be paying attention to that kind of thing. Even creepier if some are obsessing over it.

Yeah, what next? People looking at cleavage, whale-tail, butt, booty, lips, feet, legs, abs... and so on and so on. Yeah, that would be crazy and weird. /s

Paying overly much attention to such things is a bit creepy. Notice it's not just legs now it's gotten into some specific area and context they had to get a new word for. And to get a perfect ratio thing as is mentioned in the wiki link, it's clearly gotten into creepy territory, Sammael.

But there IS plenty of science tied to human preferences, particularly sexual preferences. Men and women alike being slightly more attracted to people wearing red on average being the simplest example. That someone would do math related to this is no different from someone doing math to find the statistical best amount of cleavage to show for a particular bust size. That is to say, I can absolutely see someone doing that using grant money from taxpayers, because shit is pretty interesting, yo.

It's not as if this sort of studying is only done on females, either. I've seen one study suggesting that women in general prefer plain white or mostly-plain white t-shirts over other styles of clothing on men. Obviously everyone has personal tastes, but if someone wants to search for a mathematical trend, I don't see any reason to discourage them.

 

[Deathmageddon]

It's not that far off from the "golden ratio" for faces or the hip-to-waist ratio. If there's a measurable, consistent ideal for physical attraction, why not research it? FOR SCIENCE!

 

[Zontar]

FOR SCIENCE!

And that is the reason I used "terrifying" in the OP

 

[KyuubiNoKitsune-Hime]

It's basically being seen here in the same vein as a foot fetish, basically "I think that's weird so it's creepy!"... Also "Absolute Territory" is something girls pay more attention to than guys from what I can gather. If a guy is paying attention to it, you're likely to find very feminine things in his closet, at least in Japan.

Given a cursory search on the subject, I'm going to go out on a limb and say nothing about this is true.

What you get talking to people about it, versus trusting internet searches I'd guess. But I seriously doubt that there are guys wandering around with tape measures to check skirt length, length of the "Absolute Territory" and stockings length to assign grades. On the other hand I've talked to girls who grade "absolute territory" obsessively. And yes there are actual grades that require measuring to get an accurate idea of how good that person is doing with their "absolute territory" ratios.

 

[RedRockRun]

This is what happens when sexuality is repressed to Victorian levels. You get weird stuff like this. It's like when you try to stop the flow of water from a hose by plugging it with your finger; all you get is a lot of higher-pressured water shooting out.

 

[Neonit]

And we have thigh gaps and camel toes (and probably even more weird things i haven't heard about)
Yeah, we are not that much better