Gay Culture In Japan

[annakas]

I found this to be very interesting.
So different from Western Gay culture.

http://www.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/getarticle.pl5?fl20060117zg.htm

And for the Link Phobic the same article in here.

annakas

Comments

[sutelae]

interestingly enough, the way lesbians are perceived and marginalized is an entirely different story.

[annakas]

Really?
Interesting.
Could you write a little more about it.
This is the only article I have read about the differences so am not familiar with the subject.

annakas

[sutelae]

Well, the problem is I'm on a bit of a time constraint tonight, and so for now I hope you don't mind, if I generalize a bit and give you some links

my personal experience/impressions

[laozi]

I just got back from spending six months in Korea, and I noticed a lot of parallels there with what you and the article in the post are describing about gay/lesbian life in Japan. I went to a few gay bars in Korea and was very pleasantly surprised at the general feeling of community and "non-threateningness" at those places, but I also noticed a relative lack of places for lesbians to go. Most straight Koreans who I met did not even know that there were any gay bars in their country, and expressed surprise that I, a foreigner, had been to a few. I was also surprised (and amused) at the way straight Korean men tended to view lesbian porn as being gross rather than exciting (as opposed to most straight men that I know here in the States).

Re: my personal experience/impressions

[sutelae]

Yea, that all sounds just about right, and pretty much the same I've seen in Japan.

On another note, we apparently share birthdays.

Re: my personal experience/impressions

[caatinga]

Really? Lesbian porn not fetishized by straight men? I'd always kind of taken that for granted...maybe they actually see it as exclusionary. Or maybe it's a different kind of taboo there, such that pretending to shatter it a la the straight-male-oriented lesbian porn in the states doesn't lead to any kind of sexual titillation.

Re: my personal experience/impressions

[laozi]

The impression that I got was that it was considered to be disgusting chiefly because it was "not normal." In my experience, this was a common theme in Korean culture- not just when dealing with sexuality, but with almost any matter. Someone else could have a completely different interpretation on it, though.

[annakas]

Wow that really is quite a contrast in the additude.
Thanks for telling me and for the links.

Will definitely read them, my only knowledge about Japanese/Asian gay culture would be this article a couple of shounen-ai/yaoi animes/mangas (and I doub't they reflect the reality since they are written and done for mostly women not men)and one niffty academical book about homosexuality by Igor Kon (haven't seen it in English tough. Only in Estonian and it should have been written in Russian)Cost me quite a lot but was so worth it. Had a very good part of queer history in it. And so got to know about the male geishas, theatre and samurais and the buddhist love. But that would be about it. Nothing about now days. :) So again thanks for the links.

annakas
(off to read)

[shikou_mori]

Weren't there also some sects of Japanese Buddhism that declared that sex with a man was more pure than with a woman?

[thorny_rose]

Yeah.

sorry late reply

[sinabomb]

hello

Re: sorry late reply

[annakas]

No I don't mind it all having more on the theme two years later.
Thank you for the extra lings they were interesting read.

And this article was also very intresting. Thanks for writing it :)

annakas