On the Attraction of Boys' Love and Androgyny

[lilian_cho]

Originally posted @ IJ as part of Meta-Friday on March 20, 2008.

Disclaimer: This is my own observations on androgyny and the Japanese genre of Boys' Love

Comments

aesthetics

[lilian_cho]

well, aesthetics play a pretty important role. it's sort of like I don't think those who are interested in androgyny would have an attraction to an example of a guy who looked like a girl who wasn't very good looking?

*nod nod* Aesthetics play an important role no matter your sexual orientation, I think =3 We're just fickle that way.
Hmm, yeah I can see myself tolerating a tomboyish not-so-good-looking girl better than a girly not-so-good-looking guy. But I think that's also partly because I have higher aesthetic standards when it comes to males. (I almost always prefer Korean actors over Korean actresses though. Looks-wise, that is.)

it's hard to really pinpoint why a culture values a certain aesthetic over others.

Well for Chinese people there's the whole "lucky face" v. "unlucky face."

Lucky features include:
- round face (like the moon)
- thick, detached earlobe (like Buddha)
- birthmark/mole in the center of forehead (sign of enlightenment, IIRC)

Unlucky features include:
- high/defined cheekbones (esp. in females, like Lucy Liu. It means you're bitchy or smth.)
- thin, attached earlobe (means you'll die young)
- birthmark/mole near your lips (means you're a gossip)
- birthmark/mole near your eye (means you're a flirt)

On the other hand, big round eyes and fair flawless skin are only about aesthetics instead of luck/fortune for the Chinese. I think.

Re: aesthetics

[_lile]

some people tried to find what made women appealing to men, and the only overlapping trait that they found was flawless skin

a lot of people believe that face aesthetics is based on face symmetry and the placement of elements that work in a harmonious way.

how prevalent do you think is the unlucky/lucky face thing?

Re: aesthetics

[lilian_cho]

Hmmm. Most guys don't have flawless skin because they don't take care of it though X-D
But nowadays with the advent of metrosexuals...

Ah yes, preference for symmetrical faces is universal, I think =) Also makes sense in an evolutionary sense--weeds out gene abnormalities or whatever.

It depends on how traditional/superstitious you are. Most Chinese in America would have zero idea re: lucky v. unlucky faces. There's a million and one unspoken rules/superstition, and you sort of absorb it via osmosis from the talk of your elders ^^;;

I remember the high, defined cheekbones thing from the days of Power Rangers OMG. Lucy Liu was the yellow ranger and my Mom remarked, "Nobody would want her as a daughter-in-law. She has high cheekbones--she's mean/bitchy."

The preference for round face + detached earlobe is still going strong in Chinese media. Chinese actresses that are considered "cute" almost always have a round face.

Pointy chin is a no-no; I'm not sure whether that's for aesthetics reason or luck though.

Oh, and freckles = bad. Another reason why Chinese people (not Chinese Americans) look at Lucy Liu and think "What the heck's so pretty about her?"

Re: aesthetics

[_lile]

oooooooh. that's so interesting. Chinese people are so superstitious. I remember my dad would always pluck out my dog's chin whiskers since he thought it would make her have a better disposition XD

superstition

[lilian_cho]

AHAHAHAH chin whiskers why? X-D

I think just about any culture is superstitious, really. Chinese superstitions just manage to survive more or less intact for longer than others *g*

In America you don't have to look that far back to discover all sorts of superstition.
Just pick up Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn.

In a way people who don't think they're superstitious can be dangerous in that they're so sure that their beliefs are based on "facts." When most of the time they're just agreeing with Fox News or Time magazine or what-not. And as much as I like Time magazine, it's not a peer-reviewed scientific journal =3

Someone I know in rl actually vehemently said that SUVs cost less than hybrid cars in the long run. What the... I don't know which TV "study" gave them that idea.

Re: superstition

[_lile]

oh my dog naturally has 3 whiskers. according to my dad 2 means clever and 1 means king. he always gets rid of two or one when they grow back in.

Well, it's easy for journalists to skew real scientific results in a way that makes something seem worse than it really is, and I don't know, some studies are just really trite and poorly made. I don't think I'll ever be the type of person who'll get all my information from a scientific journal and just leave it to wikipedia, even with the awareness of its unreliability.

But yeah, cognitive dissonance and all that. :/ People will tend to lean towards anything that benefits their lifestyles and beliefs. It's much easier to try to convince other people, than to go through the hardships of changing yourself.