Now that's just fun

[mbarker]

Okay. One of the recent shows here was the All-Japan Quiz (or something like that). And among the players, Mitsuko pointed to one woman and said, "OH. That's a man. He's a New Half. You should watch him."

Comments

[saruby]

Any idea who s/he is? My impression of current japanese rock music is that cross-dressing and gender confusion is quite popular. Example: Miyavi, the guy on the icon, almost always wears skirts.

[mbarker]

Not a clue. I don't know most of the names on TV, unfortunately. Mitsuko says she doesn't know his name, either. Sorry.

[saruby]

With a bit of research (google), I have discovered that New Half appears to refer to transsexual (pre- or post-op). It's not clear if it also refers to cross-dressers who have no gender confusion, just like to play around.

Please note that this icon is not a gender-bender, but my child.

[mbarker]

Interesting. That doesn't seem to be the way they're using it here in Japan, but perhaps I'm misinterpreting the bits and pieces we catch on TV. Of course, there's also the Japanese penchant for borrowing words and skewing the meanings. Thanks!