Interesting article!

[winterspel]

[Warning: Sexually explicit discussion of cultural customs in historical Japan found in the comments. Proceed at your own risk.]

Many thanks to icajoleu for forwarding this to me! :) I love that my friends keep an eye out for my crazy interests...this article is short but addresses a few different interesting ideas.

Harry Potter Loves MalfoyBy Jennifer

Comments

[riccichan]

What I find even more fascinating in regards to gender issues is that the yaoi boom (today generally called BL ("bieru") in Japan or written as 801) also spawned a subgenre of pornographic videos starring an androgynous looking female as "male" main actor. From what I've read, this genre specifically caters to women, not (gay) men, and often even has plots (if one might call it that...) similar to dôjinshi or yaoi manga. I've often wondered if a genre like that would be popular in Western video stores, too.

[winterspel]

the yaoi boom (today generally called BL ("bieru") in Japan or written as 801)

What should I call it so that I don't sound like an idiot? Or should I do like I do with soccer and write soccer/futbol/football/calcio like I sometimes do for all the different people who relate to it in their own ways.

The subgenre of porns that you describe is fascinating. So women actually buy porns of women cross-dressing as men! Wow. That's a very good question as to whether or not that would be popular in western culture.

The gender issues that I've come across over the last few months in Japanese culture are just truly fascinating. To me, it seems like there are so many contradictory cultural elements, and I'm so curious how all of it evolved/evolves and coexists.

[riccichan]

What should I call it so that I don't sound like an idiot?Apart from the fact that you'll never sound like an idiot, no matter which expression you use (:)), the common term in western fandom is yaoi. The biggest boys love themed convention in the U.S. is called YaoiCon, so people generally talk about "yaoi" when they mean boys bonking boys in any media authored in Japan (games, manga, anime, sometimes even dorama or movies

[winterspel]

If you ever want to tell me more about this topic I would be happy to learn/discuss.

1. I'm fascinated that this gender issue exists at all in a culture that is so conservative in so many ways. (although I realize that it really isn't in other ways)

2. Further, in relation to Johnnys, I'm fascinated by the whole concept of "fanservice" and of the idea of corporate big business + real people participating in and encouraging fan fantasy. Sex really does sell. Huh. ;) That would just never happen in the U.S., not like JE does it, anyway.

3. And further to the last, the sexualization of JE boys in service to this, even at a young age.

It's curious to imagine that Edo period shudô lovers would agree with Tokyo fangirls on the subject of their adoration, isn't it? :)

Curious? Heee! That's one way of putting it! (and yes, it certainly is)

Part 1

[riccichan]

If you ever want to tell me more about this topic I would be happy to learn/discuss.

I'd love to! I wrote a paper about this, too (called "Shudô - the end of a way"), in which I detail how the advent of the West changed this special part of japanese culture, but unfortunately it is in German. I'll just try to excerpt its main points. I hope it doesn't turn into a novel, but I may have to split the comment into several parts. :)

1. I'm fascinated that this gender issue exists at all in a culture that is so conservative in so many ways. (although I realize that it really isn't in other ways)Well, things were different before the western world intruded and Japan adopted a whole set of moral norms that often were in direct contrast to those which had developped over the course of hundreds of years

Part 2

[riccichan]

The glorification of the androgynous, yet distinctly male, youth appears in various forms. Among the social stratum of the samurai, glorification of the male body was a tradition which developped even further when the samurai, who had been true fighters during the Sengoku Jidai (literally, "time of the thousand battling countries", 1477 until the beginning of the Edo period, 1603) were turned from warriors into bureaucrats by the ruling Tokugawa shogunate. Exchanging their swords for pens, the time for fighting, for honour in battle, for the display of strength, seemed to be over. They still followed the way of war (budô), but what had been a side effect of vigorous training in order to stay alive during battle, the trained male body, turned into a subject of fetish and adoration

Part 3

[riccichan]

Another center of "shudô" were of course the pleasure quarters (Yoshiwara in Edo (Tokyo), Shinmachi in Osaka, Shimabara in Kyoto), in japanese called "the floating world", with their tea houses (that often were really brothels) and Kabuki theaters (most of them connected to a tea house or having a special back part). After women had been forbidden to act in Kabuki to counteract the craze about beautiful actresses, male youth took on the female roles (even today called "onnagata"). With their faces painted, their maegami not yet shorn off, soon there was an equal craze about beautiful boy actors, which the shogunate tried to counteract by forcing onnagata to shave off their maegami. Of course, the actors found a way around that by covering their foreheads with a purple cloth (which in itself became an object of fetishism

Part 4

[riccichan]

2. Further, in relation to Johnnys, I'm fascinated by the whole concept of "fanservice" and of the idea of corporate big business + real people participating in and encouraging fan fantasy. Sex really does sell. Huh. ;) That would just never happen in the U.S., not like JE does it, anyway.

I agree, it wouldn't, and I think it is because of Japan's history in depicting "male youth". The yaoi business still booms, and I guess JE (and not only JE) also wants a slice of that. Another idol of the androgynous, mysterious, bisexual "bishônen" (even though he's in his thirties now) is Gackt, though he projected this image much more strongly in his visual days. Visual kei thrives on the diffusing of gender.

3. And further to the last, the sexualization of JE boys in service to this, even at a young age.This is a difficult topic. I find it hard to disentangle my set of moral values from that I've encountered and read about in Japan. If you ask them, the majority of japanese fangirls would probably look at you in wonderment and say "But they

Re: Part 4

[winterspel]

I have so much love for you right now. *squish*

I can't believe your posted all this up for me! I will read it, try to organize my thoughts and we'll talk. Already I can see this is a very interesting read.

Re: Part 4

[riccichan]

You're welcome! *happy* I'm looking forward to reading your thoughts on this topic.

Re: Part 4

[winterspel]

Okay, to avoid my layout squishing our discussion too much, I've posted responses to this below here and here.

Re: Part 4

[ina]

Wow! We have talked about this before, but never really with this academic background you provided here and I really love it.

I find it interesting that men (at the least the "youth" part) as well as women are supposed to graduate from it. Not so surprising since the urge to proliferate while leaving your youthful errors behind is build into many human traditions and cultures. It's okay to "play" for a period of time, but then it's time to grow up and become a productive member of society.

Even according to western standards we are supposed to have graduated from fangirling boy bands, while something like this is okay during your teenage days. There is a reason I seldom tell my age. ;)

Re: Part 4

[riccichan]

Well, it was the "youth's" own choice if he wanted to graduate or not. If he was the son of a merchant, he surely would have wanted to start a family. But if he was living in (and on) the pleasure quarters, it would have been in his best interest not to take the genpuku ceremony. And no one would have frowned upon him (maybe his own peers would have teased him about it, but certainly not his clients

Re: Part 4

[ina]

I agree on the choice for the youth living in the pleasure quarters, but I think the son of a merchant probably got pressure to start a family at a certain age too.

As for the age restrictions to fangirling I think it's kind of typical that it's stricter in Japan, because there are more expectations there to act a certain way, like marry before you are 30, stop working and start a family.