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

Answer to 7) (Part 1)

[riccichan]

7. Okay, this really interests me. See, it's one thing if society accepts this and that there is no reality in it for how the boys are perceived, BUT, what about the boys themselves? What must it be like for them to grow up in a mostly-male environment that cross-dresses them, has them posed together in bed and all kinds of other suggestive things - at a point in their lives which is very formative. How are they to generate a healthy self-identity?

Well, the part of their lives we get to see is mostly-male. But behind the scenes? They are surrounded by women - the staff of the magazines (in one episode of Kanjani8's weekly TV show "Honjani!", they have to impress the editors of Duet, Myojo etc. who are all women), their own staff, make-up artists, stylists, the people in charge of refreshments, costumes... plus the people they work with, or the rare Hello!Project / JE collaborations. The cross-dressing is also not viewed as radical, in the land which created the word "cosplay".

See, I think that it must be hard enough to cope with being an idol, much less to have gender issues tossed on top of that. Would a fifteen year old boy in JE understand the cultural traditions that have generated his image and would he be able to fully switch personas off and on? How much (in their heads) is real and how much is faked? Do you know what I mean? How does this not seep into their lives and psyches?

Ina and I have talked about this many, many times too. :) Where does the fan service end?
I don't think cultural traditions (like shudô) are much present in people's thoughts at all, maybe yaoi manga authors wouldn't even know what shudô is, much less someone like, say, Jin. *grins* But I do think that they are very aware of the androgynous bishônen ideal, of the fine line between "behaving gay" (which on japanese TV is something to be laughed at) and "oozing pheromones" for the girls in the audience. I often wonder how their mothers feel about that. If I were Jin's mother, I couldn't look at some of his dance acts. He would make a terrific pole dancer, and as his mother, that is something I wouldn't like to think about.
Plus, there have been at least two public scandals about former JE guys sueing the management over sexual harrassment, the main reason why the JE dorms in Tokyo were closed.