Sex and Queerness in Naruto

[nezumiko]

If you are on lady-spaz's flist, you probably already read some of this, but I wanted to re-edit it and expand it a little, because that and some private IM's I had with a couple friends helped me clarify my thinking on this subject.

N.B. I am using the word "queer" throughout this essay to signify all varieties of non-heterosexual orientations.I've had

Comments

[ex_duelist]

Personally... I basically write everybody in the ninja world as bisexual. I realize this is not realistic, but neither are the Sharingan, Harem no Jutsu, Kisame, or many other aspects of the Narutoverse one could name, so I don't feel obligated to stick strictly to reality in the area of sex either.

I seem to be about the only person who holds this viewpoint though, so it makes RP awkward on occasion. XD;

[beachlass]

I think that is reasonable... one of the sexuality spectrum agruments I've heard is that most people are bisexual: about 10% are strictly gay, about 10% are strictly straight. The other 80% fall somewhere in between.

And Nezuko... I think you know my love for the complicated Gen/Rai relationship in Spiral. And another one of the most compelling moments in that RP was the torture scene between Ibiki and Shunsuke, when Ibiki presses against Shun... I was telling someone about that just the other night.

Queer is a pretty big category. It's also the only one I've ever identified in. (I had a really interesting conversation with someone a few years ago when I commented that one of the weird things about being bisexual was how you can end up in a long term relationship with someone who is a different sexual orientation: gay or straight. And that can be hard... especially if they are straight, IMHO)

[euphonious_glow]

I found this journal from your FF.net profile, and it's good to see someone's views on homosexuality in Naruto. I don't mind yaoi or yuri, but sometimes when I read a fanfic and everyone in it seems to be gay, it seems a little unrealistic. I'm familiar with Scarlet Spiral and your characters there (Great characterization of Genma by the way) and it's cool to see your thoughts on why your write them that way.