More on Hentai; History of Japanese Gay Slang

[randomcarbon]

My thoughts on the term hentai continue their progression. From an article linked to by Matt here:Such a linguistic arrangement may correspond to what has been called "the currently canonical trinity of 'heterosexuality,' 'homosexuality,' and bisexuality.' " but such simplicities as these cannot account for the varied aspects of sexual experience.

Comments

Rice

[anonymous]

It's the burnt rice stuck on the insides of an okama.

That ... is awesome. Creative too.

I too think hentai has far too much cultural baggage (at least in my understanding of it) to be really a homosexual reference. I think most of the people you inquired (were you ballsy enough to do it) would agree that it does mean (sexually) strange/changed or perverted, but with a decidedly hetero slant. You know, all the rape/tentacle/exrement fantasy you might find in anime porn. Not, uh, mind you, that I know anything about that ...

Justin
www.shock-e.com

Re: Rice

[randomcarbon]

See, though, that's the AMERICAN understanding of hentai. As I've mentioned in my ever-so-academic exploration of the term, it appears to have a much more vanilla flavor.

And, well, the hetero slant: That's the point, isn't it? To add an additional dimension, to force a new slant? To go from pleasantly gay to hushed murmurs gay?

Re: Rice

[anonymous]

It is, yes, an American understanding of Hentai, but I have yet to meet a Japanese person who uses it differently. While there are more specific words for more specific perversions (chikan or ecchi being what immediately pop to mind), hentai is what I've heard my Japanese friends use (albeit in hushed but not gay-related tones) for a generalized but strong sort of pervo description.

And maybe I'm missing the point, but why would the gay community want to adopt a word that already has so much negative connotation attached to it?

Justin
www.shock-e.com

Re: Rice

[randomcarbon]

And that understanding of the term had been what I was limited to before as well. But then I met it in more commonplace circumstances, which makes me thing the American understanding is narrow. (http://www.livejournal.com/users/randomcarbon/302726.html)

It doesn't have such negative connotation - that's what my experience is leading me to now believe. Think of it this way. In English we have myriad ways to say food has a good that. In Japanese, we're largely relegated to Umai or Oishii. Japanese has a smaller lexicon thant what we're used to, so its words must contain broader meaning. Hentai covers the perversion as well as the church going woman who sometimes likes it hot.

Perhaps.

[andrewdeluxe]

Then what is the role of the word 'yaoi'? Some one once asked met what 'yaoi' literally meant and I honestly had no idea.

Though, I must say, I was also thinking more along the lines of the anonymous poster that it simply referred to 'perverts'. I thought, old men checking out young women could also be considered hentai. Or is this also incorrect?

But isn't also possible to say that pervert and perversion in English were also earlier vaguely masked references to homosexuals and homosexuality? I'm thinking 1950s America here.

[randomcarbon]

This site says: The term is an acronym derived from the Japanese phrase 山無し落無し意味無し ( yama nashi, ochi nashi, imi nashi ), meaning "no climax, no resolution, no meaning." Its target audience, readership and creators are almost exclusively young to middle-age women.

But I have heard it referring to the phrase, 止めれ！お尻痛い！(YAmere! Oshiri Itai. Stop! My ass hurts!)

Thus far it seems like hentai refers generally to fantasies. Someone who has a straight-laced daytime demeanor but may like a little kink in their sex could be hentai. Not to mention the guys who inspired the weird anime.

I don't know the etymology or the cultural significance of the English pervert, so I don't know.

It's Latinate

[no_sword23]

http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=pervert