Author: Mark James McLelland
Publisher: Open Dissertation Press
Published: 2017-01-27
Total Pages:
ISBN-13: 9781374721364
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This dissertation, "Male Homosexuality in Modern Japan: Cultural Myths and Social Realities" by Mark James, McLelland, was obtained from The University of Hong Kong (Pokfulam, Hong Kong) and is being sold pursuant to Creative Commons: Attribution 3.0 Hong Kong License. The content of this dissertation has not been altered in any way. We have altered the formatting in order to facilitate the ease of printing and reading of the dissertation. All rights not granted by the above license are retained by the author. Abstract: Abstract of the thesis entitled Male Homosexuality in Modern Japan: Cultural Myths and Social Realities submitted by Mark James McLelland for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy at the University of Hong Kong in November 1999 The thesis looks at a variety of media discourses positioning male homosexuality in modern Japanese society and relates them to the actual experiences of a sample of Japanese gay men who I have interviewed. Three main media paradigms are discovered: gay men as 'woman-like' gender deviants, gay men as beautiful, ideal lovers and gay men as sex maniacs. The way in which male homosexuality is depicted in the media is largely related to the intended audience. For example, media which assume a male gaze tend to ridicule gay men who are understood to have surrendered their masculine prerogatives in trespassing over to the feminine. In media directed at women, however, the image of the 'feminine' gay man is positively received as gay men are understood to be like women and therefore sympathetic to women and their problems. In specifically gay media, the image of the feminine gay man is rejected, instead, gay men are represented as hyper-masculine and hyper-sexual figures who have more in common with depictions of straight men in mainstream media than they do with depictions of gay men in these media. It is suggested that none of these representations relates, in any clear way, to how gay men in Japan understand themselves. Interviews with sixteen gay men as well as material taken from books, the gay press, and the Internet, produced by gay men themselves, is used to outline the various social problems that gay men face due to their same-sex attraction. The primary problem is identified as marriage which is understood in Japan to be a necessary step in order to become a fully adult and responsible member of society. Instead of fighting the institution of marriage head-on in a confrontation stressing the need for society to acknowledge a distinct 'gay identity' and to protect the 'gay rights' of a minority, it is shown that many Japanese gay men prefer to negotiate around existing institutions rather than reject them out right. 'Outing' oneself as gay and basing one's 'identity' upon sexual object choice is shown to be a strategy specific to certain urban spaces in modern western societies and the usefulness of this discourse in Japan is brought into question. Finally, the thesis concludes that although there are widespread representations of homosexuality in Japanese media, they are all stereotypes, 'cultural myths' which do not relate to how gay men actually experience themselves. The way in which Japanese society is organised is shown to work against the development of a gay identity, and the diversity which exists among gay men in Japan is shown to be such that no univocal account can be given of what it 'means' to be gay in modern Japan. DOI: 10.5353/th_b2979708 Subjects: Gay men - Japan - Attitides Male homosexuality - Press coverage - apan
