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19 Jan 2015

Japan's gay community highly stratified by body type and age

Japanese gay media have promoted a gay identity linked to youth, masculinity and highly gym-trained bodies as being highly desirable, says a social researcher.

 

Gay men’s identity in Japan are subject to stereotypical categories based upon media created ideas of an idealized depiction of youth, body type and modes of consumption, says a social researcher studying gay culture in that country.
The gay male culture is highly stratified by body type and age, according to Thomas Baudinette, a PhD candidate from Monash University in his post that appeared in TASA Youth, a thematic group facilitating sociologically-based research relating to young people.
Baudinette points to Shinjuku Ni-chōme, a district in central Tokyo which contains a high concentration of gay bars, pornography shops, saunas, brothels and massage parlors catering exclusively to gay men. The district is also the source of most Japanese gay male media that plays an important role in rendering gay men as a commodity, the post says.
These identities have become codified into a system known as Typing (taipu), which refers to a stereotypical identity category based upon ideas of an idealized body type and modes of consumption.
His study aims to investigate both how media presents certain Types as being normatively desirable and how it has affected Japanese gay men’s identities and desires, Baudinette said.
He pointed out that while conducting fieldwork in Ni-chōme to analyze various gay media, it become apparent that “youth” (wakasa) represents an important trope and which is drawn upon in Japan’s gay media to construct a Type known as the ikanimo-kei (literally, “the obviously gay Type”).
Ikanimo-kei refers to an identity based on consumption of certain fashion labels and activities such as visiting large gay night clubs marking men as being “obviously” gay and an identity linked to youth, masculinity and highly gym-trained bodies.
Japanese gay media have promoted the ikanimo-kei as being highly desirable, and it is for this reason that “youth” and “masculinity” have become markers of being “obviously gay” and “highly idealized,” Baudinette wrote.
During his fieldwork, many men in their 30s and 40s with whom Baudinette spoke said they no longer felt attractive because of this. One gay man in his 40s even said that young gay men in their 20s used their youth as a weapon to deliberately discriminate against older men.
Many men in their 20s with whom he spoke also expressed concern that images of youth presented in Japan’s gay media were incredibly damaging. Young gay men who were unable or unwilling to build up highly muscular ikanimo-kei bodies said they experienced discrimination as “undesirable.”
“Even those men who self-identified as ikanimo-kei occasionally expressed their concerns that as they age they would be unable to maintain their lifestyles and be trapped in limbo as men younger than them came to increasingly dominate the scene,” Baudinette said.
“Through my PhD project (I hope to) determine how Japanese gay men negotiate the complicated system of Typing in order to construct their various identities,” he said.

 

Gay men’s identity in Japan are subject to stereotypical categories based upon media created ideas of an idealized depiction of youth, body type and modes of consumption, says a social researcher studying gay culture in that country.

The gay male culture is highly stratified by body type and age, according to Thomas Baudinette, a PhD candidate from Monash University in his post that appeared in TASA Youth, a thematic group facilitating sociologically-based research relating to young people.

Baudinette points to Shinjuku Ni-chōme, a district in central Tokyo which contains a high concentration of gay bars, pornography shops, saunas, brothels and massage parlors catering exclusively to gay men. The district is also the source of most Japanese gay male media that plays an important role in rendering gay men as a commodity, the post says.

These identities have become codified into a system known as Typing (taipu), which refers to a stereotypical identity category based upon ideas of an idealized body type and modes of consumption.

His study aims to investigate both how media presents certain Types as being normatively desirable and how it has affected Japanese gay men’s identities and desires, Baudinette said.

He pointed out that while conducting fieldwork in Ni-chōme to analyze various gay media, it become apparent that “youth” (wakasa) represents an important trope and which is drawn upon in Japan’s gay media to construct a Type known as the ikanimo-kei (literally, “the obviously gay Type”).

Ikanimo-kei refers to an identity based on consumption of certain fashion labels and activities such as visiting large gay night clubs marking men as being “obviously” gay and an identity linked to youth, masculinity and highly gym-trained bodies.

Japanese gay media have promoted the ikanimo-kei as being highly desirable, and it is for this reason that “youth” and “masculinity” have become markers of being “obviously gay” and “highly idealized,” Baudinette wrote.

During his fieldwork, many men in their 30s and 40s with whom Baudinette spoke said they no longer felt attractive because of this. One gay man in his 40s even said that young gay men in their 20s used their youth as a weapon to deliberately discriminate against older men.

Many men in their 20s with whom he spoke also expressed concern that images of youth presented in Japan’s gay media were incredibly damaging. Young gay men who were unable or unwilling to build up highly muscular ikanimo-kei bodies said they experienced discrimination as “undesirable.”

“Even those men who self-identified as ikanimo-kei occasionally expressed their concerns that as they age they would be unable to maintain their lifestyles and be trapped in limbo as men younger than them came to increasingly dominate the scene,” Baudinette said.

“Through my PhD project (I hope to) determine how Japanese gay men negotiate the complicated system of Typing in order to construct their various identities,” he said.

Reader's Comments

1. 2015-01-21 23:41  
Sounds like the rest of the world to me.
2. 2015-01-22 23:40  
These Japanese values have a very big influence on Taiwan's and China's gay people, too. Under this atmosphere, if I don't have a clear and firm mind, I would also think myself “undesirable”(as the article says) or poor-quality due to other gays' attitudes to me.
Comment edited on 2015-01-23 00:09:46
3. 2015-01-23 19:39  
The Culture of Young!!! :-/ But there is not a culture of being natural, intelligente and simple? It's quite difficult to meet someone like this? how many gays also feel attracted for a normal man? I am wondering where could we find an man like this? Any ideas? I considere myself I simple person someone else? :-) interesting research!!!
4. 2015-01-27 15:00  
yup, not just in Japan. I dont think it's the media's fault, we have to admit that kind of culture seems to be part of the gay subculture where youth, beauty and masculinity is not just celebrated but worshiped.

You just need to read profiles in gay dating sites like these and in forums and you get the picture, with some shamelessly peddling them for favors.
5. 2015-03-20 08:42  
Hey I'm a big guy but I get asked out on plenty of dates. Be happy with who you are :)
6. 2015-04-29 19:55  


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