Sexism In Anime

One thing I have to say about Bara Bears, they are all incredibly cute. All their muscle and buscle and their blushing and sweet disposition and... I dunno, they seem like you'd love to have them around as uncles or brothers or something. There's just something lovable about a huge man who's perpetually flustered.

edited 5th Jan '18 1:53:08 PM by TheHandle

Depends on the particular story you're following. My Brother's Husband's creator's other stories are...let's just say they require Brain Bleach even if you're into gay BDSM.

Also, apparently "bara" is considered offensive by Japanese gay men nowadays. The correct term to refer to this genre is "geicomi", from the English term "gay comic". On the same note, nobody in Japan uses "yaoi" anymore, it's BL now.

Actualy Shadow, it isn't that suprising Transgender people are way more common in Japanese media then the rest of the aplhabet.

When you come out, one of the most anoint thing as a result is explaining, no your not a guy, your just a girl that likes girls multiple times over while people insist that your a guy. :|

That's actualy what the term オネエ or onee donates, it is the common trans archetype to japanese media.

edited 5th Jan '18 4:00:20 PM by Imca

Huh, interesting. So transgenders are more accepted than homosexuals in Japan?

Still, based on the things I've seen, the onee or okama types seem to be played for laughs rather than be taken seriously. Or at least portrayed as extremely campy men who flaunt their gender identity.

What makes MHA's treatment stand out to me is how both the trans characters are treated relatively respectfully. Tiger's joke is that he's a Rated M for Manly guy in a group of cute women. The fact that he used to be female isn't even touched at all. For Magne, it's implied her being discriminated against is what turns her into a villain, and it's not Played for Laughs.

Both are "accepted", the hatred you have in the west really isn't as present instead its a lack of understanding and transgender people are more "understood" even if it is stereotypes like you have stated.... yes.

But it is rather interesting to hear that MHA breaks the mold, especially in an anime at that.

MHA seems to be progressive in little details that aren't really elaborated on… like the fact it's apparently common to have the husband take his wife's family name in that universe…

MHA wasn't the only superhero anime that broke the mold. Tiger And Bunny also has a transgender character in the main cast that is a hero and is also pretty respectful. They are also a CEO of their own company, fairly competent.

edited 5th Jan '18 5:04:19 PM by Wispy

Tiger and Bunny is also much less moldbreaky in the context of media as a whole though.

Which isn't to say its bad, not in the slightest, more that anime trails a bit behind there.

edited 5th Jan '18 5:03:53 PM by Imca

I can agree there sadly.

Yeah, I remember the quote from the devs about how you can see Kotetsu and Barnaby's relationship as a romance if you want to, or not if you don't want to... I feel like that noncommittal stance is one that a lot of anime take towards same-sex relationships.

Question: are there any groups in Japan that are broadly anti-LGBT, objecting to any depiction of such individuals in media?

Kyoiku Seijoka Suishin Nettowaku, Ganbare Nippon! Zenkoku Kodo Iinkai, and Kodomo Tachi no Mirai wo Mamoru Shufu no Kai have been responsible for the last group of anti-LGBT protests.

All of them use the argument of family values, and that we cant procreate.

edited 5th Jan '18 5:27:02 PM by Imca

I see.

Are any of them influential?

-shrug-

Ganbare Nippon is the largest, but overall most people support gay rights, just no one actually wants to take action, no one wants to do any thing, and no one wants any one to speak out.

its over 70% in support of gay marriage for instance, but outside of Shibuya ward, no one intends to, or even wants to act on it.

The problems you see arise from apathy, not hatred..... apathy can be harmful as well.

edited 5th Jan '18 5:34:32 PM by Imca

So basically, "We've got your back, gay people!

...

From waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay back here! Good luck, guys!"

Exactly.

Edit: For a bit more clarification, most of the changes at this point would require a constitutional amendment and no one wants to go through the disruption of having to do that.

Because when Amercia wrote our constitution it defined marriage as a man and a woman, it isn't even our values, it is Amercias..... but good luck pushing a constitutional amendment through, especially when the LDP is in charge and a significant amount of funding to them comes from the family values types.

edited 5th Jan '18 5:41:18 PM by Imca

Well, I feel like Japan has the same problem as many countries: people kinda don't like to meddle into political struggles and prefer to leave that to politicians. Or maybe it's just me.

…Meanwhile, I just met with the character Pripri Prisoner in One Punch Man. Yikes this character is wrong on so many levels. So wrong that he pretty much Crosses the Line Twice.

edited 5th Jan '18 5:44:00 PM by Lyendith

I see.

I was asking because of a fanfic I was writing had the idea of TV executives taking a ''let's avoid courting controversy/rattling conservative sponsors" stance when it came to writing a gay couple, though only in passing - it's not really a focus of the scene, and is more intended to indicate that they're willing to cozy up to whoever they think has substantial influence.

If the "conservative sponsors" angle isn't plausible, then I suppose I can edit it to make it more about not appearing to make overt political statements.

edited 5th Jan '18 5:50:33 PM by KarkatTheDalek

That is very much true, they normally censor the faces of people at the pride parades to avoid ummmm "disturbing the water" so to speak.

And conservative sponsors is possible, even with majority support there is still money in the minority.

I have not seen that bit, sorry, mind sharing?

Alright, great, thanks!

It's been a while since I've seen One Punch Man, and I honestly didn't watch much of it, but from what I recall he was basically the most offensive gay character possible. He's a Camp Gay superhero whose gimmick is that he's in jail for trying to rape every attractive strong guy he sees.

Note also that he's an extremely effective hero and could break out of prison at any time; he stays because of all the attractive men.

So... yeah. There's a lot going on there, so it's hard to say if he's just offensive or if he successfully uses Refuge in Audacity.

I'm kinda torn on whether or not Nuriko from Fushigi Yuugi would be a good example of LGBT. I mean, he's the best character in FY and I'd be lying if I said I didn't enjoy some of the jokes about his sexuality, but his sexuality itself is never presented as wrong or immoral as far as I can recall. Watase even kinda cheated by having somebody who looks exactly like Nuriko but is a woman hook up with Hotohori.

I wonder how LGBTQ+ representation works in a series with reincarnation or transmigration of souls. The male lead of Angel Sanctuary has a female soul in him and is in love with a girl who has a female soul. Don't really understand it but there's probably some interesting books or articles on this out there somewhere . I should look into those. (Usually only hear about bodies and earthly social roles when it comes to this topic for understandable reasons)

He also stays because he thinks nobody will object to him raping criminals.

Wait, if he has a female soul, doesn't that make him a she…? There's a similar case in D. Gray-Man, with Kanda and Alma being lovers in a previous life, with Alma having a female soul…

• Regrettably, he's not wrong.
• A female soul would be a poetic way of deafening MTF transgender.

Of course this assumes that immortal souls have gender and sexuality.

But what if they don't? Wouldn't that make a lot more sense? What use do immortal beings have for reproduction, sexuality, gender roles, and all that baggage? In the Realm of Ideas, wouldn't all love be Platonic by default?