Japanese media has always represented queer folk in such a unique way. Currently, gay marriage is illegal in Japan. While being queer isn’t necessarily illegal, it is improbable you’ll see a queer couple out in the open in public. Many queer folks were or are still being used as punchlines in Japanese media as a result and either being seen as nothing but a pervert or just an overall and unnatural creep. Japanese people aren’t hostile to queer folk but aren’t the most accepting of it either. Many people’s perspectives have been slowly changing these past couple of years. Japan as a country, is fairly queer-friendly with many gay bars, queer hang-outs, and pride parades.
“Boy’s Love” and “Girl’s Love” media are especially well-known.
Just as the name implies, it is media of
men or two women who are sexually and/or romantically interested in each other.
However, most often these media cater to those who fetishize queer folk. Not to
say that this is always the case since a lot of queer folks create this queer content.
Although, no matter who the original demographic is, content that is inherently
queer, will also attract a queer audience. Despite some weird representations,
LBTQ communities still enjoy these stories, having something to connect to.
There are often when, in the case, a queer couple does
publicly show affection, they’ll be reduced to nothing but caricatures to
others. In one such case, a man held hands with his boyfriend and was the
subject of gossiping and squealing. (As “Boy’s Love” media is popular with the Japanese
female audience.) They were treated like in-real-life characters of a fictional
romance.
There is a lot to explore with this topic and how queer Japanese
media has influenced Japanese people’s views on the queer community.
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