Beyond Common Sense: Sexuality and Gender in Contemporary JapanAuthor: Lunsing, WimGenre: Gay / Lesbian Publisher: Kegan Paul Released: 2001 |
A Review by Stephen Murray
08/20/2002
In addition to (genuinely) participant observation in homosexuality and in Japanese feminism, Lunsing interviewed fifty-six females (twenty-one of whom he categorized as lesbian) and fifty-three males (thirty-eight of whom he categorized as gay—"some interviewees who said that they were not gay have been counted as gay because they were clearly attracted to men or because, although they identified themselves as heteroseuxal, it became apparent that they had no sexual interest in their wives whatsoever.")
Although many Japanese and not a few foreign observers build models of Japanese uniqueness, Lunsing's book is vigorously anti-exoticizing. He found it "not hard to find Japanese who act and react in ways similar to me" and challenged the notion advanced particularly influentially by the Japanese-American anthropologist Dorinne Kondo (in Crafting Selves) that Japanese lack a sense of self.
I believe that Kondo's idea of multiple selves is rather superficial. She seems to discuss not selves but presentations of selves, which is not all that surprising because her research took place with people in the contexts of work and the family, contexts where people may not show their inner selves. Japanese, indeed, seem to be relatively sophisticated in dealing with varying presentations of themselves in a variety of contexts and do not allow themselves to be led astray by the idea that they have to present unchangeable selves regardless of contexts. Their inner selves appear rather to be stronger precisely because they feel less of a need for confirmation by others, unlike for instance Americans.There is a concept of real feelings (honne) that contrasts with public presentation (tatema). In particular, "informants who were closeted felt that their tatemae behaviour was not their real self and that even what some people perceived as expressions of their honne was not either. Their view is that homosexuality is an inalienable part of themselves" and they have what Lunsing characterizes as a very essentialist view of gays and lesbians rather than "multiple selves." These informants were concerned about being ostracized, but did not confuse the need to keep up (heterosexual) appearances with their sense of self. From gay Japanes writing and my own unsystematic (and perhaps biased) sample of gay Japanese, I suspect that Lunsing's identification with gay Japanese leads him to underestimate the painfulness of having to go along (awaseru) with heterosexist assumptions, having to evade questions (gomakasu) about an important part of the self (who one loves), and the self-obliterating silence that may follow attempts by feminists, lesbians, and gay men to speak about not wanting to undertake heterosexual marriage, though he acknowledges that "most people feel that much stress is put upon them by the continual questioning about their marital status."
Lunsing does not deny that "coming out" as not planning to marry is difficult, in part because sexuality of any kind is discussed seriously in Japan very rarely. Survey data shows that reactions to coming out revelations are generally positive, but this says more about the care with which lesbians and gay men choose recipients of personal information than about general acceptance of homosexuality in Japan. The typical reaction may be "next to nothing," but trying to look away from embarrassing personal information is part of what I consider a "will not to know" rather than evidence of acceptance of being gay and/or unmarried. Moreover, those thought incapable of understanding (rikai dekinai) and kept in ignorance are very many, especially bosses—and fathers, though many seek to shield mothers from the burden of worrying about deviant offspring. "Fear of encountering homophobia in others" seems to Lunsing "to play a lesser role than internalized homophobia or the fear of being different which is then attributed to an environment that is supposed to be hostile towards homosexuality," though rejection by landlords of lesbian or gay couples is a real problem:
Private housing can only be rented at the whim of landlords or ladies who often do not want two men living together...While in the case of young students, landlords or ladies have less objection to two men living together, once they are past student age, which in general is believed to end at about 22 years old, landlords or ladies are likely to refuse male couples. For female couples this problem is not so great because it is widely accepted that women often do not have an income that allows them to live on their own.Lunsing challenges the widespread view (rampant in the Word War II enemy national character literature) that there is a particular Japanese penchant for sadomasochism. Rather than an index to common practice, in Lunsing's view,
the widespread appearance of sadomasochism in pornographic videos and magazines suggests that many people are excited by it as a fantasy but not many seem to engage in it themselves. A reason why sadomasochism is so abundant in Japanese pornography can also be found in the law that prohibits showing penises and vaginas...making producers look for other ways to produce exciting footage."There is a more general lesson in this, cautioning inferring patterns of sexual behavior from popular representations. One suggestive indication that Lunsing is right about a low level of S&M; play beyond his sample is the profusion of shops selling S&M; equipment in England and the USA and their near nonexistence in Japan.
Concerned about self-identity and ways around marriage (including sham marriages) Lunsing does not present data on sexual behavior (homosexual or heterosexual) or desire. He argues that by the late 1990s, with the interruption of Liberal Democratic Party rule and (more importantly) with more and more women working for wages, it has become possible to be openly gay (or lesbian, feminist, or single) in Japan. Without opposition from organized religion (such as Christian churches in the USA, the UK, and the Netherlands), Lunsing believes that "it should be relatively easy to adapt smoothly to the needs of people with alternative lifestyles," ignoring how difficult adapting to other "needs" of the Japanese people has proven to be. Lunsing is forthright that some Japanese gay and lesbian activists consider his views over-optimistic (Panglossic even): "They stressed that there are still many problems with companies and with the bureaucracy and that prejudice is still widespread" but remains impressed that "in the few years in which gay and lesbian groups and individuals have started to make their voices heard, much has been achieved." Human rights laws exist, but are rarely invoked, so the focus of Japanese gay and lesbian and feminist activism is less about law reform than about changing conventional ideas (jôshiki, the "common sense" of his title).
© Copyright ToxicUniverse.com 08/20/2002
