Paper short abstract:

I will analyse ways in which institutional heteronormativity operates in Japanese primary schools. This presentation will be sustained by my fieldwork data. I conducted an ethnographic research in four primary schools in Tokyo area and Yamagata area from 2013 October to 2014 June.

Paper long abstract:

Concern for school-based homophobia is increasing in Japan, yet there is a tendency to focus on individual incidents of homophobic bullying rather than the cultural and institutional factors supporting them. This topic is mostly related to high school and university period. I will analyse ways in which institutional heteronormativity operates in Japanese primary schools. This presentation will be sustained by my fieldwork data. I conducted an ethnographic research in four primary schools in Tokyo area and Yamagata area from 2013 October to 2014 June and I also attended during 2013-2014 year to meetings of sex education and women's questions research groups that were organized by teachers or primary school administrators

The data from my study suggests that homophobia exists within primary settings and that children as young as six employ discriminatory language. The study details that incidents of homophobia include those related to gender identity; perceptions of masculinity and femininity; school and workplace bullying and multimedia coverage of homosexuality. I also asked children how they perceive the role of the representations of LGBT communities exist in many media outlets. In last decade in Japan, much has been achieved in recent years in the acceptance of high profile LGBT celebrities in popular mainstream culture; including arts and culture aimed at or accessed by primary schoolchildren. However, interviews show that children who like Matsuko Deluxe or Kaba-chan are still confusing sexual orientation and transvestite appearances. LGBT people are still viewed as grotesque people far from daily routine of the primary school children.

The study demonstrates that barriers to tackling homophobia exist in primary schools and that these may stem from staff, teachers training and attitude towards gender equality issues and school policy. Still, Japanese education system continues to exclude these gender discrimination issues and maintains its conservative gender hierarchy.

Keywords: homophobia; homophobic; homosexuality; primary schools; teachers; education; children.

Paper short abstract:

In this communication, I will show that Japanese gay men can find through manga 'representations of homosexuality different ways to think about and talk about their gay life and also LGBT issues in Japan, especially about homophobia related topics.

Paper long abstract:

As a media, manga is part of the phenomenon spreading stereotypes and mockery of gay people. Just as can be seen on different TV shows or series, gay characters are often used as a comic relief. A strange, but somewhat lovable pervert. A gay man is, in many ways, a clown. As such, the way homophobia is brought up changes depending on the story and the narration.

However, in manga, there are different kinds of representation of homosexuality and in some niche genres, discrimination against LGBT is at the core of the plot. Most often, homosexuality does not take much space: a punchline every now and then, but subjects such as harassment or discrimination are hardly brought up. For instance, "Boy's love" manga feature stories mostly produced by, and aimed at young girls and women. The emphasis is put on male/male romance. Actually, although rejection of homosexuality can sometimes be hinted at, the story seems to erase those issues, and mostly choose not to question the "unusual" relationship between the protagonists.

Yet, I will focus on another genre, called bara, and more specifically about the author Mentaiko and how Japanese gay men are reacting and speaking about it. Bara, first of all, is mostly produced by gay men for gay men. Then homosexuality could be brought up more seriously, so as to sound more real to the reader, but also to address issues that they are sensitive about. Second, bara is mostly pornographic. Pornography might seem like a drawback when trying to develop a powerful narrative tied to homosexuality. It is however a strong symbol of how a community of people got to come together, and allows for meaningful story moments where conflict is used as a fuel for sexual tension.

In this communication, I will show that Japanese gay men can find through manga 'representations of homosexuality different ways to think about and talk about their gay life and also LGBT issues in Japan, especially about homophobia related topics.

Paper short abstract:

The very existence of homophobia in Japan indeed may need, as a prerequisite, a real consciousness, by the "perpetrators", of what homosexuality means. However in Japan, especially in rural areas (where I conducted fieldwork and interviews among gays), this is not often the case.

Paper long abstract:

The very existence of homophobia in Japan may need, as a prerequisite, a real consciousness, by the "perpetrators", of what homosexuality means. However in Japan, especially in rural areas (where I conducted fieldwork and interviews among gays), this is not often the case. First, the image mass-media usually give of homosexuals and homosexuality (in wide shows, dramas, or even more serious debates) strongly reinforces stereotypes (over-feminized gestures, vestures, ways of speaking, etc.), paralleling a lack of thorough information and education. Thus, many Japanese make a clear-cut difference between the situations upon "the screen", and in real life, to the point that many of them can hardly imagine the presence of lgbtq around them, in their everyday life. Second, the "victims" show a rather strong tendency not be feel "victimized", by what could be interpreted in a Western perspective as insults or discrimination (after all, is there homophobia if the "victim" does not "feel" it?). Third, sexual "identities" are not given once and for all in Japan. There exists a subtle fluidity in sexual matters that may lead not to interpret sex between men as "homosexual acts", needless to say an "(homo)sexual identity". Fixed sexual identities, often with a (moral, social) judgment attached to them, were mainly introduced with Western medical discourses from the Meiji period. Fourth, owing to several sociological (like the importance of marriage), psychological and cultural factors, there is a very small percentage of lgbtq who come out of the closet. And most of the gays I interviewed are still eager to conform to social and cultural (heterocentered) expectancies, often meaning having a "double life". And the absence of social visibility lessens the possibility of homophobic acts.

Nevertheless, if not overtly expressed, a "latent" homophobia does exist in Japan. This can take the form of internalized homophobia for not conforming to social expectancies or not playing the expected familial role (that may lead young gays to hate themselves, sometimes driving them to commit suicide), or hidden homophobic acts (being sacked from one's job, or excluded from social events or groups, always according to other, false reasons).