Paper short abstract:

This paper explores the representations of female bodies as "freaks" in the 1990s Japanese fiction. By analyzing two cases that focus on such women (with a penis growing out of one's toe and a plastic-surgery beauty), it examines how the queer bodies challenge the sexual norms of Japanese society.

Paper long abstract:

The female body has always been an attractive and controversial "object" in various societies. To reconsider the political significance of transgressive sexualities, this paper explores the representations of female bodies as "freaks" in the 1990s Japanese fiction.

Matsuura Rieko's Apprenticeship of Big Toe P (1993) is a novel about a young Japanese girl who wakes up one afternoon to discover that her big toe has turned into a penis. This big toe P makes her realize the gender/sexual norms of the male-oriented Japanese society, and her journey of apprenticeship with members of a freak-show opens the door to a new perception of sexualities. Although getting a "phallus," the protagonist of this work never takes sides with the phallocentric society: as a "freak," she represents the weak and diverse values. This point makes a stark contrast with the cross-dressed heroines of Japanese fiction who never seriously threaten the heterosexual, male-oriented Japanese society, just as the Takarazuka Revue does not.

On the other hand, Okazaki Kyoko's manga, Helter Skelter (1995-1996) depicts a powerful "freak," dealing with the plastic surgery issues. With her overwhelming beauty gained by head-to-toe plastic surgery, the protagonist, Ririko, becomes an icon of the day until she finds the signs of her body's deterioration. It is notable that the story treats Ririko as a freak not because her artificial body collapses, but because of her excessive (and aggressive) desire for beauty. Her provocative body reveals the obsession of the society with the female beauty, and problematizes the border between beauty and ugliness.

By analyzing these two cases that focus on young women - one with a penis growing out of her big toe, another one a plastic-surgery beauty - this paper examines the challenges that the queer bodies have posed to the social norms of Japanese society in the 1990s.