impact of modernism on LGBTQ+ community

Research topic:

Gender studies of sexual minorities in Japan: impact of modernism on LGBTQ+ community

Introduction:

In the modern era, gender identity has become a sensitive matter within the societies in the Asian world (Russell & Horn, 2017). LGBTQAI or in short LGBTQ+, a short term or abbreviation of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Questioning or Queer (with addition of Asexual and Intersexual), are distinct groups whose sexual orientation is identified as belonging to the gay culture (Connecticut Clearing House, n.d.). Japan is at the forefront of Asia regarding gender fluidity. By Asian standards, the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Queer (LGBTQ+) rights in Japan are relatively progressive.

In pre-historic Japan, same-sex activities were primarily legal and were only criminalized with the onset of western cultural influence (Russell & Horn, 2017). Same-sex couples became illegal until 2015 where several Japanese cities began offering ‘partnership certificates’ – The symbolic step started the recognition of same-sex couple relationships.

Also, the Japanese culture does not have a hostile history with homosexuality, and therefore gender fluidity has not been rigid over the years. This is because gender definition in Japan has been influenced heavily by postmodern cultures and therefore requires a multidisciplinary approach.

Thus raised the hypothesis of how despite the outer appearance of not having a heavy hostile towards LGBTQ+, many problems remain such as heterosexism, internalized discrimination, ignorance in the society.

To explore and understand the cultural, social, and political conditions within Japan that proves social stigma does exist against the LGBTQ+ community

To examine implications these discriminations for example: the absence of private library literature on the subject, healthcare inadequacies, catastrophe response, and marital equality have on the long-term outcomes.

To understand and promote awareness to eliminate prejudice that exists towards the LGBTQ+ community.

According to studies into Japanese history in terms of LGBTQ+ concerns, the LGBTQ+ community has only recently made breakthroughs and still trails far behind the rest of the developed world. LGBTQ+ people are frequently neglected and neglected since they are not encouraged to speak up or be counted because of their sexual orientation. Many of these studies show that prejudice towards LGBTQ+ people and misunderstanding about their rights have real-world effects for LGBTQ+ people’s quality of life. All data points that there does not need to be an open hostile attitude toward LGBTQ+ people in Japan for them to be badly affected. The scarcity of private library books on the subject, healthcare inadequacy, and the disaster response all demonstrate how LGBTQ+ people continue to face stigma in modern Japan.

Japan had a mainly heteronormative perspective of LGBTQ+ people and has discriminated against them in terms of equal marriage rights up to this point. For Japan to ultimately recognize same-sex partnerships, the law had to be construed for all residents as equals. This contrasts with other countries where attitudes toward same-sex couples have gradually improved, resulting in a more accepting culture.

There were numerous obstacles faced by LGBTQ+ people in Japan, and there were numerous repeating themes across the literature. The most frequently addressed issue was that, despite the fact that the LGBTQ+ community in Japan is not directly oppressed, a culture that strives to minimize their existence is nonetheless damaging them in actual terms. This isn’t only an example of LGBTQ+ people being emotionally harmed by Japanese people. There is considerable evidence in the literature that LGBTQ+ people in Japan are worse off as a result of Japanese attitudes toward the community. The real-world repercussions can be evident in healthcare, disaster relief, and smaller areas like library access to LGBTQ+ materials.

In Japanese society, acceptance and normalization of same-sex marriage with the LGBTQ community is taking longer. Dale (2020), for example, observes that, among the G7 countries, Japan has long been hesitant and rigorous in approving same-sex weddings. Shibuya, on the other hand, is one of the first wards to start issuing certificates for same-sex unions, indicating that the LGBTQ community may one day have equal rights.

Methodology:

The method that several of these studies used was polling and then interviewing LGBTQ+ individuals. Mizunuma and Tsuji studied libraries in Japan by calling up thousands of them then asking about the availability of LGBTQ+ literature at their establishment. Other studies directly polled LGBTQ+ individuals themselves to see their opinions or experiences as LGBTQ+ person in Japan. Ashley Moore studied English classes versus the same class in Japanese and contrasted the two to see where the differences lay. Many of the studied took a compare and contrast approach to how they conducted their research. This is an important methodology to use as largely it compares how things are done in Japan to other parts of the world. The comparison of Japan and other countries is the best way to determine how Japan treats its LGBTQ+ individuals in its own country compared to others. The use of other countries as a comparison point is an important barometer to test how well LGBTQ+ individuals are treated as it gives a useful point of reference. This is seen in Sugihara and Katsurada’s (2002) research that compares the self-ratings of Japanese men and women where it can be compared to the rest of the world that has very different results.

Many of the studies looked in depth at particular areas of Japan. Takao uses Shibuya as the focus for his research as it was the location of the first officially recognized same-sex partnership. Yamashita, Gomez and Dombroski analyzed the Great East-Japan Disaster which is localized in East Japan. These analyze specific areas of Japan as opposed to the country as a whole and reveal how areas of Japan have specific problems with the LGBTQ+ community compared to others. Welker focused on lesbians specifically and was the one study in my literature review to use one part of the LGBTQ+ community on its own. This is interesting as it not only focuses on lesbians on their own but can be compared to other groups such as males of any sexuality or gender and against heterosexual treatment. One group I found lacking in substance throughout for methodology was transgendered individual as a part of any study. There was a strong focus on gay, lesbian and bisexuals but not so much on transgendered individuals. The fact that methodology had to focus on asking anonymously about LGBTQ+ individuals displays the secrecy in Japanese society about being LGBTQ+ which is touched on itself in some of the studies.

Literature Review:

     Find credible sources that talk about merit and why should Japan have marriage equality.

    Find credible sources that discuss how LGBT in Japan is being mistreated and what kind of discrimination they’re going through and compare it to around 5-6 other LGBT friendly countries such as Taiwan, Australia, Netherland…etc.

    Find credible sources that discuss why Japan is not forefront on LGBT movement issue and why other countries have done to make their environment LGBT friendly? What can Japan do to resolve this?

An article by Sugihara and Katsurada (2002) examines masculinity and feminism within Japanese society. Sugihara and Katsurada (2002) employ the Japanese Gender Role Index (JGRI) scale using the self-ratings of Japanese men and women. The research was conducted to determine masculine and feminine characteristics in Japanese society. From 423 participants and their results of self-ratings on the JGRI scale, the research found no significant difference between the men and women in terms of masculine and feminine characteristics. The research also concluded that both men and women that the article conducted survey on average defined their own masculine and feminine characteristics in equivalent amounts as none of them felt more manly or feminine to the extreme that can prove either sex can be justify for dismissing the LGBTQ+ existence.

This article will, therefore, provide a strong and important insight into gender nuances within the Japanese society to help further research on the topic. Japan has a different approach to sexuality than the rest of the world where there are more distinct differences in characteristics between men and women. In the western world there is a larger difference and this may account for the worse homophobic modern history in Japan.

Lunsing (2005) looks into Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender rights in his article ‘LGBTQ+ Rights in Japan.’ The article explains a Japanese law that made no mention of the LGBTQ+ issues despite being focused on issues surrounding the LGBTQ+ community. The issues slowly became embraced under the movement known as tojisha – Tojisha, which was originally used in a legal context to refer to the “parties” in court proceedings, was adopted in the 1970s by citizens’ groups campaigning for the right of self-determination for the “parties