...for this must-see article about gender issues in Japan, specifically about a young woman politician who recently came out:
http://www.japantimes.com/cgi-bin/getarticle.pl5?fl20050911x2.htm
Fascinating stuff. Some otaku friends seem to believe Japan is a great deal more enlightened on these issues than, alas, it is today. You'd never know ancient Nihon historically had one of the first reasonably well-attested kick-ass women leaders (Himiko, ca. 175-248 EV), or a rich multigendered literature, either -- over many centuries* (and doesn't everyone know about Mishima?**). Still, the times they are a-changin'. :)
93 93/93 -- AJ
P.S. Then again, check her answer to the question about whether she opposes the institution of marriage...and picture any American politician, anywhere, anytime, saying that. (Okay, S.F. might be an exception. ;) )
P.P.S. haaaaapp-pyyyy salmasssssss!
* Not to mention the somewhat (though only somewhat) gender-bending Heian era, about which I wrote a lengthy article for the Scarlet Letter's upcoming "feminine" issue (likely, alas, to be postponed until later publication; as
isomeme was at pains to point out, they need to focus more on local writers than Californicators. As quoth Monty Python, "Heee's right, you knowwww!" :D ).** Have I plugged Paul Schrader's 1980s? film Mishima here?
senryu and I finally saw it, and it utterly rawks. Kudos to his friends George Lucas and Francis Ford Coppola for saving it from an unseen death, at considerable personal expense. (And, yes, I know Mishima had rather a soft spot for Fascism, among other loopinesses. This makes you think the film would be less interesting? You kiddin?) 