Wow! How did I know about them? This is their 7th album.
queer
Listed as one of CNNgo’s top 10 Japan blogs in English
Wow! This simple blog has been cited by CNNgo as one of the top 10 Japan blogs in English. I like how the CNNgo description identifies me as being “married to a Japanese man” but is indeterminate about my gender and my readers’.
“So ladies” is how CNNgo addresses my readers. I welcome female readers but don’t think that’s the total of my readers. Hello?! Isn’t it 100% clear that I am a queer guy?! Haha on CNNgo for reflecting Japan’s inability to see gayness no matter how flagrant!
Some of the other picks are my regular reading material. Congrats #1 Green Eyed Geisha for continually inspiring me. I am also thrilled to be included with Vivian’s Lost in Translation blog.
Jersey Shore boys featured on Village Voice’s Queer Issue
Somehow, Christophe always knows the latest story. Apparently the self-obsessed Jersey Shore boys posed shirtless and oiled for the Village Voice. And this New York weekly did not tell them that they would be the illustration for “The Guido Ideal” of their annual Queer Issue. This early photo comes from Autostraddle, who critique the Village Voice for using these emblems of retarded heterosexuality as queer icons.
BTW, I heard that MTV wants to export Jersey Shore to over 30 countries. Have you seen this subculture, brand offensive in your (non-US) nation?!
Cougars are here to stay!?
I love the NY Times Style section. Today features a hot photo from Cougar Town with Courtney Cox and Nick Zano and an article with the pseudo-intellectual title “Rethinking the Older Woman-Younger Man Relationship.” The basic idea is that now that women over 40 are more self-sufficient, they are freer to date men who are younger (and also poorer, of different religions and races).
Cougars have been maligned as desperate and inappropriate. And many men have been known to only date younger. Who can argue with feminine liberation? Can a cougar be omniverous and multi-generational? Can queers be cougars? What do you think?
Queer March on Washington DC
Sunday was a huge queer march in Washington DC demanding equality and action by Nobel prize winner Barack Obama. The rally, the first in almost ten years, was organized by a younger generation using social media tools like Facebook, Twitter, Youtube, and blogs.
Here’s Lady Gaga’s moving speech in front of the Capitol, ending with “Bless God, Bless the Gays!”
More information on towleroad.com.
Types of tops (攻め), bottoms (受け), and Boys Love anime
My favorite blogger on otaku and manga language, Bangin, has recently released a second typology for seme (攻め) and uke (受け). Apparently new types of Boys Love roles are constantly being created and new words emerging.
The beauty of these top/bottom terms are their endless variety, unexpected reversals and melodrama. Here are two of my favorites. Follow the links to read both posts with over a dozen types:
ワンコ攻め[wanko-zeme]; Sounds cute, doesn’t it? Well, ワンコ[wanko] means a dog here(but it’s not correct) It derives from the fact that they howl ワンワン[wan wan “bow wow”]. At any rate, dogs are so obedient to their masters but they also fawn upon. Yes, no matter how cold 受け is, how many times 受け refuses to accept him, he never gives up, and eventually it comes to pass. It sounds like a relationship between 先輩受け[sempai-uke] and 後輩攻め[kouhai-zeme]. 先輩 means a senior at a company or school, and 後輩 means a junior as well. 先輩 is more superior to 後輩. In such a relationship, 後輩 becomes 攻め…the position is switched, isn’t it?
姫受け[hime-uke]: 姫[hime] means a princess. This type of uke is surrounded by several semes(more than two tops). I can’t think of a better example. Maybe Shibuya Yuuri? He can be paired up with Gunter or Conlad…but he ends up being uke.
These two posts also provide an evolving typology of BL (Boys Love) literature:
- リーマンもの[riiman-mono] or office settings;
- 学園もの[gakuen-mono] or schools;
- ナマモノ[namamono] or slash fiction about movie stars, singers, sports stars and “vocal actors”;
- イロモノ[iromono] or minor characters;
- 兄弟もの[kyoudai-mono] or brothers, often step-brothers;
- ML or men’s love, versus boys or minors;
- ロボやおい[robo yaoi] or robot love;
- 匂い系[nioi-kei] or “smells” type, meaning no sex but plenty of homo-erotic scent (like Water Boys, Ouran High-School Host Club, Hanazakari no Kimitachi e, Prince of Tennis);
- 健全[kenzen] or sound, meaning Normal Love (NL);
- 微裏[biura], an abbreviation of bimyou ni ura, which means “slightly porno” and should be no more than kissing
Wow. Thank you, Bangin sensei!
Writing as someone almost entirely untouched by anime and manga, I am certainly inspired to start reading. What about you?
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Tokyo Moe 