…one of many examples of why navigating セクマイ / LGBTQIA spaces in Japan can be painful at times.
first the context: the above screenshot is from the registration form for a meetup that i’ll be attending that is exclusively for trans men and non-binary people who are AFAB who have not medically transitioned in any way. the meetup is being hosted by a group that itself is a support group for trans men and non-binary people who are AFAB and who have not medically transitioned in any way + their partners………..
本の紹介:「Xジェンダーって何？」
screaming! rushing out the door on my way to work i found a totally unexpected package in my mail box which turned out to be this book! the first ever (in so far as i know) book in Japan written by, about and for non-binary people in Japan! the book is the product of crowdfunding by the non-binary group Label X well over a year ago and i totally forgot that the book was said to be released around now. the book isn’t available on Amazon (not at the moment anyway), but it can be found online here and the book will be sold in bookstores! how amazing is that?! really is exciting times right now. 🙂 i’m at work right now so can’t look over the book at all and will be working overtime all week, but i look forward to checking out the book more thoroughly this weekend.…
Q&A: “Are there any (commonly used?) gender neutral pronouns in Japanese like there are in English?”
anonymous said: Are there any (commonly used?) gender neutral pronouns in Japanese like there are in English? I love your blog btw, your posts about Japanese are fascinating 🙂 (see also: this post) ah, thank you! although at this point i feel the need to throw out a huge disclaimer. [image reads: i’m totally a non-fluent, non-native speaker of Japanese and as such, i might not even know wtf i’m talking about! :’D but thank you for asking anyway! – Vesper] anyway, i’m inclined to say no, there are no gender neutral pronouns in Japanese like there are in English. in English, “gender neutral pronouns” generally refers to third-person pronouns used by one person to refer to another person. in Japanese, third-person pronouns aren’t used anywhere near as frequently as in English and it’s relatively easy to avoid gendering a person without using actual third-person pronouns at all, making gender neutral third-person…
Q&A: “How do I tell someone I’m non-binary in Japanese?”
anonymous said: How do I tell someone I’m non-binary in Japanese?
re: WHINGE: navigating セクマイ stuff
-※ (continued from here) ….ah, M. i don’t know what to do with you anymore. you’re trying, and i really appreciate that, but… sigh.
Q&A: “I was wondering if you know of any articles or websites about what it’s like being ace in Japan…”
anonymous said: Hi there….I was wondering if you know of any articles or websites about what it’s like being ace in Japan (especially from the perspective of any ace people who are natively Japanese). I’m just interested in reading people’s experiences, where they learned about asexuality, etc. I tried searching google, but so much acephobic garbage came up that I had to finally shut down my browser. D: aside from the things that @harris-hijiri writes, which aren’t necessarily about the experience of being ace in Japan, i’m afraid that i don’t know of personal writing on being ace in Japan as a Japanese person that’s written in English. i tried searching for some, but i swear if i come across another article on herbivore men or ‘the japanese sex/population crisis’ written from a Western-centric point of view i’m going to throw my laptop out the goddamn window. everything that i could…
『[4ｺﾏ]☆Ｘジェンダー☆』
…sigh. you know, i really want to be happy about these LGBTQIA 4-koma comics that Chii is doing to try and help raise awareness for lesser known genders and sexualities, but gah. i just can’t. because i suck. the linked comic that went up a couple days ago about Xジェンダー / non-binary is the last one i’m going to whinge over, i swear. for now. but first, an English translation of the comic to give context to my whinging. What’s “X-gender”? Xジェンダー (X-gender) people who, without deciding between “male” or “female”, take the stance or identity of being neither gender. referred to as “MtX” if designated “male” at birth and “FtX” if designated “female” at birth, however also referred to simply as “X” when not wanting to refer to one’s designated gender at birth. there are many definitions, but it goes something like this. red and white*: i want to be between male and female.…
Q&A: “I have a question regarding the Japanese use of the terms asexual and nonsexual…”
anonymous post: I have a question regarding the Japanese use of the terms asexual and nonsexual. Is asexual generally used by all aces on the aromantic spectrum or do arospec aces who sometimes feel romantic attraction (such as grey aromantics) typically prefer to use nonsexual? I’d like to get more involved with the ace community when I (hopefully) move to Japan, but I feel like the Japanese terminology doesn’t even let me describe myself… (re: this post) bearing in mind that everything i’m about to say is based entirely on my own limited experience and observation… i can count the number of times i’ve met or heard of a Japanese person actively identifying in some way as gray or demi on one hand. generally speaking, awareness of nuanced ace & aro spectrum identities / orientations is hardly a thing among Japanese aces. the only time i hear any explicit mention of…
Feedback: “I think a good translation for お疲れ様 is “Good work”?”
anonymous said: Ty for your ace posts. I think a good translation for お疲れ様 is “Good work”? as I see that that usually matches most contexts. And also, お疲れ様 to you too for your work on ace activism. I appreciate it. it can be translated as “good work,” definitely. it’s just that that translation still lacks some of the nuances that i wish i could convey in English… sigh! either way, いいえ、こちらこそお疲れ様でした。thanks, but also same to you (and everyone else out there). 🙂
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『[4ｺﾏ]☆ノンセクシュアル☆』
…so this has been going around on Japanese Twitter. about to pass out, but wanted to put a link to this here with a little blurb reasonably-contained-imho rant for my own future reference because this is personally relevant to me.
