Since I came here in the U.S, I have been thinking how gender arguments are active in the U.S.
By 2007, the number of GID (Gender Identity Disorder) patients is 7177 in Japan. But it is considered that there are much more people who are having hard time with their gender problem because homosexuality is a very sensitive and disputable issue in Japanese society. Homosexual people must hid their real gender and identity to avoid social conflict because homosexual people’s social voice is still too weak in Japan because of intensive stereotype. Homosexuality is still recognized as a “disorder” or “disease” in Japan.
So, I was really surprised. Although transgender is still an issue in the U.S, it seems that homosexuality gains even way more social status in the U.S than in Japan. At least, there is obviously more space to show homosexuality in the U.S.
Actually, this is overall reflections of study materials we used in American Experience class.
I assume that transgender and homosexuality would gain stable social status in the future in the U.S, but Japanese society is, I guess, logging behind for 30 years or more than the U.S society.
Homosexuality is a still rare thing for Japanese, and a target of mass media and entertainment industry.
