The un/state of lesbian studies: an introduction to lesbian communities and contemporary legislation in Japan.
Although it would be safe to say that Lesbian Studies has never seriously been placed on the Japanese academic agenda, women-loving-women in Japan continue to individually and collectively desist from and resist heteronormative gender discourses. This paper first gives a brief overview of 'rezubian' communities since the 1970s and then outlines the Basic Law for a Gender Equal Society and the Law Concerning Special Rules Regarding Sex Status of a Person with Gender Identity Disorder; two recent laws that demonstrate contemporary regulatory gender discourses. In closing, I stress that the paradox of contemporary Japanese 'lesbian studies,' being almost nonexistent in the academe and continuously in development in the community, is clear only if we look at academic discourses alongside writings in both commercial and community publications.
Maree
Claire
C
Department of English, Tsuda College, 2-1-1 Tsuda-machi, Kodaira-shi, Tokyo 187-8577, Japan. maree@tsuda.ac.jp
D003466:Cultural Characteristics; D005260:Female; D018452:Homosexuality, Female; D006801:Humans; D007398:Interpersonal Relations; D007564:Japan; D008297:Male; D026684:Personal Autonomy; D011640:Public Policy; D012107:Research Design; D012922:Social Change; D012933:Social Identification; D012938:Social Perception; D014495:Universities; D014933:Women's Rights / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence*