Japanese culture and effeminate men

What is with all the men who resemble women in video games and anime? I've been watching anime and playing games for a long time now, so I've long since gotten used to it. However, after reading the FF12 thread it seems it's still an issue with some people, so I thought I'd put this thread up so maybe we could all find an answer. My guess is that like Chinese opera and Shakesperean theatre, Japan has a long history of men crossdressing in plays and the influence carried over into different mediums. I don't know that much about Japanese plays, though. Another guess is that feminine characteristics lend a graceful quality to action heroes, who are more and more doing effortless acrobatics that women seem to more fit to do. Anyways, I got the ball rolling, so what do you guys think?

It sounds about right to me.

It's not just an eastern thing.

Backstreet Boys? Richard Simmons? Etc...?

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Originally Posted by Kenshin

It's not just an eastern thing.

Backstreet Boys? Richard Simmons? Etc...?

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But you just don't see so many ladyish guys in our videogames and tv shows.

Depends on what characters you are talking about. I think some long haired males are trying to play up to the old Samurai sterotype. Wasn't it japan or china that had its upperclass warriors not cut their hair? It's probably a play on that.

Might also barrow from some european groups that let thier hair grow out, if we are talking about fantasy anime.

Hell, I think the only logical reason men started cutting their hair was that it helped people NOT pull your hair and cut your throte while out in combat. Or at least I think that is why the Anglo-Sax started to shave their heads.

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Originally Posted by Green

My guess is that like Chinese opera and Shakesperean theatre, Japan has a long history of men crossdressing in plays and the influence carried over into different mediums. I don't know that much about Japanese plays, though. Another guess is that feminine characteristics lend a graceful quality to action heroes, who are more and more doing effortless acrobatics that women seem to more fit to do.

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I do know that in traditional Japanese plays (I think "noh theater"), there are traditionally no women and men do indeed play the roles of women.

Dunno - a lot of the Japanese guys around here, at least the "cool" younger ones, try to dress and look a lot like that. Some of them look really weird, but apparently they think it's hip.

I'd never mistake any of them for a woman, though. Even though they look odd, they don't act feminine at all, and I really doubt they think of themselves that way. Apart from appearance, Japanese people have a lot of social clues in their language and behaviour that distinguish the sexes.

Probably just cultural differences. Like how we arbitrarily say that women are supposed to wear skirts and men aren't - it's not like that everywhere.

I can deal with the long haired girly-man thing, what I don't get is the buck-toothed announcer. Generally played for some kind of comedy, I just don't understand why it's supposed to be funny. At all.

James

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Originally Posted by IronPlant

Hell, I think the only logical reason men started cutting their hair was that it helped people NOT pull your hair and cut your throte while out in combat. Or at least I think that is why the Anglo-Sax started to shave their heads.

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I think that whites started shaving their heads is because Europe was a dirty, dirty place in the middle ages. Cutting hair was just one less way to be inconvenienced (lice, ticks, fleas).

Men played women in theatre, true, HOWEVER men played men as well and they did not look like women. I don't know why its like that with nearly all anime and games but masculinity just isn't a part of japanese culture (these days I guess... it sure as hell isn't much represented these days- not in those media at least).

Maybe that's why Japanofiles are also pansy boys.