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Cross-Cultural Cross-Dressing: Japanese Graphic Novels Perform Gender in U.S

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Cross-Cultural Cross-Dressing: Japanese Graphic Novels Perform Gender in U.S Critical Studies in Media Communication Vol. 28, No. 3, August 2011, pp. 213Á229 Cross-cultural Cross-dressing: Japanese Graphic Novels Perform Gender in U.S. Sarah Kornfield Cross-dressing, a comedic staple in Western entertainment, usually transgresses and then reasserts gender norms, offering audiences an escapist fantasy that resolves into a happy affirmation of current social norms. However, a newly popular genre of girls’ comics features cross-dressing protagonists who push the boundaries of traditional cross-dressing comedy. Moving beyond short-lived cross-dressing escapades, these new protagonists occupy the pages of Japanese graphic novels known as Gender Benders and conscientiously negotiate gender identities and norms*literally bending gender as a category. This genre is marketed exclusively to girls and young women who have formed fan subcultures. Exploring these narratives and their representations of gender, cross- dressing, and sexuality, I analyze this Gender Bender genre and its cultural histories and influences, arguing that cultural entertainment hybridity, while risking cultural fetishism, can positively influence gender conceptualizations by revealing gender as a performance. Keywords: Cross-dressing; Gender; Manga; Intercultural entertainment; subculture Comic books and graphic novels have a long history in U.S. society of hyper- masculine superheroes and docile yet sensual damsels. Understood primarily as a male genre, these ubiquitous images have been notably studied (Lovell, 2002; Goulart, 2000; Trushell, 2004; Wright, 2001), but now a new generation of graphic novels has entered U.S. society: sho¯jo manga*Japanese graphic novels written by women, for women, and featuring relatively empowered heroines (Napier 2005, p. 150; Schodt 1996, p. 155). Sho¯jo manga has a large and popular subgenre known as Gender Benders that feature cross-dressing protagonists who push the boundaries of U.S. gender norms. Cross-dressing has been a comedic staple in Sarah Kornfield is a Ph.D. candidate in Communication Arts and Sciences at the Pennsylvania State University. The author would like to thank Dr. Srividya Ramasubramanian, who influenced this research in its early stage as a thesis during the author’s Masters at Texas A&M University. The author would also like to thank Dr. Rosa Eberly for her comments and assistance. Correspondence to: Sarah Kornfield, Communication Arts & Sciences, Pennsylvania State University, 234 Sparks Building, University Park PA 16802, USA. Email: [email protected] ISSN 1529-5036 (print)/ISSN 1479-5809 (online) # 2011 National Communication Association DOI: 10.1080/15295036.2011.553725 214 S. Kornfield U.S. entertainment, ranging from Some Like it Hot (Wilder, 1959), to Tootsie (Pollack, 1982), to Mrs. Doubtfire (Columbus, 1993), to Mulan (Bancroft, 1998) and White Chicks (Wayans, 2004).1 These U.S. cross-dressing performances usually transgress and then reassert gender boundaries and norms, offering audiences an escapist fantasy that resolves into a happy affirmation of current social norms (Pittman, 2008; Heilmann, 2000; Inness, 1995; Ortaga, 1998). However, moving beyond the short-lived cross-dressing escapades that border on comedic drag performances, Gender Bender protagonists enact long-term cross-dressed perfor- mances. The narrative structure implemented throughout the Gender Bender genre negotiates gendered identities as the characters undermine gender norms through their sustained practices of gender transgression and their dialogue concerning gendered identities. The term ‘‘Gender Bender’’ refers to either a cross-dressing character within a series or, if that character is the protagonist, the entire series. As such, Gender Benders comprise a large subgenre of sho¯jo (girls’) manga with over 600 series categorized as Gender Benders currently available in the U.S. (Genre, 2010). Gender Benders share much in common with another subgenre of sho¯jo manga known as Boys’ Love (McLelland, 2000a). The Boys’ Love genre*marketed to girls*features maleÁmale romances where the male protagonists embody ‘‘the most attractive features of female gender, while [being] able to move through the world unencumbered by the burdens of female sex’’ (McLelland, 2000a, pp. 24Á25). However, while Boys’ Love deals explicitly with themes of homosexuality, Gender Benders center on narratives of cross-dressing, drag, and passing as the characters perform different gender iterations. Understanding that gender is a performance and that sex itself is gendered (Butler, 1990; Sloop, 2004), this analysis focuses on Gender Bender narratives in order to explore the construction and layering of sex and gendered identities. Gender Benders are created in Japan for Japanese readers, and then exported and translated for U.S. readers; as such, the cultural slippage for U.S. readers creates a space where gender-as- a-construct is more apparent than in mainstream U.S. entertainment. The argument here is that because they originate in a different culture, Gender Benders approach cross-dressing and gender identities differently than mainstream U.S. entertainment. These different narratives, replete with their own possibilities for equality and their own systems of repression, help unveil the construction of U.S. gender identities and reveal that sex and gender are not static across different cultures. To develop this argument, I first briefly describe three Gender Bender narratives, Hana-Kimi, W Juliet, and Ouran High School Host Club. Then, using feminist interpretations of gender as performance, I explore historic instances of gender bending in popular Japanese and then U.S. entertainment. Finally, a close textual analysis of the Gender Bender genre reveals how it mobilizes these culturally gendered identities. This analysis then suggests that culturally hybrid entertainment, while risking neocolo- nialism and fetishism in fan-groups, can positively influence gender conceptualiza- tions by revealing their performativity. Cross-cultural Cross-dressing 215 Brief Summary of Texts Japanese and American graphic novels have a reciprocally stimulating relationship. Each nation developed its own comic tradition, which then impacted the other at crucial moments of cultural, artistic, and technological development. Just as American G.I.s introduced Superhero comics to Japan during the occupation (Goulart, 2000, p. 43; Patten, 2004, p. 234), Japanese animation has been imported since the 1960s, when Astro Boy, a series starring a boy robot, first appeared in the U.S. on the NBC network. Since then, Japanese animation has found a growing U.S. audience. These fans maintain strict terminological distinctions reproduced here in the name of clarity: Comics are U.S. graphic novels. Manga are Japanese graphic novels, usually printed in black and white, serialized in magazines, and republished in paperback novel collections; manga’s artistic style, unlike comics, usually utilizes cinematic devices and favors cleaner lines and less dialogue (Nygren, 2007, p. 239; Schodt, 1996, p. 22Á28). Moreover, manga (originally published in Japanese) is translated to English for U.S. publication, but maintains its ‘‘Japanese Layout’’: readers begin at the ‘‘back’’ of the book, reading the dialogue bubbles sequentially right to left, and ending at the ‘‘front’’ of the book. Anime are Japanese animated television shows, which are usually animations of manga series following the manga artistic style but in color and typically running 26 episodes a season. Manga/anime has a wide range of genres; however, most manga/anime is broadly categorized as sho¯jo (manga for girls) or shonen (manga for boys), and the industry maintains a basic divide2 between what it markets to males and females (Napier, 2005, p. 19; Schodt, 1996, p. 95). Gender Benders, as a subset of sho¯jo (girls’ manga), are exclusively marketed to a female audience. Since the leading publishing houses for Gender Bender manga, Viz Media and Tokyopop, do not release their publication or sales figures, I chose to analyze Hana- Kimi, W Juliet, and Ouran High School Host Club on the basis of three criteria. First, industry success: all three series progressed from being released as chapters in sho¯jo manga magazines to being serialized into books, Hana-Kimi was further released as a live-action television series, and Ouran was released as anime. Second, current popularity among fans: these series featured prominently on message board forums such as OneManga.com as fans discussed their favorite Gender Benders. And third, cross-referencing: fans recommended these series to each other on message boards and posted threads discussing and comparing these series; additionally, Hana-Kimi and W Juliet advertise for each other with inserts at the end of several books.3 A brief summary of these storylines is necessary to provide a general understanding of these series before exploring their gender iterations. In Hana-Kimi, the protagonist, Mizuki, cross-dresses to attend an all-boys’ school so she can watch her athletic idol, Sano, perform the high-jump. In this narrative, Mizuki and Sano room together at their boarding school and develop a deep friendship teetering towards romance, as Sano (unbeknownst to Mizuki) discovers her female sex in the first book of this 23-book series. 216 S. Kornfield In W Juliet, the boy, Makoto, does the official cross-dressing, pretending to be a girl for the last two years of high school on a challenge issued by his father: if he can successfully cross-dress for two years
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