WALK LIKE A MAN, TALK LIKE A MAN: DANSŌ, GENDER, AND EMOTION WORK IN A TOKYO ESCORT SERVICE A thesis submitted to The University of Manchester for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the Faculty of Humanities 2018 MARTA FANASCA SCHOOL OF ARTS, LANGUAGES AND CULTURES Table of Contents List of Figures and Tables ...................................................................................................... 5 Abstract .................................................................................................................................. 6 Declaration and Copyright Statement .................................................................................... 7 Acknowledgments .................................................................................................................. 8 Introduction .......................................................................................................................... 9 Significance and aims of the research .................................................................................. 12 Outline of the thesis ............................................................................................................. 14 Chapter 1 Theoretical Framework and Literature Review Introduction .......................................................................................................................... 16 1.1 Masculinity in Japan ...................................................................................................... 16 1.2 Dansō and gender definition .......................................................................................... 24 1.3 Is dansō part of global queering? ................................................................................... 31 1.4 Dansō escorting and the market of affects and emotions .............................................. 37 Conclusion ............................................................................................................................ 41 Chapter 2 Methodologies and Fieldwork Setting Introduction .......................................................................................................................... 42 2.1 Ethnography as a research method ................................................................................. 42 2.1.1 Participant observation ................................................................................................ 43 2.1.2 Interviews .................................................................................................................... 46 2.2 Insider or outsider? ......................................................................................................... 51 2.3 Negotiations while doing ethnography .......................................................................... 56 2.4 Fieldwork location: Akihabara ....................................................................................... 58 2.5 The dansō escort company Dreamland .......................................................................... 62 2.6 Entering the field ............................................................................................................ 66 2.7 Dating a dansō: how it works ......................................................................................... 69 2.8 Special activities ............................................................................................................. 71 2.9 The use of Internet and social media .............................................................................. 74 Conclusions .......................................................................................................................... 77 2 Chapter 3 Gender and Sexual Identity of Crossdressers Introduction .......................................................................................................................... 78 3.1 When I started to dress as a man .................................................................................... 78 3.2 Why I crossdress ............................................................................................................ 81 3.3 Why I am a dansō escort ................................................................................................ 84 3.4 Dansō masculinity .......................................................................................................... 91 3.5 How dansō define themselves in terms of gender and sexuality ................................... 96 3.5.1 Sexual identity ............................................................................................................. 96 3.5.2 Gender identity .......................................................................................................... 100 3.5.3 Dansō entertainment, homosexuality and LGBT movements .................................. 102 3.6 Relationships with others ............................................................................................. 103 3.6.1 The working “I”: relationships with customers and co-workers in Akihabara ......... 104 3.6.2 Non-commodified love relationships ........................................................................ 109 3.6.3 Relationships with family members and other co-workers ....................................... 113 Conclusions ........................................................................................................................ 116 Chapter 4 The Customers’ Perspective Introduction ........................................................................................................................ 118 4.1 Typology of women patrons ........................................................................................ 119 4.2 Dansō escorts and dansō kissa ..................................................................................... 124 4.3 Reasons for meeting a crossdresser escort ................................................................... 127 4.4 DCR: the dansō-customer relationship ........................................................................ 131 4.4.1 The beginning of the relationship ............................................................................. 131 4.4.2 The development of the relationship ......................................................................... 134 4.4.3 End and aim of the relationship ................................................................................ 137 4.5 Reality, fantasy and performance in DCR ................................................................... 139 4.6 An “augmented reality” ................................................................................................ 143 4.7 Buying love ................................................................................................................. 146 Conclusions ........................................................................................................................ 148 Chapter 5 Working with Emotions – The Negative Aspects of the Business Introduction ........................................................................................................................ 150 5.1 The Japanese “affective labour” market ...................................................................... 151 5.2 Performing and selling emotions ................................................................................. 153 3 5.3 Counterfeit intimacy? ................................................................................................... 157 5.4 Problems in the dansō-customer relationship .............................................................. 163 5.4.1 Good customers and bad customers .......................................................................... 164 5.4.2 Sexual harassment ..................................................................................................... 170 5.4.3 Good dates and bad dates .......................................................................................... 175 5.4.4 Risk of exploitation in the dansō escort world .......................................................... 179 5.5 The price to pay: the embedded costs .......................................................................... 181 Conclusion .......................................................................................................................... 188 Conclusion ......................................................................................................................... 191 Bibliography ..................................................................................................................... 201 Appendices Appendix I Background information of crossdressers and clients ..................................... 230 Appendix II Crossdresser escorts’ schedule ...................................................................... 236 Word count: 86,926 4 List of Figures and Tables Figure 2.1 Crossdressers’ shared wardrobe .............................................................................. 64 Figure 2.2 Dansō PC station ..................................................................................................... 65 Figure 3.1 Flyer of a dansō escort company ............................................................................. 87 Figure 3.2 Crossdressers playing in the office ........................................................................ 107 Figure 4.1 Client of crossdresser