Japan and an over-active T-dar

[Courtneygurl]

Hi girls,

I just got back home from a trip up the tracks to Yokohama. I always love going out and generally just mixing it up with the crowds that are ever-present. It's such an opportunity to people watch. Not to mention, Japan has some seriously rockin' styles, and all you have to do is turn your head and see something new, different, and daring. I love that. What I've noticed, however, is that a lot of Japanese guys are either a) metrosexual, or b) ready-for-fulltime MTF. Seriously. This isn't to get on Japanese men too much; like I said, I generally like the styles. It's just that they don't have the over-bearing masculine features a lot of European-ancestry men have. This brings me to my next topic...

I have an over-active T-dar. Everywhere I go, I perceive that "this person's MTF", "that person's FTM", etc. Take a person working at the Coach store this evening. From the dress (men's loafers, suit), and no boobage, the presentation was as a man. However, the hair and face screamed WOMAN! Working at a Coach store? I tend to think MTF more than FTM... This sort of thing happens all the time! Hmmm...

Hugs!
Courtney

[Amy Hepker]

I do believe that that is more the trend as many girls over here take to the Goth look and they look more like guys than some guys do. A lot of styles for girls these days are not so much femine as they once were. Oh, don't get me wrong there are still many ladies that wear dress and skirts to work, but most would rather wear pants.

[flatlander_48]

What I've noticed in Taiwan is that the perceptions for male and female are very different from the US. Guys routinely carry messenger bags or small hand bags and it is an accepted norm. There doesn't seem to be much stigma attached to a guy riding his scooter with a pink helmet. There also doesn't seem to be any stigma attached to a guy with a very loose-hipped walk. Obviously these things do not carry the same meaning as they would in the US. For whatever reason, society and what separates male from female has evolved very differently here.

[Courtneygurl]

That's really what I've seen. A guy wearing a pink shirt, wearing tight pants, carrying a bag isn't at all uncommon. Oh, if only such standards we're universal!

[noname]

I once posted a link here to a video of a japanese artist wearing a white flowered shirt. From my perception the japanese men are not afriad to be a bit more expressionative.

[Theresa(TGirl)]

I think it comes from two things,

A) Society = here in the US some international customs (such as Japanese, Australian, even British) seem odd. I'm guessing that goes both ways too.
B) Raising = leads back to society, here in the US we are tought that you are not a man if you wear pink and watch "chick flicks" (aka the emotional bullshizl) and we are taught that women should be submissive to men.