Sat 21 Jul 2007
An Eph connection to homosexuality in comics?
Welcome to the first installment of CBR’s comprehensive look at homosexuality in comics. CBR News spoke with nine comics industry professionals about the portrayal of GLBT (Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transsexual) characters and themes in comics, past and present.
Of course!
Tokyopop editor Lillian Diaz-Przbyl has loved comics all of her life. The Williams College graduate started working at Tokyopop in 2004, where she handles both licensed properties from Japan and Korea and also oversees the development of original material. Her titles include “Loveless,” “Saiyuki,” “Dramacon,” “Mark of the Succubus” and the graphic novel adaptation of HarperCollins’ hit children’s series, “Warriors.” Diaz-Przbyl serves as editor for Tokyopop’s BLU manga imprint, which specializes in yaoi and yuri, two subsets of manga that deal with male and female homosexual relationships, respectively.
Diaz-Przbyl mused that one of the reasons yaoi and yuri are so popular is because they subvert traditional gender roles. “While I think a real selling point of manga in general is its emotional realism and potency, it often occurs in very non-traditional, fantasy situations,” Diaz-Przbyl said. “Reality is not the object here. Men in yaoi don’t usually behave like real men (especially real gay men), and women in yuri don’t behave like real women (although the sort of close female relationships that yuri builds off of are seen as relatively acceptable in Japanese culture, up to a point — better your daughter fool around with her school friend than some boy, after all).”
Agreed! Uh, I think.
“When reading yaoi or yuri, you don’t automatically have to associate yourself with ‘the girl,’ which can be very liberating,” Diaz-Przbyl continued. “There are a lot of ways that girls are ’supposed’ to behave in relationships, and throwing that for a loop is very exciting. Even when characters do conform to the ’standard’ relationship dynamics, the gender reversal factor still makes it feel more transgressive.”
We are very pro-transgressive, here at EphBlog.
2007-07-21 15:06:17
Yes, the norm-bending supporter that is pro-transgressive, that is, for supporting depictions of behavior that violates socially acceptable norms, suggests that this creative endeavor is so Eph like. Well, norm-bending the student population in accepting such degrading postures may appear to you to be progressive, but understanding the consequences of such behavior is equally important by informing our student population about the health risks and emotional changes such behaviors may bring about.
2007-07-21 15:45:41
those health risks are not necessarily because of the behavior, but rather because of society’s reaction to said behavior…perhaps then, it should be taught that society needs/warrant inspection and change, not that the behaviors be linked indirectly (yet seemingly directly) to said consequences.
2007-07-21 16:21:57
Yes, please read Judith Butler’s book “Gender Trouble” a chapter in it titled “Subjects of Sex/Gender/Desire” to educate yourself.
2007-07-21 16:26:25
Health risks not necessarily as a result of the behavior? (anal sex), but rather because of society’s reaction to said behavior?
Anal sex is unhealthy and deleterious to one’s health, long-term. Perhaps the humiliation of being subject to a painful experience is precisely what low-esteem individuals desire.
2007-07-21 18:37:44
Wow, the future Surgeon General posting on our board…I feel proud.
2007-07-21 18:39:59
(I guess that wasn’t blatantly abusive enough…anon @ 4.26, go spew forth your toxins elsewhere…)
2007-07-21 20:58:45
Toxins? Abusive?
What about the aberrant behavior that homosexuals represent? Their unnatural obsessions regarding physical sex? Their practice of numerous multiple partners. Perhaps same sex exchanges seem natural to you but consider the consequences.
I assume you acerbity is in reaction to the above comments. Reality binds us to facts. Facts regarding homosexual behavior, notwithstanding the societal dynamics regarding sentiment et al, are replete in numerous documented citations on physical and psychological ramifications of such acts and behaviors.
To assume that behaviors are relative and that facts are merely opinions puts the general public at great risk. Life is about risk management. Homosexual behavior is a highly risky business to say the least.
To have experienced aberrant behavior may lend support to perspective regarding life strategies, but to employ these incidental behaviors as a lifestyle and to demand indifference to these assessments on responsible behavior only adds to confuse the public about their viability.
In other words, you can be a clown for the day and drop your drawers and fall on your knees, or you can rise to be the best that you can be and learn from your experiences.
2007-07-23 03:19:33
Let’s never shout down an antagonist, oh Ephblog community. You will never change a man’s mind by thoroughly belittling it or ignoring it.
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Heterosexual behavior does not exclude anal sex or promiscuity, according to scientific surveys of sexually active heterosexuals (Kinsey et al.). I’m not saying either behavior is healthy or ‘right’ — I’m simply saying one should approach one’s concerns regarding human health from the perspective that more than a single subset of humans might find the information applicable.
While we’re on the topic of deleterious sexual behavior among humans — what should we make of the assertion that 1 in 2,500 pregnant women in America dies in delivery? (Or that this figure is only 1 in 8,000 in Canada). (All this according to the 2007 UN “The State of the World’s Children - Women and Children, 2007″ - http://www.unicef.org/sowc07/)
Perhaps if similar statistics coudl ever be furnished for gay men dying of anal sex, they would stop having anal sex. Just as women in Washington DC will soon stop having sex despite the fact that an estimated 5% of the District’s population is HIV positive and the disease there is dominantly heterosexual. Perhaps the surgeon general should comment upon this dangerous sexual behavior.
But, of course, in the latter case, we would not presume to know how such women lead their sex lives — or how protected they are going to be in the future (although we can certainly wonder and make educated guesses).
I think if people actually spoke with gay individuals (including lesbians, who are also gay, right?) they might gather some relevant data concerning what gay people can do to protect their bodies during sex.
Or, we can pretend that we know all about that, based on our ever-so abundant imaginings of these individual’s lives.
Of course, the fact is that we know still don’t know enough about human sexual practices in the world to protect humanity from its own devices and desires, or its misinterpretation and vilification of human behaviors real or imagined.
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On a side note, there really isn’t much more besides the imagination to go on concerning the lives of gay people. Ever. I am always interested to listen to people when they discuss some aspect of life (long-term group behavior, for example) when a reasonable grounding for analysis depends upon history. I simply wonder where they draw their conclusions as concerns homosexuals. Beyond 50 years ago, gay history DOES NOT EXIST. (Think about that for just one second).
2007-07-23 03:25:47
News Flash - not all gay people have anal sex! And Lots of straight people do. Shudder!