Lesbians in East Asia

Diversity, Identities, and Resistance

Julie Garrison A, Diana Khor, Saori Kamano

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2013
• Topic: Social Sciences
• eBook ISBN:
  9781136576638
• Subtopic: Ethnic Studies
• Index: Social Sciences

Discover the courageous, vibrant similarities and differences of lesbians in East Asia

How are same-sex relationships similar or different in the cultures of East Asia? Lesbians in East Asia: Diversity, Identities, and Resistance is a unique examination of research and vital issues involving lesbians and lesbianism in East Asia, using perspectives by academics and activists who typically are rarely published in English. Contributing experts from Hong Kong, mainland China, Japan, and Korea discuss a variety of topics, including solidarity and conflicts between lesbians and feminists, identities and identity politics, lesbian lives and families, and representation in mainstream culture.

Asia, because of its inherent language and cultural differences from Western society, is a location of a vast unrealized fount of knowledge about same-sex relationships and the societies in which they interact. Lesbians in East Asia: Diversity, Identities, and Resistance begins to fill this gap in knowledge, going beyond East-West divisions by gathering in one volume studies in Asia lesbian/queer studies of both the West and Asia. The text's emphasis is on points of connection and cooperation across the cultures within Asia and between this region and other areas of the world. Diverse viewpoints and research on lesbians in China, Hong Kong, South Korea, and Japan are presented showing issues and concerns that may be differentand often are very similarto regions beyond those borders.

Topics in Lesbians in East Asia: Diversity, Identities, and Resistance include:

• lesbian rights and feminism in Korea
  
• emotional damage suffered in family, work, and school contexts, including self-denial
  
• analysis of Internet exchanges in China, highlighting those feeling that they should maintain a low profile and others showing disdain toward the lesbian lifestyle
  
• gender inequality and discrimination and their effects on self-sufficiency
  
• the effects of expectations of marriage or remaining single on economics, legal standpoints, and in school
  
• ignorance and intolerance in Korean and Japanese societies
  
• identity politics
  
• conflicts of ideas between lesbians and feminists
  
• and much more!

Lesbians in East Asia: Diversity, Identities, and Resistance is important, illuminating reading for academics and students in women's studies, gender studies, queer/sexuality studies, East Asian studies, and activists in feminist movements.

Index

Academic feminism, 171-174. see also Feminism

Activism

cooperation with activists and, 7

in Japan, 147,158n

oral history and. see Oral history project

Queer Nation and, 43

Sheung Chong and, 16 17

in South Korea, 167 170,170 181, 181 187,188n

strategies of, 189n

women’s solidarity in Japan and, 150 154

“Aladao,” 123

ALN. see Asian Lesbian Network (ALN)

Anger, 149 150

Asia. see also specific countries

categorization of East Asia and, 8

geographical boundaries of, 1 2

study of, 8 9n

Asian American movement, as

representative of gay/lesbian

interests, 12

Asian Lesbian Network (ALN), 69,

72 74. see also Zainichi

Bai. see Bisexual identity

“Beijing Sisters,” 123

Bisexual identity, 39 40

Black women’s issues, 15

“The Box,” 116 117

Buddhism, 46n

Bufen, 7,101 102n

Butch-fem roles, 32

Carnal lesbian motif, 130 133,130t, 142 143n

Children. see Motherhood

China. see also Hong Kong

conclusions, 101,124

coping with family and, 94 96,102n

coping with marriage and, 97 101

film representation of lesbians in, 116 117

heterosexuality and, 93 94

introduction to, 114

lesbian culture in, 115

lesbian Internet communities and, 118 119,125n

lesbian organizations in, 122 124

literary representation of lesbians in, 115 116

marriage in contemporary, 91 93,102n

overview of, 8...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Half Title
• Monographic Separates from the Journal of Lesbian Studies
• Full Title
• Copyright
• About the Editors
• Contents
• Introduction
• The Research Pendulum: Multiple Roles and Responsibilities as a Researcher
• Beyond Identity Politics: The Making of an Oral History of Hong Kong Women Who Love Women
• Beyond Pain and Protection: Politics of Identity and Iban Girls in Korea
• The Politics of “Disregarding”: Addressing Zainichi Issues Within the Lesbian Community in Japan
• Noras on the Road: Family and Marriage of Lesbian Women in Shanghai
• Lesbian Mothers in Japan: An Insider’s Report
• Lesbians in China’s Mainland: A Brief Introduction
• Lesbian Discourses in Mainstream Magazines of Post-War Japan: Is Onabe Distinct from Rezubian?
• Possibilities and Limitations of “Lesbian Continuum”: The Case of a Protestant Church in Japan
• The Lesbian Rights Movement and Feminism in South Korea
• Index