Things that make you go hmmmmmmm?

Wow! Appreciate all the indepth response. As I was reading the responses, two points came to my mind.
I know that Sumo is a very popular sport in Japan, watched both by men and women. In a documentary that I saw about Sumo, they were saying that Japanese women idolize and drool over these guys, whom are the exact opposites of the type of girlie-men that are popular with the younger generation today. What a gap!

My other point/confusion is with the samurai. I am a big fan of Samurai flicks. That automatically makes me a big fan of Kurosawa. I have probably seen close to two hundred movies about samurai, mostly being in black & white. From those movies just a few depicts or suggests the samurai's weird (gender bending,feminine, etc..)ways. If this was common among samurai and widely accepted, wouldn't we see it being acted out in most of the samurai movies? These movies are mostly deep with some action so they have a suitable platform to show that kind of stuff. It's not like these movies were shot for the western audience either. I think this gender bending and etc. definitely exsisted but maybe was not common nor widely liked. Most of the samurai movies depict manly characters that chase, love, and lust after women and are not very hygenic either. I am pretty sure you got the samurai info from the book "way of the samurai" but what do you think?

Well, actually the literature about the samurai is very full of depictions of "man on man" mostly of a bi-sexual kind, since samurai did take on female wives, lovers, and had children. That is not to mean that some of these men were not homosexual, but just that only being homosexual was not the thrust of the taking of men. It was seen as a "pure form" of love, from a warriors perspective.
"Love thy brother.."

This was also the case for ages in Europe many centuries ago. Or at least before Christianity took root. (see: "Spartans" http://forums.bungie.org/story/storyarchive.pl?read=5119)
[quote]If this was common among samurai and widely accepted, wouldn't we see it being acted out in most of the samurai movies? [/quote]

Films of this sort are not popular as far as homosexuality is concerned, since we are talking about film making in the modern era. Samurai movies are just the same as Westerns are seen in the US, as action, violence, and morality plays.

http://www.glbtq.com/arts/japan_film.html

By the way, although effeminate behavior by men is not really harped on, doesn't mean that homosexuality is acceptible in Japan. It isn't. Homosexuals are very much in the closet there and it is not common for someone to "come out". If they do, it is seen as tragic, and disgraceful for, parents, friends, and more importantly there for work. Having a gay "salary man" or business man around is not very acceptable at all. Japan is still very much a male heterosexual dominated society/culture and that includes discrimination based on sex/sexual orientation.

That said, you will find a few comedians and entertainers "on TV" and in "gay bars" which are quite popular there. So, you could say that in Japan it is now only okay to be "gay" if you are in the entertainment (clowning) business.

I am not gay, so maybe someone may correct me if they find this information and my perspective to be wrong.

There is a beautiful movie about a beautiful desirable young samurai "Gohatto" or the English "Taboo". It's in color and worth checking out.

Just a link.. piggy-backing Birdie's post:


http://www.theblackmoon.com/Deadmoon/taboo.html

If you're interested in a long read about samurai, I reccomend James Clavell's SHOGUN. It is a work of fiction but there was still a surprising amount of non-fictional information detailing Japanese culture. I understand that that the movie "The Last Samurai" used elements and plots of the book onscreen. If anyone else can vouch for this novel or perhaps reccomend some more literature I'm always on the lookout for an informative read.

Oh right- in response to the messages above, on page 342 I recalled Blackthorne's shock at being offered a boy to "pillow" with. I quote on page 345 "Pillowing is quite normal. And as to a man going with another man or boy, what has this got to do with anyone but them? What harm does it do to them, or other or me or you? None... how can anything that gives a human pleasure be sinful? Some sects even reccomend it as a form of worship."

And they go on, Blackthorne taking a puritan stance and describing it as an abomination, Mariko on the defensive, say that the ppl who practice it are not neccessarily evil at all. I do not wish to give away any further plots of the story, should you be interested in reading it. In summary, the novel offers arguements on both sides of the culture clash. Now I feel like I'm rambling, but I hope this helps- somehow. This forum's getting really interesting!