Hybrid Masculinities? Reflexive Accounts of Japanese Youth at University Josō Contests

Abstract

In gender and sexuality studies, recent diversifications and changes in masculinities have garnered much attention. In particular, the concept of hybrid masculinities is a useful tool to understand the complexity of masculinity construction. This chapter examines how Japanese youth at university josō (male-to-female cross-dressing) contests negotiate the meanings of gender and femininities through their josō practice. Many contestants explained that their motivations for josō are either internal and gender-based or external with social and performative purposes. By closely analyzing the reflexive accounts of these contestants, however, it will become evident that their motivations are too complex to analyze either with the internal/external axis or using the notion of hybrid masculinities, because their femininities and masculinities are deeply intertwined in different ways, hence escaping from a binary framework. I conclude that josō practitioners engage in complex negotiations of gender and sexual normativities, while simultaneously blurring and reinforcing gender hegemony.