What Happens Next: A Gallimaufry

melancholic romantic comic cynic. bi & genderqueer. fantasy writer. sysrae on ao3.

socpuppet asked: Hi! Awesome work on the non binary genders list. I applaud your awesome efforts. Please correct me if I'm wrong, but I'm pretty sure that the word bishonen in Japanese is used to describe males who are effeminate (and also under the age of 18) who attract the attention of all individuals regardless of orientation, but is not considered a separate gender itself. If I'm mistaken, please let me know and (if it's not a bother) point me to some resources because that sounds fascinating. Thank you!

Someone else has raised that point - I’d never considered it a gender identity, but as the Wikipedia description described it as meaning “a young man whose beauty (and sexual appeal) transcends the boundary of gender and sexual orientation”, I let it through as a borderline case. I’ve now removed it, though, because this is more a description of the sexual orientation of others who appreciate bishonen than a description of what it means to a bishonen itself.

  1. fozmeadows posted this