Queerness, for several definitions thereof

[marshtide]

1. You've probably seen this around, but on the offchance, “Straight Male Gamer” told to ‘get over it’ by BioWare. How beautiful is this?


2. I know some of you are academically inclined when it comes to anime & manga fandom, and so I thought I'd ask around a bit - do you know any good articles or book chapters on shojo, particularly classic shojo, and even more specifically with a focus on queerness? Do you know of any good articles or book chapters on the historical traditions into which that particular brand of 70s shojo that I'm so interested in fits into? Do you know of any about its influence on later manga?

I have some material on all these things, various manga history books and academic papers, but one always misses things. And you guys are a smart and well-read bunch. ♥


3. Yesterday I imagined that I had picked up my wallet and put it in my pocket before we went to the shops. I had, in fact, put it on the microwave.

I seem to be putting a lot of things on the microwave lately, for no apparent reason. My only defence is that I'm still pretty heavily medicated...

Comments

[branchandroot]

Volume 2 of Mechademia had a couple essays on shoujo and gender-stuff. I actually ordered that volume to keep for my own reference.

[marshtide]

Yeah, that one I've read - we had it out from the library for so long that we've decided we really should just buy it. Thanks!

[starlady]

Hmm. That's a really good question, and I think possibly a hole in the scholarship--there's a lot of stuff that's known anecdotally, but I don't know that anyone's ever put it all together in English. Aside from ransacking the citations in the articles in Mechademia 2, I'd actually suggest asking rushthatspeaks, who's working on a history of shoujo and knows way more about it than I do.

I have no idea whether its issues are online at all or not, but the place I'd think to find articles would be The Comics Journal, I think is the name. Wherever Matt Thorn published his interviews with Hagio Moto.

[marshtide]

Thanks so much, any pointers are good. Obviously I don't read Japanese so I do tend to run up against that thing where reference-chasing doesn't get one very far. But that's some stuff to work with! :)

[laughingrat]

Is the microwave, like the traditional hearth, the center of your home? :-D

[marshtide]

I have a theory about the microwave thing, actually, now that I've had time to over-analyze it! Namely, I believe that the kettle, like the traditional hearth, is the centre of our home, and that it happens to be located next to the microwave... I don't think the importance of tea to the running of this household can really be overstated. And of course when one is not only on strong painkillers but also hasn't had any tea yet... well. Anything can happen.

On reflection I should probably be glad I haven't accidentally boiled my phone or something.

[jae]

It is so delightful to see so many of the people on my reading list praising an Edmonton company! I had no idea BioWare was so well known all over the world. :)

-J

[marshtide]

While not that much of a computer game player myself a huge number of my friends are, so I'm really pleasantly surprised by this one. Go BioWare. :D

[dancing_moon]

Have you read Japanese Visual Culture, edited by Mark Macwilliams? It contains at least one article on the influence of girl's magazine illustrations on classic manga and shoujo, and generally has very good content. I have read the entire thing so I should have more memory of the content in it, but I am tired and confuddled - not completely sure what article I read where

[marshtide]

Val may well be examining it this very minute. :)