Sexuality and Ambiguity at Girlfriend, a Contemporary Tokyo Women-Only Dance Party

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dc.contributor.authorFox, Natasha
dc.contributor.supervisorNoro, Hiroko
dc.contributor.supervisorButt, Leslie
dc.date.accessioned2013-08-21T20:15:35Z
dc.date.available2013-08-21T20:15:35Z
dc.date.copyright2013en_US
dc.date.issued2013-08-21
dc.degree.departmentDepartment of Pacific and Asian Studies
dc.degree.levelMaster of Arts M.A.en_US
dc.description.abstractIn the Tokyo neighborhood of Shinjuku Ni-Chome, the number of women's gay bars has more than tripled over the past five years. Focusing on a neighborhood dance party called Girlfriend, this thesis explores the manner in which patrons and organizers of Girlfriend approach and negotiate with contemporary dance events. Taking place once a month, Girlfriend draws hundreds of young Japanese women who identify as queer, lesbian, bisexual and heterosexual, offering a variety of activities based on themes that challenge conventional norms about sexuality and gender. I conducted original qualitative research over the summer of 2011, including a series of open-ended interviews with patrons and organizers of Girlfriend. The information gathered from the interviews is analyzed along five key themes: observation of the tachi/neko binary (a dyadic system of masculine and feminine gender performativity), fantasy, safety and escape, the Other and contingency. This study demonstrates that the values and perceptions of women involved in these events are complex, and deeply ambiguous. This thesis argues that the event, and others like it, can serve as both a refuge for attendees, and a vehicle to reinforce homogenizing images of the mainstream, within a context of global capitalism. This research will contribute to a more advanced understanding of marginalized individuals in contemporary Japanese society.en_US
dc.description.proquestcode0733en_US
dc.description.proquestcode0332en_US
dc.description.proquestcode0326en_US
dc.description.proquestemailfoxnatasha@yahoo.comen_US
dc.description.scholarlevelGraduateen_US
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/1828/4815
dc.languageEnglisheng
dc.language.isoenen_US
dc.rights.tempAvailable to the World Wide Weben_US
dc.subjectJapanen_US
dc.subjectcapitalismen_US
dc.subjectwomenen_US
dc.subjectgenderen_US
dc.subjectsexualityen_US
dc.subjectqueeren_US
dc.subjectbianen_US
dc.titleSexuality and Ambiguity at Girlfriend, a Contemporary Tokyo Women-Only Dance Partyen_US
dc.typeThesisen_US

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