popular

bishonen

Pretty Boy

After seeing that episode of Bones, I sat down to write my post about it.  In the process of doing so, I looked up references to androgyny in Asian culture and found some fascinating things.

Pretty men in Japan seem to be well-liked by young females, and are popular television personalities and performers as they appeal across a broad spectrum of that society.  They are also popular in manga comics as the prototypical male, especially those targeted at girls.

Here’s a telling quote about the history and endurance of this type of character, from the wikipedia entry on the subject (link is below):

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Birds Do It… even Rockstars Do It

I have made mention several times in the recent past about crossdressing in popular media.

There is some dispute as to whether or not the portrayal of us, such as it is, is helpful or rather insulting, but what seems now undeniable is that we have been part of popular culture for hundreds of years.

I never noticed any reference to crossdressers in my childhood, but with a different set of eyes, watching reruns of everything from Bewitched to Get Smart, there we are!

And, of course, before that, there were references in Shakespeare, Greek mythology, Mark Twain, etc. 

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