Forum › Posts by chiffoncake
To be frank, isn't that normal for majority of people? There seems to be misunderstanding about heteronormativity and what is and isn't inclusive etc. You see, lgbt makes up a very small portion of human population. So it is very safe to assume that by default most people you encounter and talk to are straight. It isn't wrong to do so. Sure it is nice and all when you're all inclusive and don't make definite statements like "find a boyfriend" or assume other person is straight by default, but not doing it doesn't hurt anyone. The issue arrives when after assuming that, other person is afraid to correct you or if they correct you, it becomes a issue. Assuming someone is straight is not wrong by itself. It is only when after being corrected instead of just acknowledging it, adjusting from now on and moving forward, you refuse to accept it and/or make a big deal out of it.
yikes. yeah, i'm outta here
I suppose it depends on what your definition of normal and abnormal are. Is being abnormal bad? Take genetic mutations like heterochromia for example. It’s safe to say that it isn’t normal, but does that mean it’s bad? Only 4.5% of adult Americans identity as lgbt, with over 95% of the country being heterosexual, is it really wrong to say being heterosexual is “the norm”? And then you have to take into consideration how Japanese society values uniformity. I don’t think it’s surprising that Japanese people would have a stronger sense of normalcy. As long as someone doesn’t start equating being abnormal or different as bad or wrong just simply for the fact that it’s different, I think it’s fine.
ah, see, i think it's important to not confuse something being normal with something being common. heterochromia is uncommon, but i would say that it is normal — and the same goes for being gay, bi, pan, etc. etc.
but "is being abnormal bad" is a great question, and one that i hope this series engages with! because often, discussions over what's normal or abnormal are actually about what's good or bad. and i could talk about the material ways in which the assumption that heterosexuality is more 'normal' harms lgbtq+ people, but i'm kinda tired, so i'll just link the wikipedia page on heteronormativity, since it does a good job of explaining it.
last edited at Dec 29, 2018 11:15PM
She doesn't think it is normal, because she is the only girl that wasn't affected by
miraclemagic, so she still is straight and doesn't understand why everyone is suddenly openly gay. She has nothing against being gay, it just wasn't something she saw everyday from every angle, so what felt "normal" to her yesterday, suddenly is not normal anymore. Also challenging her perception of normal seems to be kinda the premise this manga as she is the only straight girl left in yuri paradise.
well, the thing is... it might be the translation, so it's hard to say for sure, but the way some of her internal monologue is worded makes it sound less like it's her who's not used to seeing gay people, and more like it's the author themselves who thinks that homosexuality is abnormal? stuff like
"I, Uruuno Marika, fall in love just like any normal person."
"To live normally. To fall in love normally. To have a normal wedding, build a normal family, and die a normal death."
these lines use 'normal' as a shorthand for 'straight', which... well, it's literally what heteronormativity is. but what makes it feel like it's coming from the author and not her is how it doesn't feel the need to specify that for her, 'falling in love normally' means 'falling in love with a boy'. it just... says it and expects the audience to be on the same page? which says a whole lot about where the author's coming from. and while we're at it...
Yep, nothing abnormal about a world made up entirely of lesbians. Nothing at all.
i thought that the way the classroom scene was presented made it pretty clear that 'there are more lesbians than usual' is not the reason she thought the situation was abnormal...
on top of that, the fact that she's the protagonist gives her 'normal' a greater weight than anyone else's. you might've heard of protagonist-centered morality, and this is a similar thing; so when she says "this isn't normal", unless the work goes out of its way challenges that (and it doesn't), we're implicitly expected to agree with her.
also "not having anything against gay people" really does not mean much at all, especially when one of her lines in the classroom ("There can't possibly be any abnormalities in my normal life") is awfully close to 'i'm ok with gay people, as long as they're not gay near me'
...don't get me wrong, i'm aware that this is just chapter 0, and that things could (and probably will) change as the series progresses. and it'd be great if i turned out to be wrong and this series ended up being social commentary that challenges conceptions of 'normal'! but i won't be surprised if that doesn't happen, since, as i said, the not-really-serious framing and paneling aren't pointing towards that being a thing the series is interested in doing.
last edited at Dec 29, 2018 9:54PM
wow, you really gotta hand it to this author. it's not everyday you see a story whose characters are almost all gay that still manages to be so annoyingly heteronormative
and from the comedy framing, it doesn't look likely that the protagonist's idea of "normal" will be challenged, either... eugh.
hm. i was going to say that i actually have some small hopes for this one... the premise is obviously a literalization of the "gay until graduation" trope (which is still brought up today in real life in japan, mind; see the sugita mio stuff from earlier this year), so i COULD see the series trying to go for some social commentary? and it'd probably be pretty good (if still painful) if it did that!
...but from kirakazumi's comments, it sounds like that's not really what it ends up doing, so, weh. i'll probably still read it just to see what its deal is, but... i guess i'll just get ready to put it in the same box as yuri danshi and kyou kara yonshimai...