Thomas Baudinette, "Regimes of Desire: Young Gay Men, Media, and Masculinity in Tokyo" (U Michigan Press, 2021)
Shinjuku Ni-chome is a nightlife district in central Tokyo filled with\xa0bars and clubs targeting the city's gay male community. Typically\xa0understood as a "safe space" where same-sex attracted men and women from\xa0across Japan's largest city can gather to find support from a\xa0relentlessly heteronormative society, Thomas Baudinette's\xa0Regimes of Desire: Young Gay Men, Media, and Masculinity in Tokyo\xa0(U Michigan Press, 2021) reveals that the\xa0neighborhood may not be as welcoming as previously depicted in prior\xa0literature. Through fieldwork observation and interviews with young men\xa0who regularly frequent the neighborhood's many bars, the book reveals\xa0that the district is instead a space where only certain performances of\xa0gay identity are considered desirable. In fact, the district is highly\xa0stratified, with Shinjuku Ni-chome's bar culture privileging "hard"\xa0masculine identities as the only legitimate expression of gay desire and\xa0thus excluding all those men who supposedly "fail" to live up to these\xa0hegemonic gendered ideals. Through careful analysis of media such as\xa0pornographic videos, manga comics, lifestyle magazines and online dating\xa0services, this book argues that the commercial imperatives of the\xa0Japanese gay media landscape and the bar culture of Shinjuku Ni-chome\xa0act together to limit the agency of young gay men so as to better\xa0exploit them economically.\xa0\nExploring the direct impacts of media\xa0consumption on the lives of four key informants who frequent the\xa0district's gay bars in search of community, fun and romance,\xa0Regimes of Desire\xa0reveals the complexity of Tokyo's most popular "gay town" and\xa0intervenes in debates over the changing nature of masculinity in\xa0contemporary Japan.\nAlexandra Hambleton\xa0is an assistant professor at Tsuda University in Tokyo, Japan. I write on media, gender, and sexuality in contemporary Japan with a particular interest in pornography and sex-positive feminism.\nLearn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices\nSupport our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/gender-studies