Forum - View topic[Possibly] Abusive Use of Terminology
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P€|\||§_|\/|ast@
 Posts: 3498 Location: IN your nightmares |
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I noticed this phrase used in the opening sentence of the Whole of Humanity Has Gone Yuri Except for Me GN review: Gay Panic.
animenewsnetwork.com/review/whole-of-humanity-has-gone-yuri-except-for-me-gn-1/.183768 In that Talkback thread, I was hoping someone could clarify it but no one responded. I'm guessing its some sort of shorthand for cheap fanservice involving genderbending characters/situations. I've realized its actually quite common in reviews, columns and amongst respected contributors to this site (and elsewhere). To me this usage seems a bit irresponsible and I'm curious whether it actually does more harm than good if we are trying to approach things that might be of relevance to the LGBTQ community such as this GN title. To take a step back, lets just clarify what gay panic means. It refers to the legal (should be illegal) defense that people who have committed violence against a transperson try to claim since in their viewpoint they were deceived about the sex identity of their partner. But why are we using it in this context:
I'm bothered this usage of "gay panic" may actually be empowering to MAGA-hat wearing, rainbow flag burning bigots who try to get away with gay panic. This is because we are shifting the blame away from them and turning it against the people in the world whom gay panic is completely irrelevant. This seems to have absolutely no benefit to the trans community and in fact may be more detrimental if we are victim blaming people who happen to like otokonoko, genderbenders and these themes even though they may be cringey and not the most realistic commentary about being trans. But this is anime, the point is its filled with fantasy, escapism and plenty of perverted stuff that people enjoy despite this lack of realism and not constantly reminding us of the many social justice headlines. What seems problematic is when terminology is weaponized to make people feel shitty about their hobby or if it doesn't line up with someone elses sanitized world view or because they are an anime contributor and therefore an authority on what you can and cannot say (what I'm saying is they they most definitely not and there is something really wrong with that assumption). So I propose simply replacing that overly toxic and off-handed jargon from the review with "wish-fulfillment." It rolls of the tongue in a much cuter way too. At least I'm hoping someone could better explain the use of this term in the manner I pointed out, because perhaps I'm totally misinterpreting it (sorry in advance if I am). |
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P€|\||§_|\/|ast@
Posts: 3498 Location: IN your nightmares |
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Sorry for the bump, but I was really hoping I could get some kind of response to this. I made this thread to address a troubling trend I see in social media and online journalism. One where there is this mentality that whoever has the most presence has the most impact on opinion, impressions and trends. Your impact may make others feel good and empowered with good intentions and all but sadly we still have many innocents who are victimized and abused in this harsh world. And let me make clear there is not always a 1 to 1 correlation between victims and the innocent. I'm speaking about the innocent who suffer at the hand of those who make names for themselves in online journalism through their words, tweets and likes whenever compassion happens to take a back seat. Maybe these charges have nothing to do with my thread, maybe I'm onto something no one has really thought about before but what I said about abusive terminology rings clear as day to me. I suppose I can only do so much to help others see it.
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Probablytomorrow
Posts: 165 |
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I think the term was being used to refer to homophobia, not fanservice.
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P€|\||§_|\/|ast@
Posts: 3498 Location: IN your nightmares |
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But not knowing is just bugging me. |
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SenpaiDuckie
ANN Community Manager
 Posts: 531 Location: PH |
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Hey Past!
Thank you for the Feedback! I have forwarded this to the editorial team. They are very busy, as they are creating and editing content for the site, but a reply is coming soon! 
Thank you for your patience! |
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ANN_Lynzee
ANN Executive Editor
 Posts: 3053 Location: Email for assistance only |
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In a manga where a girl wakes up and everyone is a lesbian ,AJ basically wrote that he expected gay panic for comedy as in "OMG all these girls are into me now but I'm not gay and this is uncomfortable oh noooooooo" i.e. "gay panic." In a fanservice sense, this would be an unwilling participant being groped for titillation despite not being into it.
Gay panic for comedy is common in media, not just stuff from Japan. The manga AJ mentioned subverted his expectation and he lauded it for it. Every time you see a stereotypical gay character who gets too handsy or expresses forthright interest in another (typically heterosexual character) and they freak out for laughs, or freak out that might be perceived as gay (with or without an actual gay character appearing in the scene), that's gay panic. There's a more serious definition that applies in a legal sense, but that's not what's being referred to here. |
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P€|\||§_|\/|ast@
Posts: 3498 Location: IN your nightmares |
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Ok thanks, I see. I suppose I was more more set on the idea that gay panic was usually used in a more transphobic sense. I really appreciate the thoughtful response.
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