Hello! Thank you for taking the time to read this.
I’m genderfluid, meaning that my gender/presentation varies. I’ve seen posts on here about being transgender or just LGBT in general, but nothing specifically about being genderfluid.
I’m (hopefully) becoming an exchange student in March of 2023 and was wondering in what being genderfluid in Japan (more specifically in a high school) is like? I know that I can get my legal gender changed to “Genderfluid,” and I understand that Japan has thankfully became more accepting of LGBT people in general, but anyone know anything about genderfluid people specifically?
3 comments
While there is some progress for the LGBTQ community in Japan, gender norms are still very ingrained in society. Especially in school settings where there can be strict rules on uniforms and your appearance. Schools and companies are most likely going to want to treat you as the gender on your identification document.
I currently work in Japan and I would find it difficult to be adventurous with my clothing and style and defend myself as genderfluid. Japanese society prefers coherence without much shifting. If your company has a free dress code or you are in university with no specific dress code then you probably can be more expressive with your style.
EDIT: Just to add. On every official document in Japan I have filled out, I have always had to choose between Male男 or Female女. And it should match what is on the documents from your home country. So be prepared for that.
Some high schools let girls wear the pants uniform instead of the skirt.
Some schools let kids wear their gym clothes all day.
There’s like one school, I think, that let’s students wear whichever uniform.
Now: if you’re on a short-term homestay and won’t be taking classes with Japanese students, there’s a good chance you won’t be required to wear the uniform, because you aren’t a student of the school. You maybe just given a dress code as in: no t-shrts and jeans, and can probably get a way with a genderless look.
>I know that I can get my legal gender changed to “Genderfluid,”
Did you mean ***can’t***? Because Japan doesn’t legally recognize any genders besides Male and Female. Even if you can get your legal gender changed to “Genderfluid” or “X”, you’ll be forced to pick on the of traditional genders for your Japanese documents. Or worse, the immigration officer handling your application will pick one based on your photo.
>Japan has thankfully became more accepting of LGBT people in general
Yes, but…
As u/hayato_sa pointed out, gender norms are still a big thing in Japan. You’re looking at a high school exchange, so you’re going to be dropping into an environment where there are strict gender-based dress codes, including things like hair presentation and makeup.
There are *some* high schools that are making strides towards gender-inclusive uniform policies, but that’s things like “everyone wears pants”, not true fluidity.
Again quoting u/hayato_sa: Japanese society prefers coherence without much shifting. Even as a foreigner, you’ll be expected to “pick a lane” as it were.