Role Of Masculinity In The Music Industry

Westerners, upon viewing popular male Japanese musical artists such as Gackt, T.M.Revolution, and Psycho le Cemu, are often struck most by one aspect of these artists' appearance -- Their apparent femininity. Yet Gackt and T.M.Revolution are unquestionably heartthrobs in Japan, attracting mostly female audiences. These men are considered "dream guys" to these women, a model of the ultimate man. However, these men are often perceived to have feminine characteristics by Western audiences, in some cases causing laughter or disgust. Why then are these seemingly feminine men worshipped by teenage girls in Japan? Clearly Japan's music industry, and indeed their very culture, has different standards of masculinity or what makes a man a man, than these
Malice Mizer. Mana is second from left.
Easily one of the most popular male idols in Japan, Camui Gackt, or just plain "Gackt", as he is usually called, does many things that would be considered practically unheard of in Western markets. Though you may be able to find a much more eccentric star in the West, chances are it won't be someone with nearly the mass market appeal and exposure of Gackt. Telling his fans that he was born in 16th Century Norway, Gackt frequently makes his rounds to most of the popular music shows in Japan, confronting hosts with a soft-spoken demeanor and an awkward, intriguing sense of humor. He makes himself lovable on camera by acting as an innocent bystander who never gets involved in the hijinks that can often
In fact, in some cases the artists' actions do support this. Gackt often engages in sexually explicit behaviors with his male support musicians on stage during his concerts. He has pulled down the pants of a male guitarist and climbed on him on stage during an early tour, for example. At first fans didn't seem to know what to think of this during the first concert tours, but now they often give an excited cheer when Gackt gets dirty with his support members on stage. Gackt has even posed nude in photos, some of which show him in intimate positions with one of the same support musicians. Yet on music shows like "Utaban", the hosts have asked Gackt what kind of women he likes, making the assumption that he is heterosexual. It seems that even after all of these obvious displays of homosexual tendencies, whether they reflect Gackt's actual preference or not, an artist is innocent until proven guilty in the Japanese music scene. Artists can behave this way and still be considered masculine and heterosexual by the