Yuuri expressing his femininity is incredibly important. It has been dismissed as stereotypical, as heteronormative, but that is quite backwards from my point originally.
Men expressing femininity is incredibly rare. It’s even rarer in heterosexual men because in the world’s most prominent cultures, masculinity is prized in men and anything otherwise is degraded.
However, it is clear that Yuuri is just beginning to explore his sexual side, his eros, and sexuality is fluid. He has not yet touched on a more feminine part of himself, and was only rigidly thinking about being ‘the playboy,’ meaning that he was trying to channel his masculinity in a sexual sense. However, he realized that it did not work for him and decided to try and channel a more sensual, feminine part of himself.
That is significant, especially through a protagonist of a Japanese anime. Now, as I briefly mentioned earlier, I have showed this series to my gay male friends. I cannot speak for them, as I am a woman, but what I can tell you is that they do feel represented. They get excited with me on Wednesdays, and they feel ecstatic to see a man exploring his feminine side in an anime for once, and not get belittled or treated as a sexual object. They relate to Yuuri, as some of them identify strictly as ‘bottoms’ in sex, as they have expressed to me and to others.
Yes, as much as some people refuse to believe, there
are queer men that like to stick to top/bottom roles.
They exist. And they need representation as well.
Of course, not every queer, male relationship needs to have a man that is more ‘womanly’ than the other, or more ‘submissive.’ But, it is just as bad to say that there are
no queer male relationships that have a man that have traditionally masculine/feminine roles.
Some couples enjoy this, and from a personal perspective as a lesbian (if I have not made myself clear enough already…), I have been in relationships where I am the more masculine one, always, and the reverse- I have been in relationships where I am always the more feminine one. And then, I have been in relationships where I switch between those two energies.
My queer male friends have said they feel the same way. Never, ever say all queer relationships are a certain way. They are all different.
So, on that important note, Yuuri discovers his feminine side. He decides to embrace a woman’s role and seduce Victor.
Is that bad? No. No, it is not. There are queer relationships in real life that are just like this. The queer men that I know personally that have seen this show have relationships like this, and they are more that excited to see this in an anime, for once.
On a final note, the post’s language dismisses eroticism as something bad. Eroticism is an aspect of storytelling and sexual desires are part of life. Not everyone’s life, but it definitely exists for many people. But sadly, some cultures are very touchy about eroticism and see any form of it as bad, as offensive, or as harmful.
Eroticism is a theme explored in this anime. It is not fetishization that degrades queer men- it is something rarely shown so clearly, and now that it is happening, it is a big deal. And it’s great to many queer people out there, including me, who feel like we finally are getting real representation in anime.
It is another queer person’s choice to see it as disgusting and something terrible and harmful. I am sorry to everyone who sees it this way, and I hope you can broaden your perspective to accept expressions of eroticism in shows like Yuri on Ice.
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