annabunches.net/_posts/media/2012-01-25-wandering-son-reflections-episode-6.html

---
layout: post
title: 'Wandering Son Reflections: Episode 6 - "Bunkasai"'
date: '2012-01-25T23:00:00.000-05:00'
author: Anna Wiggins
tags:
- Wandering Son
- Media
- Hōrō Musuko
- transgender
modified_time: '2013-10-22T11:19:51.858-04:00'
blogger_id: tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4209116010564764361.post-2303773385345999615
blogger_orig_url: http://www.stringofbits.net/2012/01/wandering-son-reflections-episode-6.html
---

You can watch the episode <a href="http://www.crunchyroll.com/hourou-musuko-wandering-son/episode-6-cultural-festival-568422">here</a>.<br/><br/><strong>Spoiler Warning</strong><br/><br/>When I transitioned, I took all of my men's clothes, put them in trash bags, and gave them away. This was a very cathartic experience - the moment I left the lie behind forever. I've noticed that a lot of trans women are sentimental like that.<br/><br/>So, when Yuki puts on a men's suit to attend the play, it struck me as odd - keeping that kind of reminder of my past life around is something that I actively avoid, and I know the same is true for many trans women. This is, then, a great example of the fact that everyone's experience is different. Exactly what being trans means to Yuki probably doesn't match what it means for Shūichi, or Mako, or Yoshino. Or me. The show has been pretty good at conveying that already, actually, but this really drives it home for me.<br/><br/>This episode gives us several examples of the thing that this show does the best: presenting an understanding and empathetic portrayal of trans people without feeling heavy-handed or contrived. It is a glimpse into the lives of several trans people, how they think and feel and how they deal with navigating in a world of uncertainty. It's the genuine sense of empathy here that keeps the show from feeling sensationalizing - the focus is often on the trans experience of these characters, sure, but it also takes great pains to ensure that the characters feel like actual individual people and not just something to gawk and giggle at. In other words, even though the show is explicitly <em>about</em> gender issues, it never feels like it's all <em>about gender issues</em>.<br/><br/>Our first example is the one we already discussed above: Yuki feels the need to cross-dress to go back to her old school. This is something that I refer to in my own head as the Double Life Problem. See, the problem is that even a successful, pretty, fully transitioned trans woman can find herself buried by self-consciousness and doubt about her ability to pass the moment that <em>history</em> enters the picture. Obviously this is not a universal truth - see "everyone's experience is different", above. But for many of us, I suspect, our lives are divided into two sections: before we transitioned and after we transitioned (and of course, there's the liminal phase of "during transition", but that is, we hope, as brief as possible). And so our social circles can likewise be grouped into 'people who met us before we transitioned' and 'people who met us after we transitioned'.<br/><br/>So when Yuki decides to dress as a man when going back into a group of people (her schoolteachers) that haven't seen her since she transitioned, it's safe to assume it is out of fear that she might be recognized. People in general will often go to great lengths to avoid embarrassment, and added to that is the dysphoria that would accompany someone excitedly calling you by your old name and then asking why you're dressed like a girl. Yuki appears to have decided that it's better to endure a little known dysphoria than to chance the possibility of a larger amount of dysphoria coupled with public embarrassment. This is not the choice I would make, personally - I refuse to pretend any more, no matter the situation. But that works well for me; obviously Yuki prioritizes differently. Either way, this is another insight into what it means to be trans on a very real and human level. The story is very clearly about these individuals and their experiences, instead of claiming to be about trans people as an entire group - yet at the same time it finds a way to hit on a lot of widely shared aspects of trans experience.<br/><br/>The next example we get of the show's empathy and insight is a subtle part of a larger scene. Yuki comments that it's "too bad" that Shūichi won't be Juliet in the play. Mako, who is playing Juliet and who has gender identity issues of his own, is standing nearby and holding the dress he is going to be wea
Import blogger data. 2016-04-11 22:01:00 +00:00			`---`
			`layout: post`
			`title: 'Wandering Son Reflections: Episode 6 - "Bunkasai"'`
			`date: '2012-01-25T23:00:00.000-05:00'`
			`author: Anna Wiggins`
			`tags:`
			`- Wandering Son`
			`- Media`
			`- Hōrō Musuko`
			`- transgender`
			`modified_time: '2013-10-22T11:19:51.858-04:00'`
			`blogger_id: tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4209116010564764361.post-2303773385345999615`
			`blogger_orig_url: http://www.stringofbits.net/2012/01/wandering-son-reflections-episode-6.html`
			`---`

			You can watch the episode <a href="http://www.crunchyroll.com/hourou-musuko-wandering-son/episode-6-cultural-festival-568422">here</a>.<br/><br/><strong>Spoiler Warning</strong><br/><br/>When I transitioned, I took all of my men's clothes, put them in trash bags, and gave them away. This was a very cathartic experience - the moment I left the lie behind forever. I've noticed that a lot of trans women are sentimental like that.<br/><br/>So, when Yuki puts on a men's suit to attend the play, it struck me as odd - keeping that kind of reminder of my past life around is something that I actively avoid, and I know the same is true for many trans women. This is, then, a great example of the fact that everyone's experience is different. Exactly what being trans means to Yuki probably doesn't match what it means for Shūichi, or Mako, or Yoshino. Or me. The show has been pretty good at conveying that already, actually, but this really drives it home for me.<br/><br/>This episode gives us several examples of the thing that this show does the best: presenting an understanding and empathetic portrayal of trans people without feeling heavy-handed or contrived. It is a glimpse into the lives of several trans people, how they think and feel and how they deal with navigating in a world of uncertainty. It's the genuine sense of empathy here that keeps the show from feeling sensationalizing - the focus is often on the trans experience of these characters, sure, but it also takes great pains to ensure that the characters feel like actual individual people and not just something to gawk and giggle at. In other words, even though the show is explicitly <em>about</em> gender issues, it never feels like it's all <em>about gender issues</em>.<br/><br/>Our first example is the one we already discussed above: Yuki feels the need to cross-dress to go back to her old school. This is something that I refer to in my own head as the Double Life Problem. See, the problem is that even a successful, pretty, fully transitioned trans woman can find herself buried by self-consciousness and doubt about her ability to pass the moment that <em>history</em> enters the picture. Obviously this is not a universal truth - see "everyone's experience is different", above. But for many of us, I suspect, our lives are divided into two sections: before we transitioned and after we transitioned (and of course, there's the liminal phase of "during transition", but that is, we hope, as brief as possible). And so our social circles can likewise be grouped into 'people who met us before we transitioned' and 'people who met us after we transitioned'.<br/><br/>So when Yuki decides to dress as a man when going back into a group of people (her schoolteachers) that haven't seen her since she transitioned, it's safe to assume it is out of fear that she might be recognized. People in general will often go to great lengths to avoid embarrassment, and added to that is the dysphoria that would accompany someone excitedly calling you by your old name and then asking why you're dressed like a girl. Yuki appears to have decided that it's better to endure a little known dysphoria than to chance the possibility of a larger amount of dysphoria coupled with public embarrassment. This is not the choice I would make, personally - I refuse to pretend any more, no matter the situation. But that works well for me; obviously Yuki prioritizes differently. Either way, this is another insight into what it means to be trans on a very real and human level. The story is very clearly about these individuals and their experiences, instead of claiming to be about trans people as an entire group - yet at the same time it finds a way to hit on a lot of widely shared aspects of trans experience.<br/><br/>The next example we get of the show's empathy and insight is a subtle part of a larger scene. Yuki comments that it's "too bad" that Shūichi won't be Juliet in the play. Mako, who is playing Juliet and who has gender identity issues of his own, is standing nearby and holding the dress he is going to be wea