Lesbians in Japan and the problems they face: minor progress but still much to overcome - Essay Example

Thus “lesbian” is not merely a monolithic term defined by the sex of their sexual partners. Lesbians are thus women who are more ambiguously sexed or gendered people who differ from the mainstream by their sexual practices or identities (Eliason & Morgan, 1998). Lesbian relationships have been present in Japan for over a hundred years (Chalmers, 2002, 19). It was only in the 1970s, however, that lesbian groups started to emerge and they experienced exclusion from the major social and economic trends due to lack of acceptance by the society.

The lesbians in Japan are a misunderstood group and their presence has slowly been acknowledged over the years, although much less than in the West. Within this group of women, I have decided to study lesbian mothers, whether they are the biological mother or not. I include mothers living alone and those living with their partner. Lesbian mothers living with the father of their child are, however, a subgroup and have not been included in this study. This study has been restricted to the lesbian mothers who face the world on their own and are not tied to the institution of marriage.

Although not profuse, various interviews have been conducted about sexual minorities among women in Japan. Some of these have specifically targeted lesbian mothers: Chalmers in interviews in the 1990s; 1987 interviews about women who like women; Arita questionnaire/interviews, Japan Times interviews. I propose to study these and show that there is still much road to be paved. These studies reveal that some of the problems that lesbians in Japan face include income tax benefits, child custody, parental leave, the family registry system, housing, wage disparities, finding a job, the childcare system, and lack of contact with similar families.

The problem however begins with lack of self-acceptance. In Japan, lesbians suffer many difficulties, the first being self-acceptance and understanding. According to Chapman and Brannock (cited by Eliason &