Blending Identities : A Case Study of Part‑Japanese Gay Men in Hawai'i
著者 Mori Satoshi
journal or
publication title
人間健康学研究 : Journal for the study of health and well‑being
volume 5‑6
page range 65‑76
year 2013‑03‑31
URL http://hdl.handle.net/10112/00023265
Blending Identities
A Case Study of Part-Japanese Gay Men in Hawai'i Satoshi Mori
Abstract
This paper, based on participant observation conducted in gay bars in Honolulu, discusses ways in which gay people construct identities performatively through various linguistic and somatic means. In particular, by focusing on the logic of friendship formation in gay bars, the process by which one's awareness of what it means to be gay is shaped by various factors such as race, ethnicity, class, and gender is clarified.
1. Introduction
"Haoleu guy on top, Asian boy on bottom, that's just classic," laughs Chris, born in 1978 to a Japanese father and a Hawaiian/Portuguese/ American Indian (Cherokee) mother2', during a racy conversation in which a Filipino friend was talking about sex with his white boyfriend.
The present paper, based on participant observation conducted in gay bars in Honolulu, discusses ways in which self-identified gay people construct identities performatively through various linguistic and somatic means. In particular, by focusing on the logic of friendship formation in gay bars, the process by which one's awareness of what it means to be gay is shaped by various factors such as race, ethnicity, class, and gender is clarified.
This paper focuses specifically on part-Japanese gay men, taking up Chris's story as a case study. The field of multiracial studies3', which was established in the mid-1990s, explores ways in which attributes such as class, gender, and sexuality influence racial and ethnic identity.
Rockquemore analyzed the relationship between class and racial identity among 250 biracial students with one black and one white parent and found that students who had been brought up in middle-class white communities tended to have a biracial identity, while those who had been brought up in black communities tended to identify as black (Rockquemore 1998). Similarly, books edited by Root (1996) and Winters & DeBose (2003) include chapters dealing with gender and sexuality together with those on multiraciality, demonstrating how the debate on the interaction among social identities has gained momentum over the years4'.
Within this context, Sartwell (1998: 327) sets out the problem directly with the words, "There is no such thing as a 'pure' social identity". He asserts that race, ethnicity, class, gender, and sexuality are merely concepts extracted arbitrarily by those who do the analysis. A single individual cannot be only female, only rich, only white, or only bisexual; rather, in the real world, people have and use multiple roles concurrently.
These multiple identities are not only used simultaneously, but interact with and influence each other. In order to demonstrate the "blended" perspective of these social identities, Sartwell discusses the relationship between sexuality and class; for example, being gay has a different meaning to gay people in wealthy communities than it does to those in impoverished communities. Unlike poor gay people, wealthy gay
people may be able to stay in "the closet" by buying their privacy with money. Furthermore, the homophobia faced by wealthy gay people is not the same as that experienced on a daily basis by poor gay people.
Inevitably, poor and wealthy gay people experience different kinds of pressures in their daily lives, and their identities as gay men and women take on different characters as a result.
Here I take an ethnographic approach, focusing specifically on the everyday practices surrounding sexuality, using Chris, who frequently showed me around the gay bars in Honolulu, as a case study. I first met Chris during my preparatory study in August 1999. I maintained contact with him continuously thereafter, but he did not come out to me, whom he knew to be heterosexual, as gay until over 3 years later, in November 2002. After Chris came out to me, I accompanied him to gay bars on the weekends, where I met his close friends, with whom I also maintained contact until returning to Japan about a year later.
As is commonly held in the multiracial studies literature, in order to understand Chris's sexuality, it was necessary to examine how his sexuality intersects with other catergories such as ethnicity, class and gender.
Using ethnographic data obtained through participant observation enabled the multilayered, dynamic nature of identity, which would not have been evident from interviews alone, to be identified.
I would like to begin by considering in concrete terms the process by which gay people performatively construct a gay "identity" or "consciousness" by examining various practices, including non-verbal physical expression, in the specific context of the gay bars frequented by Chris in Honolulu.
2. Identities constructed in gay bars
Hula's Bar and Lei Stand, Angles Waikiki, and Fusion Waikiki are three popular gay bars in Honolulu.
All three bars are in Waikiki, and Angles and Fusion are next to each other. These bars are open on weekdays, but are much busier on Fridays and Saturdays. Hula's and Angles close at 2:00 am. Many patrons then move on to Fusion at 2:00 am, and party there until it closes at 4:00 am. Evening customers are almost all men, but a few women also visit the bars. The age range varies; however, like other night clubs, young people in their 20s form the vast majority. Chris had a regular weekend pattern of arriving at Angles just after 11:00 pm and moving to Fusion before 2:00 am. When we went out during the week, it was often to Hula's.
While there are some variations in the internal decor of the three bars, the basic structure of bar counter, table seats, and dance floor is the same. Male strippers perform on the dance floor at each bar on specified days and times. However, most clients pay little attention to the almost-naked strippers in T-backs, with the impression being that strippers should blend into the background scenery of the bar. Chris laughingly explained the reason for this lack of interest: "It's because it's always the same people dancing."
Chris, George5>, and I always went to the bars in George's car. Chris and George, who are the same age, are childhood friends who met at the age of 4 and have been close ever since. Both grew up in the Kalihi district and still live there with their families. They never expressly came out to one another as gay, but rather found out about one other's sexuality indirectly. Both Chris and George were surprised when they found out that the other was gay. They are sometimes mistaken for brothers because they are always together.
Besides going to the bars, we also did things such as sunbathing on Ala Moana beach. At the beach, they would make sure to lie a certain distance apart from each other, saying, "We don't want them to think we're gay." They also often went to drink at a karaoke sports bar called Cafe Anasia6>, but here too they were very careful to behave in a way that would not raise suspicions about their sexuality. George in particular loved
karaoke so much that he would frequently monopolize the microphone with little regard for other patrons;
however, there was one song that he refused to sing under any circumstances: Gloria Gaynor's "I will survive," which is known as a "gay people's song"; singing it would have amounted to a public announcement of George's homosexuality to everyone in the bar. In the karaoke bar, I also had the experience of being told by George in no uncertain terms to "get away" when I moved closer to hear what he was saying as we talked because of all of the surrounding noise. Another time, when Chris and I were joking around and taking cigarettes from each other, we were reprimanded by George, who said, 'This is a public place so stop touching"71 •
In contrast, Chris and George's behavior changed markedly in the gay bars. Here, they would hug and kiss friends on both cheeks when they met. With very close friends, they would kiss each other lightly on the lips. In other words, the kinds of greetings exchanged between men and women in so-called "public places"
were transferred to same-sex settings. At the table seats, Chris would put his hand on my knee as we talked confidentially, and he enjoyed dancing in close contact with his friends on the dance floor. When Chris invited me to dance, he would always hold my hand as he took me to the dance floor.
George liked gin and tonic, and would easily drink 10 glasses in a single evening. I cannot drink so much, and would have been completely drunk if I tried to keep up with George's drinking. Once, as I was drunk and lay down on the ground outside the bar, George jokingly said to me, "If you lie here you'll get raped."
Chris couldn't hold his drink either, and would often be sick if he went drinking several nights on the run or if someone gave him strong alcohol. George often teased us, putting Chris and me together and claiming that
"Japanese can't drink."
In the gay bars, George spent most of the time sitting at the table seat, drinking. Chris sometimes danced on the dance floor, but spent most of the time at the table with George, sipping Bud Light beer. Chris and George did not engage in particularly animated conversation, and Chris and I dominated most of the time engaging earnestly in gossip.
A constant stream of friends stopped by Chris and George's table. When I first started going to the gay bars, Chris would introduce me to his friends, almost always making a humorous comment about my sexuality. The following extract from field notes represents a typical interaction from the initial period of the participant observation in the gay bars.
7December 2002
Arrived in Waikiki just before 1 am, parked the car and went into Angles.
Chris and I were holding Bud Lights and George a gin and tonic in one hand as we leaned against the billiard table, engaged in idle conversation.
Suddenly, a man standing nearby started talking to me, so I chatted to him for a while. Immediately afterwards, Chris whispered in my ear:
"Be careful. White and black people really like Japanese."
Just before 2 am, we moved over to Fusion. Chris, George, and I sat down at a table. Chris and I had another Bud Light, and George started another gin and tonic.
Someone came over and interrupted the conversation Chris and I were having. When Chris noticed him, he gave him a hug and kissed him on both cheeks. Chris introduced him to me:
"He's Spanish. He's good-looking, isn't he?"
This was followed by a succession of other friends, who came over to chat and then left.
A little while later, when we had moved to the sofa seats, a man came over. Chris took on the role of introducing me again. The man's name was Daniel. He was in his late twenties, and had darkish skin.
When he got to the table, Daniel immediately whispered something in Chris' ear.
"Satoshi is straight," answered Chris loudly enough for me to hear, with an exaggerated expression of disappointment. Hearing that, Daniel also switched to a purposely loud voice: "He's too cute to be straight. I thought he was bisexual."
Chris nodded vigorously. According to Chris, many of his friends thought I was bisexual. They asked me several times whether I "really had no experience with men."
Between these conversations, George interjected:
"Are you OK being surrounded by gay people?"
This question was asked suddenly on more than one occasion.
"Of course I'm OK."
"You're pretty open-minded."
Chris refuted Daniel's admiration with a broad grin.
"Oh, but he used to be more prejudiced."
As I tried to protest, Chris burst out laughing as he covered my mouth with his hand.
The first point of interest in the situation described above is the number of acquaintances Chris and George regularly encountered at Angles and Fusion. Concerning this point, in terms of the role of gay bars, Sunagawa's fieldwork in Shinjuku Nichome in Tokyo, which has a similar concentration of gay bars, showed that gay bars are not merely places to fulfill sexual desires, but that they "have an important role in the creation of sociability among gay people" (1998: 40) and function as a "social arena" (1998: 41) for gay people.
In practice, as can be seen in the example above, Chris and George spend a considerable proportion of their time at Angles and Fusion not with the aim of looking for sexual partners, but in order to deepen their relationships with friends. Using gay bars as a place to meet friends, repeated meetings lead to the strengthening of friendships. Friendships developed through meetings in gay bars were further strengthened by parties on occasions such as Christmas, graduation, farewells and Halloween.
Naturally, this process of friendship establishment is based on the premise that the participants are all gay people with homosexual desires and behaviors. In practice, not everyone shares the same sexuality, as there are those who self-identify as bisexual as well as those who label themselves as gay, but the common feature of having homosexual desires is repeatedly verified as the root of the "companion consciousness".
When I first started going to gay bars, George would repeatedly ask questions such as "Are you enjoying yourself?" and "Why do you want to be with gay people if you're straight?" George stopped asking these kinds of questions once he became used to me accompanying them to the bars, but the issue of my sexuality remained a topic of conversation among Chris and George's friends, resulting in joking and humorous comments each time we met, even at the end of the fieldwork period. In doing so, Chris and George's friends continuously gave voice to the difference between me and them-that is, that I did not share their homosexual desires. By ascertaining the differences between themselves and a heterosexual acquaintance, they reaffirmed their identity as gay people.
Also, in the gay bars and in social interactions with gay friends, they freely expressed their own sexuality through physical means such as hugging and kissing, and affirmed their sense of companionship with each other. As evidenced by Chris and George's extremely restrained behavior in "public places," those with
homosexual desires or who exhibit homosexual behavior are often seen as "others" in heterosexual society, thereby becoming targets of prejudice and discrimination. Their awareness of this reality caused Chris and his friends to express their sexuality in a particularly explicit manner in "safe spaces" such as gay bars and in interactions with gay friends, where they openly expressed themselves- for example, through frequent body contact including kissing-in a way that they would never attempt in "public places." In particular, hugs and kisses during greetings normally took place only when both parties were gay; in one instance, about six months after I started going to the gay bars, I was teased by a friend who remarked, "I don't kiss straight boys." In other words, there is strong awareness of a sense of companionship based on sexuality in gay bars and in interactions with gay friends, and it is in these "safe spaces" that enable individuals to performatively construct a gay identity.
This leads to the questions of whether this overtly expressed gay identity in gay bars and in interactions with gay friends engenders the creation of a monolithic solidarity based on a uniform sexuality or assimilation into the single category of "being gay." Rich insights into this issue can be gleaned from events at a Christmas party held by one of Chris's gay friends.
3. Blending of social identities
One of Chris and George's friends who lived in the Kabala district was having a Christmas party. The Kabala district is well known as a high-class, wealthy residential area8', and, according to Chris, the party was going to be an extremely lavish event attended by a large number of friends and even a gay porn star, and he was expecting to meet lots of new people. Although this was a private party at an individual's house, glossy fliers of the type used for club events were printed.
Chris had been looking forward to the party for several days. However, there was one problem: he had no transportation from his house in the Kalihi district to the party in the Kabala district. Usually, he had no difficulty finding transportation, since George, who lived in the same neighborhood, could drive him around. This time, however, George had not been invited to the Christmas party.
Why had George not been invited to the party? Chris explained to me on the phone:
"Haven't you noticed that when we go to clubs and wherever, haoles stick with haoles and Japanese stick with Japanese? White people don't come anywhere near us, do they?"
The host of the party, Marty, was Japanese, and so almost everyone invited to the party was Japanese.
"It's because Japanese are conservative."
According to Chris, George had been excluded from this conservative Japanese group, and so was never invited to their parties. To add to this, there had been a trivial incident where George had spilt Marty's drink and this had led to an argument, so individual feelings also played a role.
In any case, since George could not go to the party, Chris faced the dilemma of how to get to Marty's house in Kabala. Chris told me that he would consult another friend, Edward9', and hung up.
Chris called back a little while later. He had arranged that he, Edward, and I would first go to a restaurant called Willows10', and Edward would then drive us to Marty's house. Edward would have to leave early to prepare for work the next day, but Chris planned to find someone at the party to take us home.
On the day of the party, Chris, Edward, and I went to Willows as planned. At Willows, a seat at a regular buffet style table costs 28 dollars, so we took less expensive seats at the counter. We had beer and snacks and watched hula dancing with live music for a while. We managed to keep the bill under 10 dollars each. We left the restaurant just after 9:00.
We relied on the map on the flier to get to Marty's house in the Kahala district. We got to the Kahala district, but had problems finding Marty's house. Among the grand mansions lined up along the spacious avenues was one house with flamboyant Christmas decorations. On the front lawn were a Christmas tree and cartoon characters decorated with flashing lights. Below is an extract from the field notes from the party.
20 December 2002
"It can't be this house, surely."
Edward's car passed in front of the house as Chris made this remark. We set off again slowly, using the address written on the flier. After driving a while, we arrived back at the mansion decorated flamboyantly with lights. Chris exclaimed:
"It IS this one after all!"
Chris and I looked at each other and laughed.
We got out of the car, walked through the lawn decorated with Christmas decorations, and reached the front door.
"It's like a hotel," I murmured, exchanging glances with Chris again and laughing.
There were a lot of shoes on the porchm, but nobody came when we called, so we entered the house. A few people were sitting chatting as they drank in a living room on the first floor. The room had a high ceiling and cowhide sofa, in front of which was a large television. Underfoot was a thick carpet. There were Christmas decorations here too, including lights and all sizes of balloons.
I smiled wryly as I said:
"Is this really a private home?"
"Behave like it's normal," admonished Chris, looking a little irritated this time.
We went through the living room out on to the lanai12l. Many people were gathered here. All different types of alcoholic drinks had been laid out at a fitted bar counter. There was even a billiard table. A view of the nighttime Pacific stretched out before us. Music was playing full blast, and everyone was talking freely with their friends, eating and drinking. There were at least 50 people there, but it was not possible to say exactly how many, as they were spread out in different rooms. Most of the guests at the party were men in their 20s, but there were a few women there too.
On the lariai were several round white tables, of the type often used at the beach. Chris sat at one of these tables, and started talking to two men he seemed to know. When I came back from the bathroom and sat down next to Chris, he introduced me to them.
"This is Satoshi. He's Japanese and straight."
We exchanged a few greetings. The man sitting to the left of Chris was wearing a glossy black shirt. His name was Jeff. The other man sitting opposite was called Paul. He was wearing light brown sunglasses, and a white shirt that clearly revealed his body line, emphasizing his muscular body. It was evident from the content of the conversation that Chris had not seen them for a very long time.
Even after sitting down, I could not stop looking around, trying to take in the whole image of Marty's house.
"Stop doing that. It's embarrassing," Chris chided me with a serious look on his face. Then he warned me in no uncertain terms that he would never take me to a party again if I carried on with that behavior.
Chris continued talking with the others. Jeff asked, "Where's George today?"
"He's working at the gas station."
Paul snorted with laughter as he heard what Chris said. Jeff also laughed, saying, "At a gas station?!" Chris laughed along with them.
Chris and I then got up from the table and exchanged greetings with Marty and other acquaintances.
Charles, who we often saw in Fusion, was there. He had studied abroad in Japan and could speak a little Japanese.
As Chris, Charles, and I were talking, Scott came over to join us. When Scott found out that I was Japanese, he told me that he had taken part in a taiko drumming performance that day. He was in a taiko class taught by Kenny Endo, who is famous in the USA.
The topic of conversation turned to my sexuality. Charles and Scott kept asking jokingly, "How about trying men?"
''I'll convert you," laughed Charles. Then he added that I should forget my girlfriend in Japan.
"Imagine if you were gay, what type of man would be your type?"
I thought for a while about Charles' question.
"That's a difficult question."
"White, Asian, black?" He laughed again as he asked.
The most important point taken from the scene above - a Christmas party where gay sexuality was particularly emphasized-is that individuals did not just simply assimilate to a single version of being gay, but were rather simultaneously conscious of the other attributes such as ethnicity, class and gender among the people with whom they were interacting.
In specific terms, a sense of companionship based on sexuality was obviously verbalized and expressed in explicit form. For example, reference to me being "straight" was consciously included in Chris' introductions to acquaintances such as Jeff and Paul13>. In other situations, in what Chris called "public places," there would certainly have been no reference to sexuality in an introduction. Also, at this party as well, Chris repeatedly hugged and kissed his gay friends, freely expressing his own sexuality. When he was talking with his friends, most topics of conversation were associated with the experiences and desires of gay people.
Another issue worthy of attention is the fact that Chris was consciously aware of the role of ethnicity with respect to who was invited to the Christmas party. In fact, Chris often made comments such as, "Haven't you noticed that when we go to clubs and wherever, haoles stick with haoles and Japanese stick with Japanese.
White people don't come anywhere near us, do they?", and the group of friends that he hung out with in the bars was half-jokingly labeled the "Japanese gang." Of course, Chris's group did not consist exclusively of Japanese, and included George and others who were not of Japanese ancestry. Nevertheless, Chris's recognition of the fact that the "Japanese gang" had been invited to the Christmas party and that George had been excluded primarily because of his different ethnicity is significant. Clearly, in explaining why George had not been invited, Chris was simultaneously aware of both the sexual identity he shared with his friends and their opposing ethnic identities.
Situations in which reference was made to the ethnicity of a partner, in the same manner as to the ethnicity of friends, are important. At the Christmas party, Charles asked specifically about my preferred ethnicity when he asked me to imagine that I was gay. Another example is quoted at the very beginning of this paper, taken from a situation where I went to watch a movie with Chris and George, George's boyfriend Michael14>, and Michael's friend Raphael15>, and the topic of sex between Raphael and his white boyfriend
came up as the conversation happened to turn to intimate matters. Raphael admitted somewhat shyly that
"He is always on top and I am on bottom," to which Chris replied with a laugh, "Haole guy on top, Asian boy on bottom, that's just classic." This casual remark betrays the fact that even in the specific context of gay sex, there is a clear awareness of the ethnicity of each sexual partner, including expectations of certain sexual roles based on ethnicity.
In addition, it was evident that at the Christmas party, Chris was aware not only of sexuality and ethnicity, but also of class. Chris and George had grown up together in the Kalihi district, where they still lived with their families. George was always saying that many low-income people lived in the Kalihi district, and that it was a dangerous area16·m. Like George, Chris also explained that, "People don't come to Kalihi because they're scared." As security was poor in the area, he used to worry about whether I would get from the bus stop to the house safely when I went to stay at his house.
Chris also often talked about the economic gap between himself and his friends. For example, when talking about a friend who would not eat the local food "Hurricane popcorn," which is popcorn mixed with arare (small rice crackers), he would say, "My haole friend says she cannot stand Hurricane popcorn. Filthy rich!", expressing his cynicism about the wealthy. At other times, he would make comments like "I want to find a rich boyfriend," expressing conflicting emotions about his own economic situation.
On the day of the Christmas party, when Chris saw my unnatural behavior at Marty's house in the wealthy Kahala residential district, he was obviously irritated and admonished me, saying, "Stop doing that.
It's embarrassing." He also followed suit when his friends sneered at George's job. In these various contexts, Chris was clearly conscious of the class differences between him and others.
Even at the Christmas party, then, which had an atmosphere of openness regarding sexuality, Chris did not completely identify with his gay friends. Attributes other than being gay- in this case, ethnicity and class-constrained the extent to which Chris and his friends were able to self-identify as gay people18l. In relation to this, it can be said that homosexual behavior and desires by nature require a recognition rather than a refutation of gender, as they rest on the awareness of the partner being the same gender.
To summarize, although Chris was explicitly conscious of sexuality at the Christmas party, he did not completely identify with his gay friends, and was conscious of differences between himself and others based on ethnicity and class at the same time as the inevitable awareness of gender. In other words, even in contexts in which a specific social category is emphasized, individuals are perpetually aware of other social categories, and engage in multilayered identifications across these multiple categories.
4. Conclusion
As is evident from the ethnographical account provided here, the boundaries between "us" and "them"
for gay people are not drawn according to a single criterion, but are rather consciously formed through the mingling of various factors, including gender, ethnicity, and class. This is not a case of multiple social identities being employed at different times in different contexts-instead, identification occurs through multiple attributes simultaneously in a specific context. For this reason, an individual identified as one of
"us" based on a given criterion, in this case, sexual orientation, may at the same time be one of "them" based on another criterion.
In reality, even if the "blending" of social identities is accepted, it is impossible to present a perfect model for the identity of an individual. This is because, as pointed out by Zack, who has engaged actively in debate in the field of multiracial studies, social identities such as race, ethnicity, class, and sexuality themselves are
not "pure" even before being mixed with other identities, and thus do not exist in a standardized form (Zack 1998: 6).
In actuality, Chris used his own ethnicity fluidly in different ways in everyday life, depending on the situation. In situations such as the visit to Willows before the Christmas party or other bars where Hawaiian music was played live, he would often proudly say that he was a "Hawaiian", and therefore more "relaxed"
than Japanese. However, when talking to waitresses in the bar, if they asked him on a whim, "Are you Japanese?", he would simply answer with a note of hesitation, "Yes, I am," so as not to break the flow of conversation. Similarly, when he was working casually at the ABC store (convenience store) in Waikiki, he would introduce himself using the name "Kitamura" to deal with the many Japanese tourists, emphasizing his Japanese side. Going a step further, Chris had transferred from community college to the University of Hawai'i, and he had his sights set on proceeding to graduate school, planning social class mobility in the future.
The mutual intersection of social identities such ethnicity, class, sexuality, and gender, none of which exists in pure, standardized form even before they are combined, undergoes potentially limitless diverse changes depending on the situations encountered in daily life. In response to these changing contexts, individuals are simultaneously aware of multiple differences and similarities between him or herself and others. This form of consciousness cannot be explained by the dichotomy within an extracted social identity, but is rather a blending of multiple attributes of the self in contrast with the other.
As Sartwell (1998: 330) points out, whatever approach is used, we can only hope to "scratch the surface"
of the infinite possibilities of complex identities. However, through the ethnographic approach taken in this paper, I have attempted to understand the multilayered aspects of social identities in everyday life in Hawai'i by presenting detailed contexts and backgrounds. This kind of ethnographic approach, though it has its limits, facilitates the presentation of the compound process of identifiction within a specific context.
Acknowledgements
This paper was financially supported by a Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (S) (A Japan-based Global Study of Racial Representations). I would like to thank Professor Yasuko Takezawa at Kyoto University for her kind support.
Notes
1 ) Haole is a Hawaiian term which refers to a person of white ancestry. The original meaning was "foreigner" in the Hawaiian language.
2) All names have been changed to protect individuals' privacy.
3 ) According to Ropp, the term "multiracial studies" is used to refer to a particular body of academic research and publication generated by scholars who are themselves of multiracial heritage (1997:14). Four doctoral dissertations in the 1980s written by Hall (1980), Kich (1982), Thornton (1983), and Murphy-Shigematsu (1987), who are Asian descent multiracials, set the foundation for multiracial studies (Houston and Williams, 1997). Since the 1990s, there has been an explosion in interest on multiraciality. See also Nakashima (1996).
4 ) Other edited collections of multiracial studies, such as William-Leon & Nakashima (eds) (2001), also include many articles that discuss gender, sexuality, and social class, as well as race and ethnicity.
5) His ethnicity is Filipino/Hawaiian/Chinese/Portuguese/Irish/French/German/Maori.When asked about his ethnicity, he sometimes referred to all these ethnicities, and sometimes replied "predominantly Filipino".
6 ) At Anasia, karaoke singing is done in an open space in front of many people rather than in segregated spaces as in
Japanese karaoke boxes. Waitresses bring the microphone to patrons, and patrons sing from the lyrics on television screens suspended from the ceiling.
7 ) One insight into the view of gay people living in Hawai'i can be obtained from the secret ballot on same-sex marriage implemented among state residents in 1998. The starting point of this issue was a suit brought by three same-sex couples living in Hawai'i in 1991, who had submitted marriage applications that had been rejected by the State Department of Health. The case was brought to the Supreme Court of Hawai'i; the State Legislature proposed an amendment opposing same-sex marriage in 1997, and it was decided to conduct a secret ballot on the amendment at the time of the state elections in November 1998. The results were 69% against same-sex marriage, more than twice the 31 % in favor. See Hull (2001) for further details of the sequence of events.
Related to this, Sunagawa (2002: 14) states that, "The marriage system is controlled legally, and in Japan is limited to relations between members of the opposite sex. Sex education is a topic of political debate. It is clear that 'sexual issues' cannot be said to be a 'private matter'." In Hawai'i as well, as Sunagawa points out, heterosexual norms of sexuality dominate in public arenas, and it can be assumed that Chris and George were obliged to avoid expression of their sexuality in "public places."
8 ) According to statistics published by the Center on the Family at the University of Hawai'i, residents of the Kalani district, which includes I<ahala ('Aina Haina, Hawai'i Loa Ridge, I<ahala, Kalani Valley, Wai'alae Nui, Wai'alae Iki, Wailupe and part of Diamond Head, Kairnuki, and Kuli'ou'ou) have the highest standard of living of all areas of Hawai'i. (Center on the Family categorizes and compares 22 districts on O'ahu island, 10 districts on Hawai'i island, 4 districts on Kaua'i island, and 7 districts on Maui island.)
First, per capita income is the highest in the state of Hawai'i, at $37,078 (mean is $21. 526). In terms of occupational categories, 48.4%, or almost half, of residents fall into the Management & Professional category, followed by 28.6%
in the Sales & Office category, and 12.7% in the Service category. The unemployment rate is 2.5%, which is the second lowest in the state of Hawai'i (mean is 6.3%). As far as the level of education of residents is concerned, 44.8%
of adults have a bachelor's degree or higher, which is the second highest proportion in the state of Hawai'i (mean is 26.2%), and 91.2% of adults have a high school diploma or higher, which is in the top 20% for the state (mean is 84.6%). Home ownership stands at 76.5%, or over three-fourths of residents, which is higher than the state average (56.5%).
In terms of ethnicity, 32.1 % of residents of this district are Japanese (statewide mean is 16.7%) and 14.6% are Chinese (statewide mean is 4.7%), both of which represent a high proportion compared to the state averages. The proportion of white residents is approximately the same as the statewide average (24.3% ), at 23.8%, while Hawaiian and part-Hawaiians comprise only 3.3% of the residents, significantly lower than the state average (6.6%).
<http://uhfamily.hawaii.edu/publications/ 43Profiles/Oahu/Kalani.pdf> [2012, June 14]
9) Edward also lives in the Kalihi district. His ethnicity is "pure Chinese."
10) Willows is a garden restaurant with a long history dating back to 1944, and often puts on live performances of Hawaiian music. Edward used to learn hula, and some of his friends were performing hula on that day, so he had invited Chris and me to go there.
11) It is common practice in Hawai'i to remove shoes before entering the house.
12) This place is usually the veranda space.
13) However, it should also be borne in mind that Chris had introduced me as "Japanese," and that he had referred to my ethnicity (or nationality) at the same time as my sexuality.
14) Originally from the Philippines.
15) Originally from the Philippines.
16) According to statistics published by the Center on the Family at the University of Hawai'i , residents of the Farrington district, commonly known as Kalihi ('Alewa Heights, 'lwilei, Kalihi Uka, Kalihi Valley, Kalihi Waena and part of Kamehameha Heights, Kapalama, and Palama), have the lowest standard of living of all areas of Hawai'i.
(Center on the Family categorizes and compares 22 districts on O'ahu island, 10 districts on Hawai'i island, 4
districts on Kaua'i island, and 7 districts on Maui island.)
First, per capita income is in the bottom 25% in the state of Hawai'i, at $14,634 (mean is $21,526). In terms of occupational categories, the Service category comes first at 33.3%, followed by Sales & Office at 25%, Management &
Professional in third place at 16.7%, and then Production, Transport and Moving at 14.2%. At 8.6%, the unemployment rate is higher than the state average (6.3%). As far as the level of education of residents is concerned, 68.7% of adults have a high school diploma or higher, which is the lowest proportion in the state of Hawai'i (mean is 84.6% ). Home ownership stands at 45.9%, which is also below the Hawai'i state average (56.5% ).
In terms of ethnicity in this district, there is a much larger proportion of Filipinos, at 46.7% (the statewide mean percentage of Filipinos is 14.1 %), and of other Pacific Islanders, at 8.8% (the statewide mean for Pacific Islanders is 2.8%). In contrast, there is a much lower percentage of whites than the state average (24.3%), at4.6%.
In connection to George's comment, a survey of adolescents reporting unsafe neighborhoods found that 64.3%
replied that the district was not safe. This is above the Hawai'i state mean of 43.9%. (Kalani district, referred to in Note 8, was 30.9%.)
<http://uhfamily.hawaii.edu/publications/ 43Profiles/Oahu/Kalani.pdf >[2012, June 14]
17) Comparing the two districts referred to in Notes 8 and 16, a more focused comparison of Waialae-Kahala (US Census tract 5) and Kalihi Waena (US Census tract 61) shows that per capita income in 1999 stood at $54,236 for the former, and $13,963 for the latter. <http://factfinder.census.gov>[2005, February 13]
18) In relation to this, for example, Duggan (1998) points out that a hierarchy tends to emerge within homosexuals that sets white middle-class men as representative.
References
Center on the Family, University of Hawai'i at Maoa (2003) Farrington area community profile. <http://uhfarnily.
hawaii.edu/ publications/ 43Profiles/Oahu/Farrington.pdf>(2012, June 14]
Center on the Family, University of Hawai'i at Maoa (2003) Kalani area community profile. <http://uhfarnily.hawaii.
edu/ publications/ 43Profiles/Oahu/Kalani.pdf>[2012, June 14]
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