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"IS: Otoko demo onna demo nai sei (translation: the sex that is neither male or female)" is a groundbreaking new comic series by Chiyo Rokuhana, coming from the world capitol of the "manga" (comic) subculture. Based on interviews the author conducted with intersex individuals, each episode of "IS" (which spans about 100 pages) tells a multidimentional human story of an intersex person who lives and breathes in Japan. Our friends in Japan kindly sent us the September 2003 issue of One More Kiss, a romantic comic magazine for twenty-something Japanese women, in which the second episode of Rokuhana's "IS" is published.
The episode follows the life of Ryoma, who was born with "normal" male appearances, but grew up identifying with girls instead of boys. After rounds of bullying at school, Ryoma learns to supress hir feelings of isolation and alienation and to put on the mask of a "normal" boy who likes to surf in the ocean. At 17, however, Ryoma experiences the sudden development of breast and other feminizing changes in hir body, which forced him to abandon surfing (wetsuit reveals hir shape too much). Ze goes to the hospital for an examination, where ze learns hir chromosomal and endocrine anomalies. Physicians recommend that ze could receive double mastectomies and testosterone treatment to help hir continue to live as a man, but Ryoma decides to live openly as an intersexual whose gender leans more toward female than male.
Deepening the plot are two characters, Ryoma's younger brother and Tamachan, hir ex-girlfriend and neighbor ze continues to be close with. The brother gets angry when he finds out Ryoma's intention to stop living as a male, especially since he had looked up to the tough, surfer side of his older "brother," but he comes to realize Ryoma's strength in being true to hirself and educating their community about intersex experiences as an "out" intersex individual. Tamachan, who comes from an abusive family background and who have found consolation in her relationship with Ryoma, experiences her own transformation, too, as she becomes pregnant with her current boyfriend and prepares for marriage. She consoles Ryoma back as ze struggles with social rejection and doubt, telling hir that witnessing Ryoma's courage and strength made her believe that she could build a family that is supportive, unlike the one she came from.
We welcome the publication of "IS" because it is probably the world's first serial comics based on the real lives of intersex people, and it's sympathetic and accessible. The only request we have is that the future episodes of "IS" address issues and struggles beyond gender identity formation, because intersex people's experiences are diverse and do not always focus on gender identity.
Posted by Emi on Sep 1, 2003