Comments on: Liberal Help Wanted

By: Joe

Joe — Wed, 23 Apr 2008 07:49:10 +0000

Why not go all Jerky Boys on them, and call and record a conversation with them posing as a flaming okama looking for work?

By: Ret

Ret — Tue, 22 Apr 2008 17:27:36 +0000

If you check out the Japanese want ads for any industry, you’ll often see restrictions on age and gender (plus the whole must submit a passport photo thing). So they’re saying they don’t subscribe to the ‘only young attractive females’ discrimination that is common for jobs like these (or the health profession for that matter; check out the want ads for nurses or dental assistants/hygienists some time).

As for okama, I had an interesting discussion with a female Japanese friend the other day. She split the difference between gay and okama in that okama visibly act gay (for guys, the higher voice, female speech patterns, feminine gestures). So they’d be the types to face a lot of discrimination at an interview as opposed to many gays whose only difference is sexual preference.

By: harvey

harvey — Tue, 22 Apr 2008 15:58:50 +0000

I totally should have known that. Thanks for catching me Ken Y-N! Geesh.

Hey Alex, I’m not sure about the real definition of Okama… I think I have heard it used both ways, but not sure…

By: Alex

Alex — Tue, 22 Apr 2008 03:15:17 +0000

I always that オカマ meant a transvestite. Slightly different connotation than ‘homosexual’, but maybe I was just misinformed.

By: Ken Y-N

Ken Y-N — Tue, 22 Apr 2008 02:23:22 +0000

That’s 問わず, which is regardless of age/sex/sexual orientation.

The shorthand/cursive form of the 門 radical is…difficult to explain! Let’s try this, which will probably get chewed up by WordPress:

—|—
| |
| |
| |

Three strokes, with a line through the cross-bar, is the quick way of doing 門.