Queering Gender Boundaries and Redoing Heteroamorous Desire: Youth Scenes As a Social Field for (Re-)Negotiating Gender Arrangements and Sexuality

Abstract

In Second Modernity, traditional affiliations, ideals and norms continuously are becoming less important. Among the things affected by that are gender norms and sexualities, so that the reflexive self now has the task of relating to these transformations. Based on scene ethnographies (interviews, group discussions, participant observations), this article examines how the (youth) scenes Visual Kei and K-pop serve as social fields to challenge traditional societal norms of gender and heterosexuality. Gender-neutral ideals and gender-differentiating norms coexist in Visual Kei; heteroamorous fantasies coexist with various sexual realities in K-pop. In both scenes, the scene-specific gender displays also significantly influence the sexual displays. Scene members embrace a great diversity of sexual orientations, thereby applying cultural globalization and socially constructing post-traditional forms of gender arrangements and sexualities that intertwine ‘Western’ as well as ‘Asian’ practices and aesthetics.

Introduction: Gender and Sexualities in Post-traditional Affiliations

In the 21st century, contemporary societies are characterized by numerous modernization processes such as individualization, pluralization and especially globalization. Within the social sciences, the latter is often understood in a shortened and simplified way in purely economic terms, and as a worldwide homogenization according to the ideals of ‘Western’ modernity. As the current worldwide hype of the Japanese and Korean popular culture (Hallyu 2.0) (Fendler, 2019) shows, globalization takes the form of cultural flows that run in both directions (Iwabuchi, 2001; Kang, 2022; Laemmerhirt, 2013; Yoon & Jin, 2017). According to the theory of reflexive modernization, post-traditional forms of affiliation are established through such modernization processes and become increasingly important as meaning- giving instances with their own offerings of interpretation and novel spheres of thinking and acting (Beck & Beck-Gernsheim, 2002; Giddens, 1991). Youth scenes such as the Japanese Visual Kei scene and the Korean K-pop scene offer examples for prototypical post-traditional formations of affiliation in the 21st century.

Youth culture research has a long tradition that draws from a variety of strands. From the 1960s to the 1990s, scholars at the Birmingham Centre for Contemporary Cultural Studies (CCCS) established the idea that youth formations are always political, spring from a common class origin and aim to subvert a hegemonic culture. In the early 2000s, new approaches emerged criticizing this concept. Within this post-subcultural turn, other theories have since been applied to explain the lives of young people (Muggleton & Weinzierl, 2003; also Bennett, 2011). One of these is scene theory (Irwin, 1973; Straw, 1991), which conceptualizes youth formations in modernity as fluid, reflexive and fragmented.

Youth scenes are cultural entities, essentially characterized by common aesthetic standards while exhibiting a commitment to shared ideas and ideals (Hitzler & Niederbacher, 2010; Bennett & Kahn-Harris, 2004; Driver & Bennett, 2015; Torkelson, 2022). While affiliation is voluntary, it is not self-evident. Instead, it has to be established through temporal and financial investment and be indicated through scene-typical signs and symbols (Hitzler & Niederbacher, 2010; also Ferreira, 2016). Beyond shared practices, scenes are dynamic entities with shared memories, emotions and affects (Bennett & Rogers, 2016), which will be illustrated later with reference to the K-pop scene. Although members of youth scenes are often young or adolescent, people also grow old in scenes (similar Bennett & Hodkinson, 2012; Willing et al., 2019). Young and old members alike share the common mindset of ‘juvenility’, characterized by a hedonistic attitude to life (Hitzler & Niederbacher, 2010).

Apart from conceptual and theoretical differences, youth or juvenile affiliations are considered catalysts of social transformation (Hitzler & Niederbacher, 2010; Gildart et al., 2020; Hebdige, 1979). The underlying modernization processes as well as the resulting individualized sense-making can also significantly influence gender orders, gender ideas and sexualities. Scenes are considered as contexts where young people engage and negotiate gender and sexual arrangements with less influence from adults or societal institutions (Bannister, 2006; Heesch & Scott, 2016; Woodman & Wyn, 2015). Previously, feminist-oriented studies analysed how gender is accomplished through reproducing orders and modifying gender boundaries. Various research results emphasize a continuity of traditional as well as a shift towards modern gender arrangements, for example, in sport (Geckle & Shaw, 2022), dancing (Araüna et al., 2020) and political engagement (Gonick et al., 2021).

Scenes are often discussed as particular social contexts that hold the potential for ‘gender manoeuvring’ (Bäckström, 2013) or for queering of practices and identities (Clifford-Napoleone, 2015; Taylor, 2012a). One specific research interest focuses on potential ‘resignifications’ (Butler, 1997, p. 14) as well as reinterpretations of cultural gender images (Toth, 2008). Scenes are considered to hold the potential for ‘gender experimentation’, boundary transgressions and subversive practices. Crossing ‘gender boundaries’ is described as a performative as well as a reflexive practice. Reflecting critically on the heterosexual bias of previous research on youth scenes and youth cultures, only a few studies have addressed non-heterosexual or queer practices and identities within these fields (e.g., Driver, 2008; Leibetseder, 2016).

Against this backdrop, we will present the results of a completed research project that investigated to what extent (re-)negotiations of gender and sexual arrangements take place in scenes. We reconstructed how scene-members negotiate gender, sexual arrangements and norms in the self-selected post-traditional contexts of (youth) scenes. In our article, we compare two scenes in which gender arrangements and sexualities have different meanings: Visual Kei and K-pop. We will first explain the theoretical conceptualization of gender and sexuality as social constructs and symbolic orders. In a second step, we present our data, consisting of group discussions, narrative individual interviews and participant observations. We then explain how we analysed the data using the documentary method. Subsequently, we present the most important results of our analyses by presenting typologies obtained from the analysed data: Gender-neutral ideals and gender-differentiating norms coexist in the Visual Kei scene; heteroamorous fantasies coexist with various sexual realities in the K-pop scene. Finally, building up on our theoretical background concerning reflexive modernity, gender arrangements and sexuality as well as post-traditional forms of affiliation, we discuss to what extent doing, undoing and/or redoing of gender and sexuality takes place in contemporary youth scenes.

Gender and Sexuality As Social Constructions

Following a constructionist understanding, gender differentiation is an ongoing social practice. Gender is thus understood not as an essential characteristic of an individual, but in line with the concept of doing gender (West & Zimmerman, 1987) as a social phenomenon that is (re-)produced in social interaction. Although gender is omnipresent, it can also be insignificant in social interactions, which is captured in the concept of undoing gender. Within the social sciences and cultural studies, different understandings of the concept can be found. For instance, undoing gender is conceptualized as the interruption or omission of gender differentiation (Hirschauer, 2021), as resistance to the practices of gender differentiation (Butler, 2004) or even as the changing of gender norms (West & Zimmermann, 2009; for a summary see Nentwich & Kelan, 2014, pp. 122–124). The latter aspect is also discussed in terms of ‘redoing gender’, taking place ‘by expanding or altering the norms associated with gender’ (Connell, 2010, p. 32). Subsequently, we also understand sexuality as a social construct and a symbolic order, established in social interactions and cultural discourses. According to Plummer (1975, p. 30) ‘nothing is sexual but naming makes it so’. Sexuality includes sexual identity and orientations, pleasures and desires as well as sexual experiences and attractions. Sexuality is subjected to processes of standardization, disciplining and power (Foucault, 1979). Sexuality can, but does not necessarily have to, align with sex and gender. Moreover, the expression of sexuality varies according to historical and cultural context (Brickell, 2006; Caplan, 1987; Epstein, 1994). Youth scenes provide social spaces where gender and sexuality are negotiated.

Approached from such a constructivist perspective, the empirical analysis focuses not on gender differences but on processes of gender differentiation and how gender arrangements are interconnected with expressions of sexuality. Considering the conceptual triad of doing, undoing and redoing gender, our analysis does not only focus on doing gender but also on where and how gender differentiation is omitted or disrupted (undoing gender) and on how existing gender norms are expanded or changed (redoing gender). The goal of our research project is to provide a systematic comparative analysis of how scene members ascribe relevance to gender and sexuality and to outline how they negotiate them in the respective scene context. More explicitly, our objective is to explore the foundations of knowledge that create meaning and guide the actions of scene members and to reconstruct both the role gender and sexuality play within these bodies of knowledge and how gender and sexuality are gradually rendered relevant or irrelevant.

Data Basis and Methodological Approach

Our article is based on qualitative data, collected in two scenes that are quite popular among contemporary juvenile people in Germany: the Japanophile Visual Kei scene, which strives to transcend gender boundaries and embraces sexual diversity, and the South Korea–loving K-pop scene, which celebrates the heteroamorous desire for music stars while also embracing sexual diversity. The empirical data presented in this article consist of 6 narrative interviews, 10 group discussions and participant observations conducted over the course of four years. In the project in total four youth scenes were examined (Visual Kei, K-pop, Rockabilly and Sport Climbing) and a total of 16 group discussions and 31 individual interviews were conducted.

Participants were German teenagers, adolescents or young adults who had joined the scenes since their (early) youth. Interviews and group discussions each lasted from one to four hours. In total, 15 members of the Visual Kei scene and 16 members of the K-pop scene were included. The participants’ age ranked from 16 to 40, with the majority being in their early twenties. The respondents’ current involvement in the scenes ranged from occasional participation in scene events, to regular meetings and information sharing, to scene careers (such as scene store salesperson or owner, scene clothing designer, musician and event organizer). Characteristically, members of both scenes rarely express their gender identity or sexual preferences. This shows that they are reluctant to fit into binary logics. In line with our theoretical assumptions about doing, undoing and redoing gender, we did not explicitly ask about their gender identity or sexual orientation in order to keep open whether and, if so, how gender and sexuality are relevant to them.

Typically, there is no formalized membership for scenes. Scenes are ‘cloudy’ formations: They are constantly in motion and continually changing shape. This makes it difficult to determine the size of a scene (Hitzler & Niederbacher, 2010). Reliable quantitative data on the size of both scenes are not available. Nevertheless, in the wake of current trends (such as Hallyu or the enthusiasm for other Asian youth cultures), the Visual Kei and K-pop scenes are known and quite popular among German youth.

Initially, our research consisted of visiting typical meeting spots: for example, conventions and club nights (Visual Kei), dance classes and cinema screenings of concert recordings (K-pop). In the field, we were sometimes able to establish personal contact and conduct interviews or discussions almost immediately; sometimes we arranged to meet later. In addition to theoretical and empirical sampling, we followed up on recommendations from people via the snowball system and were thus able to gain further field contacts. For example, in conversations or interviews, we very often received opportunities to contact other people who were considered particularly important due to their knowledge, their contacts to celebrities or their (professional) activities in the scene. We also conducted ethnographic studies using participant observation in the field, during discussions and interviews. In conjunction with the narrative data, this allowed us to create two scene ethnographies, including specific scene vocabulary, artefacts and practices (Pfadenhauer, 2005; also Glass, 2012; Hodkinson, 2005), achieving a more comprehensive view of each scene than if we had relied only on narrative data.

In order to prevent a potential reification of gender (for general information, see Butler, 1988), we did not start with questions focusing explicitly on gender. Instead, we settled for broader topics related to what is characteristic for the scene, what distinguishes people within the scene and what are typical misunderstandings or prejudices about the scene, and we also inquired how interviewees would explain ‘their’ scene to outsiders. Only afterwards gender- and sexuality-related topics that had not been addressed so far by the respondents themselves were (re)taken up via (exmanent) follow-up questions. It turned out that gender-related issues are often thought of together with (potential) sexual intercourse, desire, erotic fantasies or relationships in both scenes.

Researching young people, especially about gender and sexuality, is ethically challenging. We adhere to the Code of Ethics of the German Research Foundation, which funded our project. Interviews and discussions were conducted with informed consent. Field contacts always had the option of opting out of the research process. They told us their first names, sometimes just scene nicknames; later, for data analysis, we anonymized all personal names as well as names of locations, places, etc.

We analysed the group discussions as well as the scene-biographical narrative interviews using the documentary method (Bohnsack, 2014, 2010). Relying on Mannheim’s sociology of knowledge and his notion of ‘documentary meaning’ and Garfinkel’s ethnomethodology that conceptualize the ‘documentary method’ as a mundane procedure of sense making (Dahl, 1994; Schüttpelz, 2019), Bohnsack understands linguistic utterances of everyday communication as documents for underlying patterns. Furthermore, intersubjectivity forms the basis for the construction of sociality and indexicality of everyday communication. The analytical procedures of this method provide access not only to the explicit but also to the tacit, consciously not available knowledge of the actors guiding the practice of action.

The common basis of the documentary interpretation of different data types is to reconstruct orientations as well as experiences of scene members. Reconstructing the relationship between orientations and experiences is the main objective of the documentary method and can be achieved on both a collective and an individual level (Bohnsack, 2014, 2010; Nohl, 2010). In order to reconstruct meaningful and practice-guiding knowledge, a ‘formulating interpretation’ was carried out, in which a thematic fine structuring of each group discussion, its ‘topical structure’ (Bohnsack, 2014, p. 225), took place. This was followed by a ‘reflective interpretation’ during which the framework of a narrative was elaborated and its underlying patterns of orientation were reconstructed, finally resulting in the development of typologies. Thereby, the relevant frameworks of orientation of the discussants and interviewees were reconstructed. Subsequently, the typification was gradually differentiated via comparisons with other frameworks of orientation, both on the same topic and on other topics (Bohnsack, 2010, pp. 111–112; Nohl, 2010). In the following, we present the results of our analysis.

Undoing Heteronormativity: Queering Style and Sexuality in the Visual Kei Scene

Visual Kei is a bilingual word combination, a so-called ‘wasei-eigo’, consisting of Visual (English) and Kei (Japanese). The scene regards itself as ‘visual origin’ or ‘visual system’. Japan plays a core role as orientation. The cultural idealization encompasses all forms of lifestyle: from ways of dressing, to popular culture, to cultural practices. Visual Kei initially refers to the music genre Japanese Rock (J-Rock), which is a mixture of various genres (such as Metal, Glam Rock, New Wave and Bat Cave) and appears in a wide variety, including elements of classical music.

A mandatory participation criterion is the interest in J-Rock. Nevertheless, the unifying element is not so much the music genre but rather a visual assemblage of extroverted self-stylizations borrowed from European baroque, Japanese Kabuki theatre and contemporary styles such as Gothic, Steampunk or Host. In Japan, there are so-called host clubs where single visitors can find a companion for the evening. Male hosts’/female hostesses’ duties also include sophisticated conversation, charming interactions and various dance skills, but no sexual intercourse (Takeyama, 2016). In the Visual Kei scene, the styling of male hosts is particularly popular: a dark suit, shirt, silver jewellery and bleached blond to silver-grey hair. Vestimentary practices often aim at visibly blurring ‘gender markers’ for both males and females (Heymann, 2013). Within the stylistic diversity of clothing, hairstyles and makeup, members follow a specific visual order that they themselves understand as a ‘scene code’. De-coding, appropriating and displaying the code are essential. In line with that, scene members also refer to themselves in a gender-neutral way, as ‘Visus’, and assign themselves a Japanese-like nickname, which is usually also gender-neutral.

Visus always accentuate music and styling in distinction to the ‘West’ (meaning Germany, Europe and the United States). Examining aesthetic characteristics of the scene proves to be particularly beneficial for gaining insights into gender negotiations. Interviewees showed a great fascination with Japanese Kabuki theatre, a cultural institution in which men also play female roles, that is, dress as women and move in a theatrically feminine way. While the aesthetic practice – popular among prominent musicians as well as scene members – displays some parallels with Kabuki theatre, the motives vary widely. In Kabuki theatre, women were traditionally not allowed to perform, so men also played female roles, all while reproducing heteronormativity via aesthetics and acting on stage. In the Visual Kei scene, by contrast, Kabuki theatre is reinterpreted and understood as breaking out of heteronormative visual orders (Malick, 2019, p. 177). The aesthetic ideal of queering gender display is interconnected with queering sexual orientations. Visus prefer a so-called ‘androgynous’ style because they consider either masculine or feminine styles as too strict and because‘there is something else in between’ as one interviewee explains. Furthermore, he tells us, ‘I didn’t say “oh I want to be the cool samurai”, but “oh I want to be the sweet geisha”’. Another one adds: ‘But I would also like a little bit of the samurai. […] Both have aesthetic features that are great or attractive. Why give up one or the other just because of some physical limitations.’

Visus question ‘Western’ gendered and sexual norms, and they try to de-construct the general assumption that androgynous gender display is a signifier for homosexual orientation. Therefore, blurring gender display equals blurring ‘sexual display’.

Respondents from our study praised ‘the’ Japanese masculinity, which is perceived as not being characterized by (hyper)masculinity, but is instead distinguished by breaking with ‘Western’ notions of masculinity, for example, by men using decorative cosmetics. This view of gender arrangements in Japan is strongly idealized by Western scene members. However, the ideal of the ‘salarymen’ reveals a rather conservative gender regime in Japan, which entails fathers performing an enormous workload and being primarily responsible for the financial upkeep of the family, while mothers are almost solely responsible for parenting the joint children (Taga, 2017). According to Charlebois (2017), since the 2010s, deviations from heteronormativity have been gradually tolerated or even accepted in Japan. At the same time, they are confirmed to have the potential to disrupt gender norms (Frühstück, 2020). Regardless of Japan’s gender conservatism, Visus see their scene as open, respectful, tolerant and diverse. The assumed and romanticized diversity of gender and sexuality in Japan is what German scene members find particularly appealing (such self-idealizations are also described in fan studies; see Hills, 2017, p. 877).

Mandatory practices also include authentic self-presentation, whereby ‘gender boundaries’ are to be visually blurred (via clothing, hairstyles, makeup but also gestures). According to assumptions about ‘typical’ Japanese gender arrangements, the (at least) stylistic gender representation is modelled after the ideals of androgyny and transgender. This involves the queering of aesthetics, bodies and desires. Since non-heteronormative scene clothing rarely can be bought and an aesthetic-stylistic assemblage is mandatory, extensive DIY (do-it-yourself) skills are necessary. Queering gender display at scene events is not only a means of challenging gender binarity. Following Taylor (2012b), some scenes claim queerness at the centre and understand queer or drag performances as a political critique of heteronormativity. However, in the Visual Kei scene, there is a wide range; some are attracted to queer aesthetics, others talk openly about polyamory or their queer identity, again others do not want to commit (yet). Queer performances are also a way of attracting others, and Visus love to attract and impress with their look. Nevertheless, attraction must not be misunderstood as sexual availability. Scene events usually take place in the middle of the day, and many minors are participating in order to see ‘their’ favourite Japanese musicians for the first time and are overwhelmed just by watching them (Seibt, 2013). Acquiring knowledge about the numerous Japanese Visual Kei bands, their musicians, their biographies and scandals (from sexual practices to suicidal tendencies) is equally as obligatory as collecting music albums, posters and other fan utensils – including the accompanying heroization of musicians as ‘idols’.

Affirming gender and sexual diversity, identifying with and conforming to aesthetic ideals are mandatory criteria for participation. If scene norms are not respected or disregarded, this misbehaviour is sanctioned with exclusion from parties or even from the scene as a whole. Gender diversity should be respected and celebrated, whereas heteronormativity is expected to be visually broken. Along with historical figures and cultural forms, the elaborate stagings of musicians at shows and in official music videos are seen as aesthetic role models. Two modes are often found here which are both intended to disrupt heteronormativity – whether with progressive or with playful and fun motives: In the case of ‘onnagata’/‘josō’, male musicians almost completely adapt a feminine connoted stylization. In the case of ‘gender free’/‘gender bending’, the stylization contains non-gender connoted elements or an ambiguous gender representation. In this context, modes of stylization are not necessarily meant to express a sexual preference or gender identity (Johnson, 2019, 2020; McLeod, 2013).

Although gender-indifferent representations and (at least situationally) gender-indifferent attributions are typical in the sense of undoing gender, one special form of traditional doing gender occasionally occurs in the Visual Kei scene. Especially male interviewees look at younger female Visus’ enthusiasm for musicians as romantic-naive adoration and discredit their behaviour by referring to it as ‘fangirling’.

Fangirls, that’s such a term for all the female fans that go to the concerts and then stand in the front row and scream their heads off that your ears fall out and are like ‘oh, he looked at me,’ ‘oh, he spit on me’.’ The interviewee laughs and continues in a high-pitched voice, ‘Oh, I even caught his water bottle, oh.’

Male interviewees consider the inappropriate ‘fangirling’ a matter of age and gender. The ‘wise’ males predict that ‘fangirls’ will grow up and learn how to blur gender display without exaggeratingly celebrating idols. Although all interviewees criticize traditional binary gender arrangements, they themselves argue in accordance with this logic when it comes to girls’ alleged lack of knowledge and inadequate adoration of idols.

The world outside the scene is primarily discussed as a threat. This is because the scene-typical queered look is seen as a provocation by outsiders who react with verbal or even physical attacks (also Jauk, 2013). Thus, (sexual) harassment outside the scene appears as ‘a form of control of gender-nonconforming self-expression’ (Kaltiala & Ellonen, 2022, p. 1). Visus, in contrast, want to experiment with aesthetics and practices (largely) beyond gender signification and understand the scene as a space for openness and tolerance. In contrast to the threatening world outside, the scene serves as a safe space and is romanticized accordingly by the scene members. Nevertheless, they also take some safety precautions. For example, in our field study we regularly notice at the end of events that many scene members take off their opulent clothing, wigs and makeup and put on plain everyday clothes. They then leave the safe space of the event without attracting attention. Despite frequent occurrences of hostility from outsiders, Visus have developed a narrative of superiority over traditional gender arrangements and heteronormative sexualities in modern Western society.

Re-doing Gendered Desire: Heteroamorous Fan-idolization in the K-pop Scene

The K-pop scene is characterized by the narrative of a happy life, thanks to happy music, the legitimacy of heteroamorous desire of idols (stars of the scene) and a romanticization of the Korean (popular) culture. To date, the K-pop phenomenon has often been explored under the distinctive label of the Hallyu wave, for example, how it is a global phenomenon and how local practices emerge (Ryu et al., 2020). The term ‘Hallyu’ describes the worldwide increasing popularity of South Korean popular culture (such as TV dramas, movies, fashion and music) that has persisted since the 1990s. The fact that K-pop is strongly aligned with ‘Western’ preferences in terms of music and aesthetics and that Hallyu has also been pushed by the Korean government (Walsh, 2014) is something our field contacts do not (particularly) care about or do not want to know. The obligatory criteria for scene affiliation include a preference for Korean pop (predominantly originating from South Korea), passionately collecting material artefacts and the will to socialize at concerts, fan conventions or TV shows.

The essential stock of knowledge includes vocabulary that is used to label scene-relevant phenomena. For example, erotic fantasies are alluded to using ‘ship names’ in which the first names of two same-sex idols are combined in a shortened form to create a portmanteau. Gender and desire in K-pop are primarily relevant in the (imagined) fan–idol interaction. In complementary arrangements of actors and practices, the idols are fixpoints for a heteroamorous desire. Unlike the Visual Kei scene, the term ‘fanboying’ is used as well as ‘fangirling’. Both terms have positive connotations and are explicitly intended. The desire for idols has analogies to the socially standardized ideal of a heterosexual, monogamous, romantic couple relationship. Similarly, it is taken for granted that K-pop fans ‘love’ only one idol, further referred to as ‘ultimate bias’. Desiring multiple ‘ultis’ at the same time requires just as much explanation as switching to another. Frequent switching is even considered infidelity or sin.

Unlike other scenes, the so-called K-pop fans have only subtle identifying features such as fan shirts of ‘idol groups’ or small merchandise accessories (e.g., key chains or bracelets from concerts) which they love to collect. Through merchandise, they feel symbolically and emotionally connected to their favourite ‘idol groups’ and their favourite star (the ‘ultimate bias’). Artefacts are often so sacred to them that they carefully keep them at home and place them in a kind of ‘shrine’. Artefacts serve as a materialization of their devotion; they collect official photographs and videos to always carry ‘their’ idols with them on the mobile phone.

Erotic fantasies, however, are not envisioned in the hope they might come true, but they rather serve to strengthen the bond between K-pop fans in shared ‘fangirling’/‘fanboying’. Some focus groups of females perform fangirling in front us.

When telling anecdotes about concert visits or evenings spent together in front of videos (about concert recordings, Korean TV dramas or TV shows), they gush, admire and giggle a lot. Often their speeches overlap so quickly that not everything is understandable and parallel conversations take place. When giggling, they often lean towards each other, seek physical contact and occasionally whisper something into the ear of one of the others behind their hands. (Observation note May 2016)

Those practices are not understood as gender-differentiated. Although scene members use a vocabulary that suggests a clear differentiation, they actually want to dissolve binary gender patterns to some extent. There are only differences as far as gender complementarity is concerned, meaning it is orientated towards the (ascribed) gender identity of the idol. When fanboying, male fans get excited about the hypergirlish-feminine performances of girl groups (also Oh, 2014, p. 56) and thereby oscillate between attributions of sexually connoted femininity and belittling attributions of girls. In fangirling, female fans develop romantic to erotic fantasies about boy groups. Such fantasies are usually inflamed by the idols’ ‘fanservice’, such as ‘androgynous’ or ‘chauvinistic’ displays of masculinity at concerts or in music videos (Oleszczuk & Waszkiewicz, 2020). Within an idol group, idols play different roles in order to push erotic fantasies of their fans. Interestingly, the androgynous display (like being masculine with a feminine ‘touch’ thanks to decorative cosmetics) is just as popular with fangirls as the chauvinistic gender display (like pretending superiority over girls and women). ‘Fanservice’ is seen as a reaction to fangirling and fanboying, whereby idols and fans continually drive each other in a kind of a perpetuum mobile of ‘fan fanaticism’. Moreover, clauses in employment contracts with entertainment companies prohibit intimate relationships or mixed-sex bands aiming to suggest the permanent availability of idols.

Although K-pop fans know it is a show in which idols play a role, they nevertheless (or therefore especially) let themselves be carried away to heteroamorous fantasies. If, however, it is revealed that an idol is either dating someone, is in an established relationship or has secretly married someone, this so-called ‘dating scandal’ attracts enormous attention. K-pop fans express surprise, anger or outrage on digital platforms. The German fans we interviewed make both a generational and a cultural distinction. According to them, primarily younger German fans are outraged. In contrast, they present themselves as mature adults who are more reflective and happy for their idols’ joy of love. However, they also giggle when they watch music videos and romanticize being together with ‘their’ idol. Furthermore, they set themselves apart from Asian fans who react to ‘dating scandals’ with cyber bullying or even physical assault. Regardless of the strong generalizations of ‘the’ younger or ‘the’ Asian K-pop fans as homogenous groups, and the internal differentiations related to it, it becomes clear that all scene members cherish the fantasy that idols exist only for them and that one day, they could be together with them.

In particular, the label ‘sasaeng’, used for obsessive fans, clearly shows which desires and practices are considered legitimate fan actions (for instance, erotic fantasies) and which are considered illegitimate ‘sasaeng’ practice (for instance, ‘chasing’ idols). A romanticized representation of desire, for example, scene members reporting how they first met their current ‘ulti’ and became ‘addicted’ to him or her, counts as legitimate action. Usually this means that fans first became aware of ‘their’ K-pop idol through music videos or TV shows and fell in love with him or her almost instantly. Then they fantasize about their imagined fan–idol relationship, tell others about the idol’s outstanding ‘qualities’ (usually beauty and humour) and collect as much information as they can about ‘their’ idol (even their blood type). Erotic fantasies are common and allowed, even expected, as long as fans do not claim exclusivity for ‘their’ ulti. As soon as people become symbolically or physically assaultive, desires and practices get devalued, labelled as too extreme and even pathological, and their commitment is questioned. In this regard, the interviewed fans connect to international media discourse, condemning the ‘chasing’ of K-pop idols by so-called ‘sasaengs’ (Williams & XinHo, 2015). A striking aspect in our empirical data is that all field contacts refer to life-threatening scenarios when they claim that Sasaengs should not be considered fans but ‘psychopaths’. This is because sasaengs put idols in danger, for example, through defamation, trespassing or assault. In addition to the presumably true content, the mostly verbally propagated narrations feature a larger fictional narrative framework in which sasaeng-like practices are declared evil and immoral. The fans empathize with the imagined suffering experienced by the idol, the heroic protagonist, and they co-suffer anew each time the narration gets retold. By telling these scene myths, K-pop fans do not only display their knowledge but also caution and remind each other to conform to ideals of desire and practice. More precisely, no one is excluded from the scene. Nevertheless, there is an internal debate within the scene about the legitimacy of fan practices. As soon as fan practices come across as obsessive (‘sasaeng’), or a fan group appears to be hostile or even warlike (the so-called ‘fandom wars’), a strong symbolic distancing is carried out. For this reason, scene members strive (at least rhetorically) to avoid anything that would render them nonconformist, especially deviant labels for themselves or their fan group.

Similar to Visual Kei, K-pop fans romanticize their scene insofar as, in their view, it represents a safe space for them in distinction to the scene exterior. The scene serves as a sphere in which heteronormative desires and practices can be experimented with. Fanfiction (on ship names or fangirling/fanboying) in particular is used to explore heteroamorous desire without consequences. Heteroamorous practices are expressed even when fans live in homosexual relationships. Although the scene-specific idol worship shows parallels to the socially standardized ideal of a heterosexual, monogamous love relationship, the K-pop scene also functions as a space of refuge and emancipation in which queerness can be expressed. Nevertheless, this is not a case of doing gender in the traditional sense. Instead, we would rather speak of redoing gender: while the specific constellation of fans and idols may be heteroamorous, this constellation is neither classically arranged for monogamous exclusivity nor does it presuppose heteronormativity, nor does it come with any intention to actually realize the relationship either. Rather, K-pop can be interpreted as a modernized variant of courtly love that expands gender norms because central elements of courtly love are evident in K-pop, such as the one-sided, hierarchically organized worship and idealization of a person and love that is neither limited to sexuality nor wants to be physically realized. But this new form of courtly love, as has been shown, is not limited to traditional gender arrangements (on courtly love, see O’Donoghue, 2006).

For some K-pop fans, the desire for the Korean phenotype is so strong that they even prefer Korean-looking people when choosing real (sexual) partners. According to Oh (2017), it is the female gaze in particular that not only modifies heteronormative gender relations but also destigmatizes the Asian male body, which the ‘Western’ gaze often reads as effeminate or emasculated. Nevertheless, German K-pop fans oscillate between a ‘Western’ and an ‘Asian’ gaze. Whereas androgynous displays of masculinity (such as those of K-pop idols) are not read as queer in South Korea (Oh, 2015, pp. 63–64), some of our interviewees assume that several idols are gay because of their androgynous performances. When a group wants to tell us about fanservice, they add beforehand: ‘Well, you have to assume at least one member of every band is gay. Because the way they gay around on stage. […] The idol groups do nasty things on stage for the fans.’ They list kissing each other, pouring water bottles over each other’s heads or ‘a little striptease’ as examples. They justify their gay assumptions by referencing the taboo of displaying homosexuality publicly in South Korea, whose society is widely considered to be homophobic. Likewise, it is also possible that they are following the ‘Western’ heteronormativity while conflating androgynous looks and practices with homosexual orientation. No matter if the focus is directed at celebrating the idols for their modern presentation or at speculating about their alleged homosexuality, the fans, mostly female, usually react to artistic presentations (such as androgynous aesthetics, acrobatic dance performances and sexually connoted body movements) with honouring, sympathizing and eroticizing comments.

The Two Scenes in Comparison

The objective of this article was to reconstruct the extent to which youth scenes can be regarded as fields for (re-)negotiating gender arrangements and sexualities. Both are closely interwoven: one category is not conceivable without the other. The regulation of sexuality in terms of sexual desire and orientation and vice versa is determined by typical gender images and norms of the respective scene. The reconstruction of gender arrangements, ideas and expressions of sexuality, (gendered) symbolic guidelines and practices as well as values, all considered typical for the scenes, can be abstracted into scene-overarching typologies. In youth scenes, they find like-minded people and use the opportunity to (critically) engage with gender as well as sexual orientations, desires and fantasies. What unifies both scenes is a focus on non-Western role models, the romanticizing of Asian cultures, gender arrangements and sexual orientations, and the questioning of heteronormativity. The scenes differ in the coexistence of gender-neutral ideals and gender-differentiating norms (Visual Kei), on the one hand, and heteroamorous fantasies and various sexual realities (K-pop), on the other.

Visual Kei: Gender-neutral Ideals, Gender-differentiating Norms

The Visual Kei scene is characterized, above all, by a focus on Japan as a role model, which relates to the music genre J-Rock and for aesthetic self-stylization. The scene-specific Japanophilia has a distinct gendered dimension, insofar as scene members gravitate towards (supposedly) typical Japanese ideas of masculinity and femininity and critically distance themselves from ‘Western’ ideals of masculinity. The orientation towards Japan and its gender arrangements results in two main aspects: One is a normative ideal (openness and respect towards the diversity of gender arrangements and sexualities); the other is a scene-specific visual order that aims to transform dualistic gender boundaries. Thus, the Visual Kei scene shows significant forms of undoing gender, insofar as members ideally and stylistically strive to blur binary gender images. Nevertheless, negotiations about gender arrangements and erotic desires do not take place without disruptions. This is particularly evident in the paradox of male scene members invoking gender binaries to label and discredit the desires of young girls as inappropriate. Not even scene members are unaffected by the binary of gender: As scene members are not detached from a social reality largely structured around a binary gender code, this logic – although at odds with the scene’s ideal – occasionally is replicated in internal social distinctions.

K-pop: Heteroamorous Fantasies, Various Sexual Realities

In the K-pop scene, South Korea serves as cultural reference point and functions as a role model. Belonging to the scene is necessarily connected with practices that contain clear gender and erotic connotations. The central moment is formed by fan–idol interactions. Adoration is displayed exclusively in a heteroamorous manner, even if this does not correspond with the sexual orientation of the respective K-pop fan. Heteroamorous desire is expressed through fangirling and fanboying. The scene-specific idol worship shows parallels to the socially normed ideal of a heterosexual, monogamous love relationship. Nevertheless, K-pop also serves as a space of withdrawal and emancipation that allows for the actualization of non-binary gender arrangements and monogamy. Most notably, it is the worship of idols that seemingly comes across as a form of doing gender in the sense of traditional gender arrangements. However, if one includes the rules of desire within the scene, it becomes clear that it is actually a form of redoing gender. Although the relationship between fan and idol has heteroamorous connotations, it does not rely on monogamy and sexual exclusivity or actual implementation, nor is heteronormativity a necessary requirement. Accordingly, we interpret desire in the K-pop scene as a modernized version of courtly love that extends common gender norms.

Discussion

As shown by our results, criteria of scene affiliation are almost always gendered. This does not only apply to scene-specific ideals of gender arrangements and forms of erotic or sexual desire. It is also evident in everyday scene practices and in the negotiation of incongruities which can be traced back to the difference between the internal space of the scene and the world outside. Scene members need to be capable of acquiring knowledge and skills about stylizations, music (history), symbols and social manners. Furthermore, cultural practices serve not only to reinforce community but also to express scene-specific gender arrangements and sexualities. The obligation to confirm specific scene ideals and to perform them stylistically or idealistically is always prevalent; otherwise, members are threatened with exclusion from the scene.

Due to the qualitative-explorative design of our research, our results do not claim statistical representativeness. Further research is needed in order to examine to what extent our results can be found in other scenes as well. There are also scenes in which gender stereotypes are re-actualized, for example, the Rockabilly scene (Wustmann et al., 2019). Therefore, our results cannot simply be transferred to other scenes without further ado. Furthermore, the question arises about the significance of scenes with regard to the members’ entire social life and biography. There are indications that some scene members focus their entire life on the scene, but in other cases the scene affiliation is only predominant during youth and early adulthood with little influence on further life stages. Biographical research is needed to reveal to which extent orientations, values and habits developed within the scene are enacted in other realms of the social world outside the scene (family, workplace, etc.).

It can be concluded that scenes provide spheres for the (re-)negotiation of gender arrangements, sexualities, (gendered) symbolic guidelines and practices as well as value attitudes. Furthermore, the Visual Kei and K-pop scenes reveal that globalization proceeds not only economically but also culturally and that globalization does not solely mean Western modernization. Our data show how some young German people (from the Global North) prefer gender aesthetics from Asia, how they engage with both ‘Western’ and ‘Asian’ conventions of gender arrangements and sexual displays and ultimately how Japanese and Korean pop culture can influence and inspire European youth in the 21st century. The scene-specific renegotiations of gender and sexuality, however, never take place without disruptions and incongruities, which necessarily result from the simultaneity of renegotiations occurring within the context of contemporary gender, scene and cultural ideals. With regard to gender arrangements and sexualities, the lines of conflict between scene ideals and the everyday pragmatism of a modern world structured on gender binaries might just provide some insight into what potential for social transformation scenes can provide in the future.