Final Paper in FYS 6

This is where you will be able to find links to the final papers of all your classmates in FYS 6! The links should also be available on the Students tab as well.

• Eloise Fairbrother : "The Watchful White Eye"
• Paul Finn : "Final Paper"
• Liv Gilbert-Adler : "Winning the White House with Hate"
• Quin Lewis : "Marriage and Law"
• Zach Lipsett : "Final Paper"
• Sam Miller : "Final Paper"
• Karen Matsuoka: Final Paper
• Olivia Paredes: Final Paper
• Katie Patton :"Strict Scrutiny and Marriage Laws"
• Rosemary Peters : "Pansexuality"
• Hannah Rivera : "Final Paper"
• Ray Stein-Alvarado : "Final Paper"
• Carter Vaughn : "Final Paper"
• Alex Wells : "Marriage isn't the problem"

You need to have posted a draft of your final paper to your personal blog by 11:30am Monday December 4 AND communicated the URL to me. 

Then I will link this blogpost to the post on your blog containing the paper. During the week students will be reading each other's papers and revising them to include a citation to one other student's paper in the final version of their paper, which they post to the exact same place as their first draft (the URL must remain the same or the links will be broken). 

Japan’s First Step: Shibuya Recognizing Same-Sex Marriage

 

Japan’s First Step: Shibuya Recognizing Same-Sex Marriage 

On April 1st, 2015, Shibuya ward (in Tokyo) became the first to recognize same-sex marriage. The certification of same-sex marriage will benefit couples such as housing and hospital visitations. While this district is a small part of Japan, this was a big move in IGBTQ+ rights in the country. According to Nippon.com, Shibuya mayor Kuwahara Toshitake wanted “the creation of a diverse society, where differences are accepted” (McMahon, p. 8). In the 19th century, homosexuality was normalized among samurais, priests, etc., while Europe thought that it was sinful and a crime due to its strong sense of Christianity. But in the Meiji era, Japan wanted to adopt Western ideas, and homosexuality was later seen as an illness or abnormal thing. Without expressing interest in becoming more Westernized, homophobia would not have existed in Japan, it was all because Japan wanted to superiorize themselves by relating themselves with Europeans. It is also interesting to consider how this is compared to the US. Again, the homophobia in Japan came from Europe. Still, the US was legalizing same-sex marriage nationally while Japan, a country that used to normalize homosexuality before Western influence, has just announced its first legalization of same-sex marriage in a district. The difference in scale and how things move in different countries are interesting. 

Citations:

“Tokyo Ward Shibuya Certifies Same-Sex Partnerships.” BBC News, BBC, 31 Mar. 2015, www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-32130599. 

“Rainbow in the East: LGBT Rights in Japan.” Nippon.Com, 1 July 2023, www.nippon.com/en/currents/d00174/?cx_recs_click=true. 

“Signs of Growing Acceptance for Japan’s Gay Community.” Nippon.Com, 1 July 2023, www.nippon.com/en/nipponblog/m00074/?cx_recs_click=true.