Ishii Yukari

Nowadays, the power of gender and sexuality works not only to reinforce and reconstruct the essentialized norms but also, in direct opposition, to deconstruct these norms. The new disciplinary power and its discourse encourages people to have diverse and fluid self/body images. This article aims to discuss the new characteristics of gender and sexual self-image, body, discourse, and social images in postmodern society through a comparison with Foucault's arguments. This article also briefly mentions how these phenomena have spread through society and questions whether recent social movements really go beyond the style of the former one, which is based on sharing the same identity.

Mothers of children with severe motor and intellectual disabilities have been found to identify with a mother who virtuously sacrifices herself to care for her child. In contrast are caregiving mothers who place more emphasis on themselves. Mothers of children with severe disabilities were interviewed to characterize perceptions of caregiving the emphasized the mother. As mothers' narratives revealed, the ideal situation was to not sacrifice oneself while providing care and to avoid being locked into the role of "a mother of a child with disabilities." This change in perceptions from virtuous self-sacrifice to more emphasis on oneself signals mothers and children transitioning from a single voice to independent actors. Support for this approach would facilitate entrusting the care of one's child to others, but such care systems are inadequate. Mothers are also overburdened by managing their child's care or they are severely limited in their career options.

This paper examines the change in images of transgendered and on-transgendered people and their relationship to a Japanese transgender drama group by analyzing six scripts written between 2000 and 2011. In the early dramas, transgender characters whose gender identity was depicted to be clearly the opposite of their assigned identity were in the foreground. However, later on, people whose identities were unique, reflective and not ready-made social identities with essential qualities began attracting attention. This transformation of the transgender characters in the dramas also reflects changes in the relationship between transgendered and non-transgendered people. The early dramas emphasized that it is necessary for non-transgendered people to be considerate toward transgendered people. Therefore a non-transgendered person was under the impression that had to accept and understand transgendered people. However, transgendered people seemed to show consideration for other transgendered and non-transgendered people over time. And, non-transgendered people were depicted as having emotional scars or some stigma, and should receive consideration in later dramas. This gradually led to the concept of gender identity disorder becoming less important, and transgendered people were required to always be considerate toward all individuals.

This paper examines the features of young transgender people's self-identities, which include their life stories and body images, from interviews with those who have a sense of discomfort in their assigned gender identities. These interviewees define their identities not as ready-made social identities and essential attribute but as unique and selective ones. In this paper, we call these identities the interviewees' "actual identities". Also, we see that interviewees' body images do not fall into dominant existing categories. Contact with other sexual minorities facilitates recognition of their identities and body images as different from those available as part of a readymade social identity. Their actual identities and body images are altered reflectively, which invites uncertainties in their future.

This paper considers the transitions in the "Guidelines for the diagnosis and treatmentof GID" , which was created by the Japanese Society of Psychiatry and Neurology. By analyzing the text of the guidelines, we observe that the current concept of gender has become less influential in representing a consistent identity model for society today.This is reflected in the following distinctions in the transitions of the guidelines in which there are five issues to be emphasized: First, gender identity is defined as being of multiple forms. Second, the approach to medical treatment is determined not only by an individual' s gender identity but also by his/ her life, world and value system. These factors explain the need for more diversity in medical treatment. Third, it is supposed that gender identity has coherence. Fourth, since diversity of gender is more emphasized, a patient's decision concerning treatment is more highly regarded than ever. And lastly, due to the extended scope of decision-making, the range of patients' self-responsibility for the risk is extended accordingly. It is evident from these guidelines that the concept of gender that has hitherto disciplined people has become weaker.However, this does not necessarily mean that society has become an ideal world.There are still various problems concerning the issue of transgenderism that must beconsidered.