“I'm your own men” Women's soccer and “sexual diversity” February 14, 12:14
Now, the movement to transmit "sexual diversity" from the women's soccer world is accelerating.
At the Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics, the number of athletes who announced that they were sexual minorities was 220, the highest number ever, and the number of soccer girls exceeded 40.
There are many people such as LGBTQ among the friends I met during the 16 years I was playing soccer.
Women's soccer has a soil that makes it easy to express yourself as you are.
We interviewed the players who started to send out in each form.
(Takaho Naito, Director, Sendai Base Broadcasting Station)
Women's soccer world that emphasizes "sexual diversity"
Last September, Japan's first women's professional soccer league "WE League" opened.
One of the principles we have set out is "sexual diversity," which recognizes various ways of thinking about sex, such as LGBTQ.
Kikuko Okajima, the leader of the league, declared in a greeting, "It is a league that is prepared to move forward with gender equality in Japan."
Women's soccer has long been focused on promoting understanding of "sexual diversity."
We hold workshops on sexual diversity for all athletes and instructors, and hold educational events called "pride matches" in various parts of Japan such as Tokyo and Miyazaki.
Talk shows where players talk about LGBTQ, and all the players play with nails and laces as rainbows that symbolize sexual diversity.
"I'm a men, right?"
Originally, the word "men's" is used in the women's soccer world.
There is no formal definition, but it is a word that expresses a masculine element, such as sexual orientation (the sex you like) is female, and gender expression (the sex you express) is more male.
It is used as one of the words to express oneself in the same sense as "male / female", such as the conversation "I am men's" between players.
I played soccer from elementary school to college.
Many of the friends I met during club activities and overseas expeditions were LGBTQ people, and I was familiar with people with diverse and diverse sexuality.
There is an environment where it is easy to express one's own sexuality as it is, and I think that the ambiguity of the concept creates a gentle world.
Okajima Chair, the top of the WE League, who has played an active role as a Japan women's soccer player in the 1980s, wants to aim for a "society where everyone can live in their own way" by transmitting from women's soccer.
WE League Kikuko Okajima Chair
"The women's soccer world has a free atmosphere where LGBTQ players can come out and talk normally. By transmitting from here, we aim to create a society where people can live as they wish. I would like to involve companies, educational institutions and other sports organizations to create a big whirlpool. "
"I want to live without lying" Viamaterasu Miyazaki Yuma Saito
The movement that the players themselves send out has also begun.
Yuma Saito, a 28-year-old soccer player who has announced that she is a sexual minority.
Former Japan national team player.
Since he was in elementary school, he has been troubled by the disagreement between his mind and body.
Even if he became a top-level player, he couldn't stand the demands of women's uniforms from his company and the demands for feminine words and behavior. I have decided to live as a woman.
Yuma Saito, a former Japan national soccer player, said,
"It was a uniform that looked like a skirt with the bottom divided in half like a culottes. I didn't really want to wear it, but when I said that, the company also teamed up.
I didn't have the image of living in the future as a woman, so I was so worried that I would be a man, and I thought about soccer the most. died"
"I fell in love with myself", but on the other hand, my thoughts on soccer ...
Mr. Saito changed the name on the family register from "Akane" to "Yuma".
I also changed her appearance.
Her long-standing anxiety during her hormone therapy and surgery to reduce breast swelling has disappeared, and she "she can now live without lying to her", which makes her more than ever. It is said that he liked himself.
But as she begins her life away from football, she feels something is missing.
She realized that her achievements at work couldn't replace her joy and accomplishment in soccer, and Saito looked for a team to play soccer again.
She was worried about "Is there a team that accepts me as a sexual minority?"
"Is it possible to return to the soccer world?"
She met the team "Vi" that started activities in Miyazaki Prefecture in 2020. It was "Amaterasu Miyazaki".
When her Saito talked to her management about her own sexuality, she said, "That's your personality. No problem at all, let's play soccer together."
Yuma Saito
"I was afraid that the team would be damaged together, such as being told that there is a guy like a man just because I am in the team. But first I was a party to LGBTQ. When I talked to him, he said, "It's okay at all. It's okay to have various things." I felt that he was accepted quickly. I felt that "this team is my place."
I found my whereabouts in the women's soccer world again
In December 2020, Mr. Saito returned to the soccer world for the first time in two years *.
I made it clear on my SNS that it was a sexual minority, and the team also announced it to society.
(* Mr. Saito's male hormone is below the specified value. Approved by the league)
When I talk to Mr. Saito's teammates
Teammate
"U-san (Mr. Saito) is always very cheerful and the mood maker of the team. When it comes to games, he is super serious. He is an ace striker with momentum. I think it's dignified and cool. "
Last year, Viamaterasu Miyazaki got a ticket to the national tournament for the first time, thanks to Mr. Saito's success.
“I want to help those who are worried” Disseminate their own experiences
Mr. Saito is a lecturer at a workshop to think about the sexual diversity of the WE League, hoping to help people who are suffering as much as he used to be.
Last year, he talked about the conflict he had when he was playing as a former Japanese national team player for "women's soccer" at a player training session.
Yuma Saito
"When I carry the Hinomaru on my back or when I'm working, I don't know if I'm a woman or a man." I was worried. At that time, I used to use "when I was spending my time deciding that I should be like this as a female soccer player" and "when I could be myself as I am". "
He also conveyed his earnest thoughts about life choices that he realized because of his experience.
Yuma Saito
"I did the surgery on my chest (to suppress the swelling) on my own initiative. But when I look back on the fact that I didn't like the high voice and gave hormones, and I didn't like the feminine name, I changed the name. I think it was stronger because I was more concerned about the world (rather than wanting myself). Some people may be thinking about surgery when they quit soccer in the future, but their own Is it a will, or is it because you care about the world and think that you have to do this because the world is like this? I want you to take great care of it. "
Mr. Saito once decided to live as a man, but now he says, "I will live as Yuma Saito, who is neither a man nor a woman."
Yuma Saito, a former representative of Japan for soccer girls,
"Now," self-identification "is not a man. Recently, in addition to LGBT, various words such as Q (quia, questioning) have come out, but the concept of words I think that Yuma Saito, who is neither a man nor a woman, is the one I am now. I don't want to lie to my own feelings, I want to live a life that I can understand. It's not like that, but I'm living while expressing myself, it's not embarrassing, I think it would be great if I could make a call that would be perceived as such. "
Mr. Shiho Shimoyamada who noticed overseas "It is not to hide"
Shiho Shimoyamada (26), who played as a player of Sfida Setagaya FC until the 2021 league, continues to actively communicate.
Since announcing that he is the first active athlete in Japan to be a sexual minority three years ago, he has shared his experiences through events and lectures by organizations that support LGBTQ.
When I went to Germany after graduating from college and played for two years in the women's soccer league, my teammates asked me "Do you have a partner?" Instead of "Do you have a boyfriend?" Seeing the introduction of same-sex partners to directors and fans, he realized that it wasn't to hide.
Developed "Products that reduce menstrual problems" from the perspective of the parties concerned
Last year, Mr. Shimoyamada worked on the development of a new product.
Depending on the amount of liquid, it is an underwear with high water absorption that can be spent with one piece.
The trigger was the voices of LGBTQ parties regarding menstruation, which came to be sent to Mr. Shimoyamada, who has sent out his own experiences.
"Every month, every time I get my period, I get a disagreement between my physical condition and my gender identity."
It is said that he decided to develop after learning that there are people who have the same worries as himself.
Shiho Shimoyamada
"I didn't like myself having to deal with my period, and (when my period came) I felt like I was really reminded that I was a woman. I wanted to make a product that would make it easier to forget that it was menstrual in a sense. "
Mr. Shimoyamada aimed for pants that can be "cool" even during menstruation.
We conducted a questionnaire about what color and design we wanted, and based on black, which was overwhelmingly desired, we made it a simple design with no decoration.
Shiho Shimoyamada
"Many sanitary napkins are very cute, and sometimes I feel uncomfortable when choosing them. Therefore, I usually put the design of men's boxer shorts that I wear into water-absorbent pants. I made"
Resolve the worries that many have felt
When we raised development funds by crowdfunding, we collected more than 6 times the originally expected 1 million yen.
While many impressions were received, voices from non-athletes and women who were not sexual minorities also came one after another.
"I go to the bathroom less often."
"Because it's black, the color of menstrual blood isn't noticeable even on menstrual days, so it's easy to wear."
Products created to resolve the discomfort of sexual minority parties have led to the resolution of the concerns of people other than the parties concerned.
Shiho Shimoyamada
"I was surprised that there were many people in society who had put up with the fact that" sanitary napkins = feminine (feminine) is the norm ", and that there were many people who wanted to live the way they wanted to. I realized that even if you are not an LGBTQ party or an athlete, you can benefit people who have similar problems. I want to find services and products that convey to people. "
In addition, he told me this.
Shiho Shimoyamada
"The goal is not to" consider "the parties at all. It is not a world of" parties / non-parties "and" consideration / consideration ", but everyone has various elements and each lives as it is. Creating a society where people can affirm each other. That is the goal. "
I felt that the movement of the women's soccer world, which values various sexualities as diverse personalities, not only eliminates discrimination and makes it easier for the parties to live, but also has a positive impact on many people. rice field.
We will continue to interview to find hints for a society that recognizes "sexual diversity".
Sendai-based broadcasting station director
Takaho Naito Reiwa
3rd year Joined
Mainly covering sports and sexual diversity, issues of female athletes