Feminizing Theory by Rhea Ashley Hoskin

Author:Rhea Ashley Hoskin [Hoskin, Rhea Ashley]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781000436839
Goodreads: 57486913
Publisher: Routledge
Published: 2021-09-09T00:00:00+00:00

Towards a minor-transnational TL esthetic

When first released in 2015, Yes or No 2.5 was expected to further ignite the already popular image of a lesbian couple that perfectly fits the mainstream esthetics. Although fans expressed disappointment over Aom’s absence in Yes or No 2.5, the movie was still promoted and celebrated as an extension of the previous series, especially given the participation of Tina, who had already built up a large fanbase. In a series of interviews during its promotional period, the four actresses mostly presented themselves as the two couples set by the movie—either wearing matching outfits or formal dresses, suits and gowns. The actresses seemed to maintain the butch and femme appearance that had proven successful since the premiere of Yes or No in 2010. Yet, while the four were applauded for their presentation on-and off-screen, a large number of femme-identified fans started to post reviews expressing their fantasies over the erotic relationship between Pii and Wine.16 In one of the news conferences, the four actresses, originally standing as two butch and femme couples, were even asked by the fans and journalists to swap their positions so that Tina and Nan, who plays Pii, could stand closer to each other (HongyokV23_AF10, 2015). These aggressive femme audiences’ desires for a Pii and Wine/Tina and Nan romance shocked the film company. Their fervent yearning for more butch-on-butch love scenes off-screen even overwhelmed the actresses to the point that Tina and Nan seemed awkward and disconcerted when facing this fervor on the TV show (Li, 2015).

Interestingly, the lesbian-heterosexual story of Yes or No 2.5 is coupled with a large number of scenes showing the ambivalent affection between Pii and Wine, both of whom represent the ideal image of an Asian butch: Pii with her dandyish, fashionable style and Wine with a hipster, gentlemanly tone. In the very beginning of the movie, the two lie down on the living room floor covered with one soft white sheet. Lying on her side, Pii tightly cuddles Wine in an intimate posture—her thigh on Wine’s waist and hand on Wine’s breasts. Slowing waking up, Wine whispers to Pii that she feels hungry. Pii first moves her face closer, almost kissing Wine, and then gets up to make a sumptuous breakfast for both of them. During the breakfast, Pii stares affectionately at Wine eating and Wine tenderly wipes butter away from Pii’s lips. With a sweet guitar soundtrack in the background, it is hard not to imagine Pii and Wine as a butch-on-butch couple.

However, as the story develops, the two femme characters enter the narrative and the affection between the two butch characters fades away as the film confirms its butch-femme coupling theme, which echoes lesbian norms in East Asia. Yes or No 2.5 seems to be an extremely lesbian-heterosexual work that flawlessly recreates this East Asian lesbian normativity. However, the simulated butch-on-butch affection implied in the film smuggles in a possible TL esthetic that actually conveys a much more active femme subjectivity that should not be overlooked and yet is never noticed in any official movie review.

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