This may or may not be a related concept, but I know that kabuki is still a premier art form in Japan, and one tradition is that certain actors specialize in playing the female roles. One of the greatest Kabuki actors of modern times, Bandō Tamasaburō V, is such a specialist. This is not at all equivalent to the Western concept of the drag queen or anything campy; it's part one of the most elevated art forms in Japan. Significantly, this gender tradition has continued centuries past the equivalent Western practice of having boys play girls' roles onstage (notably in Shakespeare's time and in the opera). So it must be something that Japanese culture is at home with. If this is true, it gives Japanese men an extra expressive latitude, I'd think.
As you say, kabuki is not directly related to figure skating, but I found your description providing a very nice hint to understand the cultural attitude of Japanese society.
Adding to your explanation, kabuki actors consist of only guys, and the culture of kabuki is traditionally handed down to the next generation from fathers to sons for hundreds of years(with some exceptions, though). Therefore kabuki actors are socially supposed to get married and have children, including those who specialize in female roles, so dressing in women’s clothes and playing a woman’s role never mean they are gay.
Kabuki is one of the most unique forms among many other forms of Japanese culture, and society of kabuki actors are considered to be quite atypical in Japan. But I think it can make a good example because I think I can point out that being androgyny
on the stage or a man wearing
costumes like a woman are not viewed in the negative way in Japan, because it doesn’t necessarily mean they are actually homosexual. Wearing womanish clothes is not a problem as long as they are regarded as
costumes, and being “beautiful like a girl” is a compliment because he is thought to be a boy not a gay, or even if someone who appears on TV is actually a gay, he is considered to be something exceptional that would do nothing with lives of ordinary people, since very few people come out that they are homosexual in Japanese society. But if a man begins to make himself look as a woman in his real life, probably people around him will see him in a negative way.
This is just my personal viewpoint.
Social attitude toward gender is related to so many factors in social, historical, political, cultural and religious aspects, so it cannot be explained in a simple way. So we’d need much more analysis and explanation if we tried to have an accurate and comprehensive understanding.
