Sôshokukei kara asuparabêkon made! ‘From herbivores to bacon-wrapped asparagus!’ Binary gender taxonomies and neoliberal self-making in modern Japan.

This article analyzes the Japanese kei system, a taxonomy of binary-based gender "types" (kei) that originated with Maki Fukasawa's 2006 coinage of sôshoku danshi ('herbivore men'), referring to men who are passive in romantic and sexual relationships. Since then, the kei system has expanded to include numerous gendered categories for both men and women, each defined by characteristic traits, romantic tendencies, appearance, and consumption practices. While the system increases visibility of diverse femininities and masculinities, it ultimately reinforces heteronormative and hegemonic gender norms through implicit and explicit evaluations of types. The article situates the kei system within neoliberal Japan, highlighting how it aligns with neoliberal notions of the self as a mutable bundle of traits subject to individual agency and self-branding, thereby serving as a framework for identity construction and romantic matchmaking within a normative binary gender structure.