This is an old revision of this page, as edited by Montrealais (talk | contribs) at 04:07, 1 August 2003 (bishounen in general aren't gender ambiguous (i.e. we know they're boys) - they're just androgynous in appearance). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.
Revision as of 04:07, 1 August 2003 by Montrealais (talk | contribs) (bishounen in general aren't gender ambiguous (i.e. we know they're boys) - they're just androgynous in appearance)(diff) ← Previous revision | Latest revision (diff) | Newer revision → (diff)Bishounen (literally, "beautiful boy") refers to a specific Japanese aesthetic concept of the ideally beautiful young man. The prefix bi- specifically refers to feminine beauty (bijin, lit. "beautiful person", refers to a beautiful woman.)
The bishounen is typically quite slender and not very muscular, with a tapered chin and effeminate or androgynous appearance.
The aesthetic of the bishounen began as an ideal of a young homosexual lover. It is perpetuated today in anime and manga, especially shoujo (girl) anime, shounen-ai, and yaoi.
Some western anime and manga fans use the term bishounen to refer to any handsome male character, although this usage is, strictly speaking, imprecise.
The equivalent term for a very beautiful girl is bishoujo.
See also the film Bishonen.