"Lost Generation". Analyzing the connection between mental health, sexual identity, precariousness and social expectations through the manga "My lesbian experience with loneliness"
Abstract
My Lesbian Experience with Loneliness is an autobiographical manga created by Kabi Nagata. This manga offers testimony of two issues whose political importance is what motivates this analysis. Firstly, Nagata exposes her experience dealing with psychological problems derived from depression and anxiety. Secondly, the author reflects on the discovery of her repressed sexual identity. The study reveals how many of the social and health problems reflected in My Lesbian Experience with Loneliness are very present in the younger generations of Japan, while analyzing how these problems are linked to cultural constructions typical of Japanese society, as well as expectations derived from the patriarchal society. Lastly, the study shows how these health and social consequences are related to the Japanese neo-liberal reform after the bursting of the economic bubble in the 1990s.
This manga works as a testimonial document of topics of great importance both in the field of psychology and in the social and cultural field. This study addresses the political projections of My Lesbian Experience with Loneliness, with the aim of promoting understanding on mental disorders and exposing the consequences of sexual repression, job insecurity and social pressure.
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