スカートをはいて闘う男

この文章は私が何年も見続けてきた香港の俳優・歌手レスリー・チャンへ捧げたものです。これを読んだ方が英文にしてくださって、本人にも渡してくれました。さらにある方がご自分のサイトに載せてくださって、イタリアから感想のメールをいただいたときは、とても嬉しかったです。日本語だとなかなか他の国の方に読んでいただる機会もないので、良い経験でした。

いまさら男が化粧をするぐらいでは驚かない。髪が長いやつなんてどこにでもいる。ピアスをいくつつけようと見慣れたものだ。しかし、その男には度肝を抜かれた。彼は、スカートをはいて現れたのだ。そのスカートはスコットランドのキルト風で、巻きスカートになっているから動くたびに太腿がちらちらとのぞく。デザインはジャン・ポール・ゴルチエだ。 　香港でおこなわれたレスリー・チャンのコンサート会場で初日、客たちは彼のいでたちを見て息を呑んだ。翌日、そのスカート姿が香港の各紙を飾り、物議を醸した。規制の多い中国文化を土台とした香港で、男がスカートをはくなんて、と批判的意見も出たようだ。本人もそれは覚悟の上だったという。 　レスリー・チャンは「覇王別姫」「欲望の翼」「ブエノスアイレス」などで海外でも高く評価されている香港の俳優であり、歌手でもある。三年ぶりのコンサートには日本からも大勢のファンが駆けつけた。 　実は、わたしも自分の目でスカートをはく彼の姿を見ることができた。そして、スカートをはいている男を見ている女たちの反応を見て、あまりにも多くのことをこの事象が含んでいることに気がついた。ジェンダー、心理学、服飾研究など、どの見地に立っても興味深く語れそうなのだ。 　スカートというのは、自分は着る側なので、単なる衣服という認識しかなかったのだが、男のレスリー・チャンが着ているのを見て、初めて反対側の視線、つまり異性の視点で見ることができた。なにしろ、見ている女性たちの反応がおもしろい。スカートには二つのデザインがあり、日によって変えていたのだが、一つは膝丈で、もう一つはふくらはぎくらいの長さなので足がかなり隠れてしまう。彼女たちは「スカートは短い方がいい」「ちらっと足が見えた方がいい」などという言葉を興奮しながら口にしている。これは大変なことになったと思った。男と女がスカート一枚ですっかり入れ替わってしまっている。 無防備なスカートで闘う意味 　どんなに男性が女性化し、女性と同じようにおしゃれするようになっても、スカートというのは男にとっては未踏の領域であり、女にとっては、女らしさを主張できる最後の砦だった。女はスカートもズボンもはくが、男はスカートははかない。それほど、スカートというのは女を象徴する衣服なのだ。 　スカートを男がはいていると、ものすごく無防備に見える。男は闘わなくてはならないという役割をずっと背負わされてきたから、すぐに闘える服装であるズボンをはいてきたはずである。それが、スカートではあまりに無防備で不安定に見えるのだ。ではデザインをしたゴルチエもレスリーも闘うことを放棄したのかといえば、決してそうではない。むしろ、嬉しそうにスカートの裾をひらひらさせて歌う彼の姿に、「闘うのは武器を持つだけが能ではない」という不思議な、ある種勇気すら感じられる闘い方を見たような気がしたのだ。 　今回の彼のコンサートには首尾一貫して主張があった。「私は私であることをあるがままに受け入れる」という歌詞の「我」という歌に集約されていたが、それはあたかも彼の生き方を歌っているように聞こえた。彼には数年来の男の友達がいる。その人はおそらく恋人だろうと言われている。そのことを公に言ったことはないが、明らかにマイナスイメージであろうと想像されるのに、あえてあまり隠すこともせず、しかも仕事の方では役柄の幅をせばめることなく活躍している。それでも、彼や家族の受ける中傷、差別や偏見は並大抵のものではないだろう。そのような背景の中、スカートをはいて歌うレスリーはなんとも自由で愛らしく生き生きとしていて満足そうに見えた。 女装とは明らかに異なる。顎にはうっすら髭があり、男の足がにょっきり出ている。もちろん化粧もしていない。しかし、スカートだからこそより鮮烈にアピールされたのは、「なんだってできる。不可能だって可能になるのだ」という強烈なメッセージだった。「闘う」というにはあまりにもかけ離れた姿にもかかわらず、清冽な覚悟のようなものが伝わった。決して力を入れていたわけではなく、むしろ柔らかく迷いもなくごく自然に、そこに存在していた。それでいて多くの人の心に入り込んでいた。こんなやり方で、彼は多くの人の固定観念を簡単にひっくり返し、敵をなくしてしまったのだ。 痛みの共感から解放へ 「男はつらいよ」という映画のタイトルを聞くと、つい「女もつらいよ」とつぶやいてしまう。スカートということを考えただけで、どんなに制約があることだろう。ズボンの方が明らかに動きやすいし楽なのは確かだ。しかし、女らしさをもっとも顕著にあらわすのがスカートであるだけに、女たちは不安定で無防備でもスカートをはく。女であることを楽しむこともできるが、ある意味不自由で、不便でもある。大きな歩幅で歩いたり、大胆にふるまったりできない。それと同じように心にも意識するしないは別として、何らかの制約がかかり、タガがあるものだ。男もつらいが女もつらい。 　男として生きる悲しさ、女として生きる悲しさ、そのどちらでもない性で生きる悲しさ、ひいては生きていく上で誰もが味わわなければならない悲しさや痛みが、なぜかこのうっすらとあご髭を生やし、スカートをはいている男の背後に透けて見える。痛みは、しかし彼を輝かせ、見ている人々にも不思議な共感を呼び起こす。そして、そのしめやかな共感は次第に大きなエネルギーとなって解放の方向へと向かう。 　スカートの裾をゆらゆらさせるたびに、「君も自分の選びたいように道を選んで好きにやってごらん。なにも怖いことなんてないから。なんだってできるから」と促されているように感じるのだ。その背後には規制や偏見に対する挑戦も含まれているともとれる。熱狂する観衆はいつのまにか男がスカートをはいていることなど、当たり前のように受け入れ、それまで自分に課していたタガは取り去られ、心が解き放たれていく。そして、まるで背中を後押しされたかのように、前に向かってもう一歩進んでみたくなる。あのスカートは、そんな彼の言いたいことのすべてを象徴しているようにさえ思われた。 　そして、わたしには彼のスカート姿はズボンよりも戦闘服よりも、彼らしく何にも変え難い聖なる闘いの服に見えたのだ。」

A Man Fighting in a Skirt It is not really surprising at the number of men who wear make-up nowadays. There are also men wearing their hair long everywhere you go. It is nothing new either to see them with pierced ears. This particular guy however, completely dumbfounded me. He showed up on stage in a skirt. It was a kind of Scottish kilt, a wraparound skirt, so every time he moved, I caught a glimpse of his thighs. By the way, it was designed by Jean Paul Gaultier. On the first day of the concert given by Leslie Cheung in Hong Kong, when the curtain rose, it would not be inaccurate to say his attire took the audience's breath away. His figure in a skirt hit the headlines in the Hong Kong dailies the following day, which caused a lot of commotion. There seems to have been those critical about him, saying things like, "Can you believe a man who wears a skirt?" in Hong Kong with the tightly regulated Chinese cultural climate lying underneath the surface. Leslie commented that he expected as much. Leslie Cheung is an internationally acclaimed film actor who starred in a number of films, including "Farewell My Concubine," " Days of Being Wild" and "Buenos Aires," and is a talented singer as well. It was his first concert in three years, which drew crowds of fans also from Japan as well. In fact, I was able to see him in a skirt with my own eyes. And upon seeing how women reacted to this man wearing a skirt, it dawned on me that this phenomenon implied so many different things, such as gender role, psychology and dress study, and it can be an interesting subject from any standpoint. When it comes to skirts, since I'm one who wears them myself, they had been no more than clothes to me until that point. When I saw this male, Leslie Cheung, in a skirt, however, I was able to see from a different perspective for the very first time, i.e., from the viewpoint of the opposite sex. At any rate, it is of great interest to see the reactions of the predominantly female audience. He wore two different types of skirt, depending upon the day; one was knee-length and the other was about calf-length which pretty much hid his legs. They were saying excitedly, "the shorter one is better (sexier)," and "it's better to get a glimpse of his legs." Good grief! Men and women have been switched by a mere skirt! That's really how I felt! What Fighting in a Defenseless Skirt Signifies No matter how much men may be feminized or become more attentive about their appearance as women are prone to be, the skirt was unfamiliar territory for males, while being the last fortress for women allowing them to assert their femininity. Whereas women are free to wear both skirts and trousers, men just don't wear skirts. The skirt is a piece of clothing that symbolizes being female. When a man is in a skirt, he appears to be defenseless. Since men have traditionally been charged with the role of fighting, they must have worn pants, enabling them to go into battle immediately. For that reason, when they are in skirts, they look so defenseless and unsteady. Did then both Gaultier who designed the skirts and Leslie give up on the predisposition to fight? Absolutely not. When I saw him sing so unconsciously with the hem of his skirt flapping, it made me think that 'being armed is not everything when it comes to fighting'. It was just another alternative way of fighting, which even made me aware of the courage that I felt emanated from him. This time around, there was a consistent message Leslie wanted to get across to the audience throughout the concert performance. It was condensed into the word "Wo(I)" in the lyrics of his song, i.e., " I accept what I am" and it sounded as if he were singing about the way he chose to live his life. He has been seen with a male friend over the past several years who has been rumored to be his boyfriend. Though Leslie hasn't said as much in public, he hasn't kept it a secret in particular, either, which presumably has given rise to a negative image, though. Despite this however, he has played an active part on the stage without narrowing the sphere of roles that he has undertaken. Even so, I can imagine that it would be no easy matter for either him or his family to suffer the slanders, discrimination or prejudice resulting from such rumors. Against such a backdrop, seeing Leslie singing in a skirt he appeared to be so liberated, charming, lively and contented. This is clearly different from transvestism though. I saw a light beard upon his chin and manly legs sticking out from his skirt. Needless to say, he wore no makeup. However, what appealed vividly all the more for his skirt was a loud message saying 'I can do anything. Even the impossible becomes the possible.' Although his figure was far from suggesting a fighting posture, I felt that there was something like a cool, clear resolution that was conveyed to me. He didn't put on a bold front at all, and in contrast he was just there on stage gently, quite naturally showing no hesitation. And yet he was able to go deep into many people's hearts. In this way, he easily upset the fixed traditional idea that many people have; thereby vanquishing the enemy. Sympathy about Pain to Liberation Whenever I hear the movie title "Otoko wa tsurai yo(It's Tough to Be a Man)," I can't help muttering to myself, 'It's tough to be a woman, too.' When you just think about skirts, there are so many restrictions. There's no doubt that it's easier to move around and it is more comfortable in pants. Given the fact that the skirt represents femininity most conspicuously, however, no matter how much women may feel unstable and defenseless, they continue to wear it. While they can enjoy being woman, they have to in a sense put up with certain inconveniences as well. They can neither stride along too quickly nor sit down too roughly. In the same way, whether consciously or unconsciously, there are certain psychological restrictions that are imposed on them, which for some reason make them restrain themselves. It's tough to be a man for sure, but it's equally tough to be a woman. Not only the sadness of living life as a man, or even as a woman, or as neither of the two, but the sadness and pain that every single person has to suffer in order to live was clearly prevalent and embodied within this guy with a light beard on his chin and in a skirt. That pain, however, made him brighter, arousing an unusual sympathy from among the audience. Moreover, such soft sentimentality, in turn, gradually grew and became a great energy heading for liberation. Each time he flapped the hem of his skirt, I felt as if he were encouraging me by saying, 'why don't you go your own way and do just as you like? 'Cause there's nothing to fear. You can do anything if you put your mind to it.' It can also be interpreted that behind this was a message as a challenge to convention and prejudice. The enthusiastic audience came to accept the fact that a man was wearing a skirt as a matter of course really before they knew it, while the restrictions that were imposed on them by themselves were removed, and subsequently their minds became liberated. And then, as if they were being pushed by an invisible hand from behind, they came to feel encouragement and be able to move another step forward. His skirts seemed to symbolize all that he wanted to say. More importantly, it seemed to me that Leslie in a skirt was more his real self than in pants or a combat uniform, and it appeared he wore it more like a sacred attire for fighting which could not be replaced with anything else.