What's wrong with Japan?

[Faint]

I like a lot of things about Japanese culture, but seriously--what's with the pedophiliac cartoons? Anime is mainstream there, and it seems like you can't watch any of it without seeing an upskirt, panty-shot of some little school girl. This is to say nothing of hentai and "tentacle rape" cartoons. Why do you think they are so fascinated by this?

And in the real world Japan, they've had such a problem with the sexual assualt of girls on subways, that they've had to step-up law enforcement. Are guys in Japan are just really perverted (and why would this be the case), or is it that they're no more perverted than we are in the States and the UK--it's just that they're more open about it?

I mean, porn is big business everywhere--but Japan produces a very strange variety of it.

 

[Ori]

Well Japan have certainly been strange since the American influence, though I don't think in general they differ much from anyone else, they are definitely far more polite.

 

[Ody]

Congratulations you have possible scared me away from japan for eternity.

 

[evearael]

I believe the problem isn't any worse in Japan than here. The only difference is that Japan is a very small country with a very large population. The amount of sexual predators are greater per square mile because the population is higher. This is only compounded in high density, low consequence and high anonymity areas like the subway. Don't fool yourself, most women you know have been raped, molested, sexually assaulted, etc. right here in America. The official numbers are one and four girls before the age of eighteen... though of all the women I've had this conversation with only one had never had this experience. This is an epidemic.

 

[evearael]

As far as the anime goes, I oppose the sexualizing of children. It is abuse. This is different than being open about sex. A child should be aware 'where babies come from' but it is inappropriate to teach them about or expect sexually charged behaviors and body language.

 

[Faint]

they are definitely far more polite.

Except when they're groping school girls on the subway?

 

[Flappycat]

Ah, man, I love the Japanese! HA! Us Yanks went in there to Walmartize our culture to them, and, instead, they skimmed the cream off the top and used it to their own nefarious ends! I love that. I think they're actually a little more conservative than us in realistic terms, however. When I say "conservative," though, I mean with a slightly different attitude from ours, of course.

Someone does need to talk to their animators about the school girls, though, because I don't think that I'd take well to being molested on a subway. Oh! Their ladies are starting to steal ideas from our feminists! It isn't unoften that, while on a train, you'll here a smack and some woman hollering "seku-hara! seku-hara!" Of course, as they have for the past half century, the Japanese are going to take the idea and do it bigger and better and crazier .

Anyway, yes, there really is a serious problem of sexual harrassment in Japan, and, unfortunately, it is actually true that what is shown in the media eventually feeds back into society. As a libertarian of sorts, I think that it is the job of the people in the media themselves, not the government, to change a lot about their attitudes, and I think that they could be persuaded to make a positive movement within their communities if the feminist organizations were to treat them as potential allies, rather than enemies. Laws alone can't protect us: everyone needs to participate in making the world a safe and sane place, absolutely everyone.

 

[Faint]

I believe the problem isn't any worse in Japan than here. The only difference is that Japan is a very small country with a very large population. The amount of sexual predators are greater per square mile because the population is higher. This is only compounded in high density, low consequence and high anonymity areas like the subway. Don't fool yourself, most women you know have been raped, molested, sexually assaulted, etc. right here in America. The official numbers are one and four girls before the age of eighteen... though of all the women I've had this conversation with only one had never had this experience. This is an epidemic.

Good points.:clap The world looks really disgusting when you consider those stats. But do you think America is just as guilty of sexualizing children. On further consideration, I thought about the past Hillary Duff, T.A.T.U. and JoJo videos on MTV, make-up sales at The Limited Too, and Abercrombie marketing thongs to preteens....are there other examples?

 

[evearael]

I absolutely agree that America is guilty as well... remember the thread on beauty pagents? Shudder! Our media is saturated by sex on every level. Sex sells and corporations are targeting younger and younger audiences. What is truly sick is that the number of parents who either a) don't realize the nature of the media and such that their children are exposed to or b) don't care and believe it to be acceptable.

 

[kevmicsmi]

Don't fool yourself, most women you know have been raped, molested, sexually assaulted, etc. right here in America. The official numbers are one and four girls before the age of eighteen...

I would be curious as to the source of the info that tells you one in four women have been sexually assaulted. I am positive this number is extremely inflated.

 

[Ðanisty]

As far as the anime goes, I oppose the sexualizing of children. It is abuse. This is different than being open about sex.

You guys are talking about Lolicon and Shotacon. It's manga (ie: comic book drawings) that depict children involved in sexual situations. The comics themselves aren't for children. Given those two things, I have to say that I don't see how it is abuse. One might find it twisted, but no children are harmed in the making of these comics. Also, they are highly unrealistic. In most of the scenarios, the children are the predators. It is fantasy and nothing else. In fact, if I felt like it (which I do not...maybe someone else does), I could make the argument that such comics help keep people from acting on their urges.

The comics are not just popular in Japan. There are entire websites, forums, and image boards dedicated to Lolicon and Shotacon and you'll find that the users of such websites are worldwide. I do not think an interest in Lolicon and Shotacon is necessarily indicitive of anyone's desire to act these things out. Most fans recognize the differences. The characters in these comics do not really look or behave like real children. You would notice on most of these websites that there is an adament hatred for real child pornography.

As for what is wrong with Japan? We nuked them. At least, that's the joke that my hubby and I make. Regardless, I love Japanese culture.

 

[evearael]

It was in Style Weekly in Richmond by a sexual abuse prevention group. I'll see if I still have it. It also cited the same for one in six boys...

As a survivor, I am positive that number is too low. I am the only one who gave a police report among all the women I know, the other women are too scared to come forward.

 

[kevmicsmi]

It was in Style Weekly in Richmond by a sexual abuse prevention group. I'll see if I still have it. It also cited the same for one in six boys...

As a survivor, I am positive that number is too low. I am the only one who gave a police report among all the women I know, the other women are too scared to come forward.

I feel horrible you had to go through something like that. Here is an editorial I read sometime back.

http://www.wendymcelroy.com/ifeminists/2004/0421.html

The 1-in-4 figure ranked as the Number One Myth in "The Ten Most Common Feminist Myths" flyer from the Independent Women's Forum, which was circulated amid controversy on campuses in 2001. IWF commented, "The researcher, Mary Koss, hand-picked by hard-line feminist Gloria Steinem, acknowledges that 73 percent of the young women she counted as rape victims were not aware they had been raped. Forty-three percent of them were dating their 'attacker' again."

Grego claims that when he confronted the professional coordinator of COURAGE about the statistic, she told him that the cause of "raising awareness" about rape was more important than the questions surrounding Koss' study

 

[evearael]

As I said, I disagree with the statistics, but in the other direction from you Kev. I am frankly not surprised that a researcher was found to be misleading, as sadly, that is the norm. I am highly irritated because this is the type of BS that undermines justice for the survivors and prevention. I also fully acknowledge that there are women with no ethics who make false accusations of rape. This is a grave insult to all survivors because it undermines justice. When I finally went to the police station, my husband and friend were caring for the baby and chatting with the officers while I gave my statement. They were very kind and professional towards me and I dearly appreciate it. They said that nine out of ten women who came to report rape were obviously fabricating it, and it was a d***ed shame because it meant the commonwealth attorney and the judge were that much less likely to take it seriously. Sure enough, the commonwealth attorney wouldn't take my case unless I broke a promise to reveal the identity of the second victim. The biggest problem is these girls are so scared out of their minds that they don't dare come forward... especially to some stranger with a survey. It's truly sad... most real victims do not come forward, while most who do are faking it.

 

[Jaymes]

As far as the tentacle cartoons go, it's not a new thing... there are similar paintings preserved from the Edo period.

I think repression of sexuality might have something to do with it, but I'm not in a place to comment... I've never been there and don't personally know people that have, so I can only go on what I read.

 

[evearael]

Well, the western world has succubi... I've visited Japan and I would love to go back, but I wouldn't let my child ride the subway alone.

 

[nutshell]

This thread seems very xenophobic. It's easy to point fingers and identify the wrongs of a culture when it is outside your own. Does Japan have issues? Of course, but who doesn't?

Pornography has been around...forever, and each culture has molded what form that has taken within their society.

I'm not saying Japan is guiltless (it was pretty frustrating as a Mormon missionary in Japan to receive pornographic "junk mail" daily), but we all have our strong points and weak points.

A stigma is being created for those who enjoy the "schoolgirl porn" in Japan. I admit, last time I was there, my wife, my wife's friend and I, saw I guy looking at these sexy manga playing cards. We stared at him as hard as we could. He became irritated and said something under his breath and we all let him have it (verbally, of course). He quickly got off on the next stop.

 

[nutshell]

Well, the western world has succubi... I've visited Japan and I would love to go back, but I wouldn't let my child ride the subway alone.

Smart. The culture is different enough that children are often alone...on the subways, walking down the street, in the stores. I suppose it's how the U.S. used to be.

 

[nutshell]

As far as the tentacle cartoons go, it's not a new thing... there are similar paintings preserved from the Edo period.

I think repression of sexuality might have something to do with it, but I'm not in a place to comment... I've never been there and don't personally know people that have, so I can only go on what I read.

Just out of curiosity, why do you think that? "Repressed" is the last word I would probably use to describe Japanese sexuality.

 

[evearael]

The Japanese tend to be very open about nudity and sexuality. Kids know where babies come from, and that is just fine. This is separate from sexualizing children, by showing panty shots of school girls. This is not 'fine' in any way.

The Japanese, however, live a very high stress life style... look at the suicide rates... and that may have more to do with need for the ramped up diversions than anything else.