I have organised a panel entitled “Pornography as sexual education in Japan: Case studies of men’s consumption of pornographic texts” along with Patrick Galbraith, Alexandra Hambleton, Kyohei Itakura, and Jason Karlin which will be presented at ASCJ 2019 at Saitama University, June 29-30. If you are in Japan (perhaps before AAS-in-Asia in Bangkok!) do come along.

Here is the abstract:

Pornography as sexual education in Japan: Case studies of men’s consumption of pornographic texts

The Japanese pornographic industry is one of the largest in the world. The industry’s influence within Japan is immense, emerging as a significant source of knowledge concerning sexuality. Recent years have seen a growing condemnation of the negative impacts consumption of pornography is having on sex education in Japan, with many arguing pornography contributes to patriarchy and a culture of sexual violence. Within this panel, we respond to these critical voices to explore the role of pornographic texts as both socio-economic commodities and cultural tools in the production of knowledge concerning sexual desire amongst Japanese men, both heterosexual and homosexual. We draw upon the critical investigation of pornography to deepen scholarly understanding of the constantly changing nature of masculinity at a time when strongman politics, patriarchal backlash and anti-LGBT rhetoric is drawing attention once more in Japanese public life. We thus read pornography as cultural texts that reveal tensions surrounding understandings of masculinity, patriarchy, and heteronormativity during a period when Japanese masculinity has been said to be in crisis. Our papers deploy a range of methodologies to explore how porn educates men about their desires, interrogating how diverse pornographies (including straight, female-friendly, and queer) either reinforce dominant gender norms or challenge them, attending to the slippages between pro and anti-porn discourses within the Japanese context.

Here are our panelists!