Unshakeable Inequality? The State, the Media and the Construction of Gender in Japan

The objectification of women is explored in the writings of Bourdieu. Bourdieu claims that “the social world constructs the body as a sexually defined reality and as the depository of sexually defining principles of vision and division” (2001, 11). Within this structure, society categorises its constructions of gender, with ‘masculine domination’ used to outline those constructions (Ibid.). Bourdieu further argues that “things and activities” receive their objective value when they are juxtaposed in relation to their “homologous [opposite]” (Ibid., 7). This can be applied to social gender dynamics in which men hold power and women act out gender stereotypical and unequal activities. For example, regarding workplace customs in Japan, men are preferred for long-term positions whilst women often fulfil temporary, lesser valued roles (Goff 1995, 1153). Bourdieu's theorisation of female objectification and gender hierarchy may be applied to the social constructions of gender in Japan and...Show moreThe objectification of women is explored in the writings of Bourdieu. Bourdieu claims that “the social world constructs the body as a sexually defined reality and as the depository of sexually defining principles of vision and division” (2001, 11). Within this structure, society categorises its constructions of gender, with ‘masculine domination’ used to outline those constructions (Ibid.). Bourdieu further argues that “things and activities” receive their objective value when they are juxtaposed in relation to their “homologous [opposite]” (Ibid., 7). This can be applied to social gender dynamics in which men hold power and women act out gender stereotypical and unequal activities. For example, regarding workplace customs in Japan, men are preferred for long-term positions whilst women often fulfil temporary, lesser valued roles (Goff 1995, 1153). Bourdieu's theorisation of female objectification and gender hierarchy may be applied to the social constructions of gender in Japan and their reinforcement through institutions of power. This helps to understand the link between pornography and gender inequality which the thesis argues, must be challenged at state level. Applying Bourdieu’s theory, pornography may be seen as a system to serve ‘male domination’ and pornographic media as an instrument to reinforce and reflect the wider problem of institutionalised gender inequality in Japan. The irony to be explored in this, and the following two chapters, is that the institutions of the Japanese state themselves propagate gender inequality, whilst simultaneously blaming issues of gender inequality on marginalised groups, such as the Otaku – discussed in Chapter 3. Pornography itself is also blamed. An example is the case of Yoshimoto, where after being arrested for rape, police officer Yoshimoto claimed: “I bought and got aroused by pornographic videos with a rape theme, and could not control my compulsion. I feel sorry for the victims” (Shibata 2008, 12). This agent of the state diverted blame away from both himself and the structures of the state, as if neither it, nor he had any responsibility for this victimisation of women.Show less

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Unshakeable Inequality? The State, the Media and the Construction of Gender in Japan