This thesis will examine illustrations of female masturbation in early 19th-century shunga (erotic art), produced by artists Katsushika Hokusai and Chokyosai Eiri. Shunga works reflected a ...Show moreThis thesis will examine illustrations of female masturbation in early 19th-century shunga (erotic art), produced by artists Katsushika Hokusai and Chokyosai Eiri. Shunga works reflected a ‘shungatopia’ that featured all kinds of sexual behavior. Within these works, women are known to be subjected to erotic fantasies imposed by a domineering male gaze in such depictions. In this thesis, I will analyze two erotic books from the late Edo period and utilize earlier academic publications that offer varying perspectives on the central issue of reality versus male-produced erotic discourse in the Edo period. This essay asks what shunga works expose about female masturbatory practices, and what this implies for the role of women within the erotic culture of early modern Japan.Show less
