Xilun Pang, H. and Tomlinson, M. orcid.org/0000-0002-2372-7849 (2023) The trivialization of sexual harassment in Japanese mascot culture: Japanese audience responses to YouTube videos of Kumamon. Feminist Media Studies, 23 (7). pp. 3533-3549. ISSN 1468-0777
Abstract
Studies indicate that, in Japan, sexual harassment is rarely reported because of a sociocultural pressure to maintain harmony and a patriarchal expectation for women to be passive. Sexual harassment also remains visible and unregulated in online spaces. It is particularly prevalent in videos of yuru-kyara (mascots) in which acts, such as lifting skirts, are framed as humorous. To explore the influence of such acts on Japanese audiences’ views of sexual harassment, this article examines comments underneath YouTube videos of Kumamon and situates them in a Japanese sociocultural context through a consideration of gender norms, the workplace environment, and contemporary feminism. Drawing on feminist work about sexual harassment and studies on its mediation, we argue that the comments demonstrate that the humor in Kumamon’s videos, alongside his characteristics as a yuru-kyara, trivialize sexual harassment and harmfully contribute to sexist cultural norms in Japan. However, our findings also reveal that, since 2019, Japanese YouTube users have begun to openly condemn Kumamon’s “cheeky” behavior. This indicates that, after being initially hesitant to respond to the #MeToo movement, people in Japan are now beginning to defy cultural norms by calling out sexual harassment online.
Metadata
Item Type: | Article |
---|---|
Authors/Creators: |
|
Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information: | © 2022 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/), which permits non-commercial re-use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited, and is not altered, transformed, or built upon in any way. |
Keywords: | Japan; sexual harassment; mascots; digital media; humor |
Dates: |
|
Institution: | The University of Sheffield |
Academic Units: | The University of Sheffield > Faculty of Social Sciences (Sheffield) > Department of Journalism Studies (Sheffield) |
Depositing User: | Symplectic Sheffield |
Date Deposited: | 30 Sep 2022 09:53 |
Last Modified: | 25 Sep 2024 12:22 |
Status: | Published |
Publisher: | Taylor & Francis (Routledge) |
Refereed: | Yes |
Identification Number: | 10.1080/14680777.2022.2126872 |
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:191397 |