CIVITAS Revista De Ciências Sociais Programa De Pós-Graduação Em Ciências Sociais Civitas 20 (3): 454-463, Set.-Dez
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OPEN ACCESS CIVITAS Revista de Ciências Sociais Programa de Pós-Graduação em Ciências Sociais Civitas 20 (3): 454-463, set.-dez. 2020 e-ISSN: 1984-7289 ISSN-L: 1519-6089 http://dx.doi.org/10.15448/1984-7289.2020.3.30279 ARTIGOS/ARTICLES An advocacy coalition analysis of the game RapeLay: the regulation of sexual violence and virtual pornography in Japan Uma análise do jogo RapeLay com base no modelo de coalizões de defesa: a viabilidade da regulamentação da pornografia virtual no Japão Un análisis del juego RapeLay basado en el modelo de coaliciones de defensa: la viabilidad de la reglamentación de la pornografía virtual en Japón Dilton Rocha Ferraz Abstract: The Advocacy Coalition Framework provides an efficient lens to analyze Ribeiro1 a complex subsystem concerning the controversial issue of fictitious depictions of orcid.org/0000-0003-3243-2062 children and rape fantasies in games, especially a game released in Japan called [email protected] RapeLay. There are two opposing coalitions in Japan: the “children protection coalition” and the “pro status quo coalition”. Each group seeks to influence people to either change or to maintain the current non-criminalization of these products. This article analyzes how these coalitions are bound together and whether they are efficient. Keywords: Virtual pornography. Lolicon. Japan. Pop culture. Received: 25 Jul. 2018 Accepted: 24 Oct. 2019 Resumo: Utilizando o modelo de coalizões de defesa busca-se analisar o Published: 23 Dec. 2020 complexo sistema relacionado a fantasias de estupro envolvendo imagens fic- tícias de menores em jogos de videogame e computador. O foco desse artigo é especialmente no jogo chamado “RapeLay”. Há duas coalizões opostas sobre esse tema: a “coalizão de proteção infantil” e a “coalizão pro status quo”. Cada grupo busca ou mudar políticas públicas ou a manutenção da atual modelo ja- ponês. Esse artigo analisa como essas coalisões são formadas e se são eficazes. Palavras-chave: Pornografia virtual.Lolicon . Japão. Cultura pop. Resumen: Utilizando el modelo de coalición de defensa, se busca analizar ese complejo sistema relacionado con las fantasías de violación que involucran imágenes ficticias de menores en videojuegos y juegos de computadora. El en- foque de este artículo está especialmente en el juego llamado “RapeLay”. Hay dos coaliciones opuestas sobre este tema: la “coalición de protección infantil” y la “coalición de status quo”. Cada grupo busca o cambia de las políticas públicas o el mantenimiento del modelo japonés actual. Este artículo analiza cómo se forman estas coaliciones y si son efectivas. Palabras clave: Pornografía virtual. Lolicon. Japón. Cultura pop. Introduction2 Since the 1980s, Japanese popular culture has continued to grow as a relevant global commodity and an increasing aspect of Japan’s soft power (Kawasaki 2007; Heng 2014). This world centered on fantasy and on cuteness has a wide variety of genres including pornography and violence. This pornographic subgenre of pop culture can be heavily focused on Artigo está licenciado sob forma de uma licença Creative Commons Atribuição 4.0 Internacional. sexual violence and fictitious depictions of children in animation, comics 1 International Christian University (ICU), Tokyo, Japan. 2 The views expressed herein are those of the author. Japanese names follow the Japanese standard naming starting with the family name followed by the given name. Non-East-Asian names follow the traditional Western standard of given name followed by the family name. Dilton Rocha Ferraz Ribeiro An advocacy coalition analysis of the game RapeLay 455 and video games. As Japanese pop culture can be this article reflect the author’s opinion but rather centered on a notion of cuteness, these fictitious on how people seek to change certain policies. characters are often drawn in ways to look cute This paper is divided in four parts. The first briefly and young. Debates about the desirability and comments on the advocacy coalition framework. existence of these materials have been polarizing The second section seeks to give some general with individuals placing them as expressions of background on Japanese pop culture. The third free speech and sexuality, while others call for their part focuses on the arguments put forward by criminalization and prohibition3 (Takeuchi 2015). both coalitions acting in this subsystem and The academic literature on these issues whether they are successful. The conclusion is focuses on: analyzing cute culture (Kinsella that there are two large and opposite coalitions: 1998; Okano 2014), the relationship between one seeking to change Japan’s legislation and cuteness and gender (Kinsella 1995; Allison 2006), another one seeking to maintain the status quo. media theory (Lamarre 2013); a psychological Both coalitions are stable and their members or anthropological analysis of otaku (Allison share deep policy core beliefs. Moreover, they 2006; Hinton 2014), an economic analysis of have achieved different levels of success. otaku culture (Kam 2013), a philosophical study of otaku (Saito 2013; Azuma 2009), and legal The advocacy coalition framework and sociological issues concerning otaku and This paper relies on the Advocacy Coalition virtual pornography (Galbraith 2011; Shibata 2008; Framework to analyze the prohibition or the Kato 2008; Mathews 2011). This paper seeks to acceptability of sexually violent games in Japan contribute to this literature with an analysis of the focusing on the game RapeLay. Developed by Paul forces that drive or attempt to influence changes Sabatier, the Advocacy Coalition Framework is in the way Japan regulates animation, games and grounded on the view that interest groups gather comics, especially concerning fictitious depictions in policy communities that are a part of a policy of children. This research adds to the body of domain (Birkland 2011). This coalition presupposes work by taking into account that individuals get a variety of actors that forms groups and coalitions together with others who share the same beliefs of groups based on shared beliefs (Birkland 2011). to influence local or global policies. In other Although members of a group might diverge words, individuals who appreciate Japan’s pop over small questions, these are limited in scope, culture can act together to maintain the current as the shared beliefs are what keep the group system and those who dislike such materials together (Vicente 2015). The coalition groups then also join forces to change policies to prohibit compete seeking to translate their beliefs into certain behaviors. In order to understand how public policies mobilizing political resources and these forces act and whether their proposals are through policy-oriented learning (Vicente 2015). successful, this research is based on the advocacy The assumption part of the Advocacy Coalition coalition framework. This methodology seeks Framework is that policy actors have three belief to understand the actors within this subsystem, systems (Weible and Sabatier 2017). The first whether they share core policy beliefs, how they system, deep core beliefs, concerns “fundamental act, which arguments they support and how normative values and ontological axioms” (Weible effective they are in bringing about policy change. and Sabatier 2017, 140). The second system, The advantage of this analysis is that it is possible policy core belief, may, normatively, “reflect to visualize whether and how actors seek to basic orientation and value priorities of the policy change or maintain policies and whether or the subsystem” and, empirically, “include overall degree to which they are successful. However, assessments of the seriousness of the problem, 3 Galbraith, Patrick W. 2011. “Lolicon: the reality of ‘virtual child pornography’ in Japan”. Image & Narrative 12 (1): 83-114. Accessed March 7, 2017. http://www.imageandnarrative.be/index.php/imagenarrative/article/viewFile/127/98. 456 Civitas 20 (3): 454-463, set.-dez. 2020 basic causes of the problem, and preferred Otaku became a worldwide term commonly solutions” (Weible and Sabatier 2017, 140-141). used to refer to avid fans of Japanese animation Finally, secondary beliefs are “a subset of the policy (anime), Japanese comics (manga), games, idols subsystem or the specific instrumental means for and Japanese popular culture in general (Azuma achieving the desired outcomes outlined in the 2009). Not coincidentally, the term surfaced policy core beliefs” (Weible and Sabatier 2017, concomitantly with the boom of kawaii culture in 141). Outside of the core beliefs classifications, the late 1970s and 1980s (Kinsella 1998). The current but nevertheless important to this framework is meaning of this word can be traced back to when the notion of “devil shift”, which happens when Nakamori, in his column entitled “Otaku Research” “actors exaggerate the power and maliciousness (otaku no kenkyū), criticizes people who he grouped of their opponents” (Weible and Sabatier 2017, 141). under an invented category of “otaku”4 (Galbraith In the words of Weible and Sabatier (2017, 148), 2015). Although his general statement was gender advocacy coalitions “are defined by actors who neutral, according to Galbraith (2015, 26), however, share policy core beliefs and who coordinate their Nakamori particularly criticized “men sexually actions […] to influence a policy subsystem”. The attracted to fictional girl characters”. Nakamori calls policy subsystem “is a primary unit of analysis” and this sexual attraction a two-dimensional