*RAPE: SOME EDUCATION
Hello guys, UNO here again.
I came across a totally fair question by some user here and thought of making this post.
https://www.mangago.me/thing/about/724217/I always see almost the same answers but I wanted to share something from a different prospective, in particular a historical and social one.
So let me share my knowledge with you on why rape is so normalized in the manga and manhwa that we read.
Everything starts from how sex and nudity were viewed in Japan and how slowly it started spreading in China and Korea too.
Let's start with the fact that in the West, given Christianity, sex and nudity were and are often associated with evil unless expressed within the context of love.
On the other hand, in traditional Japanese culture nudity was not considered evil until Western influence led to its regulation. I read that practices such as children bathing with parents of the opposite sex and sleeping in the marital bed until around 10 years old were common and not seen as traumatic (and yes guys, imagine fathers bathing with their daughters of 9/10 years old, both completely nude), which is contrasting with Western norms where kids are typically expected to sleep and bath separately from their parents at an early age. AND LET ME TELL YOU MORE!!! In Japan parents used to have sex next to their kids and it was totally normal for them dear lord... Therefore kids 'normalized' this kind of behavior and didn't find it as traumatic.
In Japan the word for the uvula which is the barbell shaped piece of skin that hangs down at the back of the throat is called "nodochinko" which literally means "throat willy". You see how even in the everyday language everything is sexually normalized... Want to know more? They had "oral sex prostitution houses" next to supermarkets ads in understandable words that could have been readable by anyone that knew how to read... So even elementary kids. Oh! And did you know that magazines that don't show complete nude women are almost impossible to find? And it is not uncommon to see men viewing pictures of naked women on crowded trains? YOU SEE HOW FUCKED UP IT IS??
GUYS! You could lose your phone, your keys or your wallet and no one would steal them but if you put your just-washed panties outside, they would steal them ON THE SPOT.
You surely know guys that prostitution and pornography between Japan and the West are portrayed and perceived very differently. Coital prostitution is illegal in Japan but other forms (like oral sex) are not as heavily stigmatized.
What kills me is that still nowadays, the availability and depiction of pornography, PARTICULARLY TO MINORS (yes guys, they sell to minors ON PURPOSE!) is the most prevalent and preferred. DRUM ROLLS... yup! Yaois aimed at young girls were n°1. And for your information guys, the word "yaoi" original meaning was "no story just sex" and it was a more extreme form of the sexually toned down "boys love" that we are used to read. In the 1990's yaoi were sold at 14 year old girls showing extremely explicit scenes of anal sex rape performed by teachers on "cute" young boys. It was the trend and was totally normal.
If we don't want to talk specifically about sex and prostitution but more "normal love", let me remind you that heroes of normal mangas are more likely to have a direct interest in sex in Japan. What do I mean? Have you ever noticed how it's very common for japanese male comic heroes in manga/animes usually tend to be starers and droolers, who would do anything for the female protagonist just because of their desires?
On the West we have Batman, Spiderman, etc... that may have a girlfriend or be in love or even have sex, but it is very rare for a Western comic hero to drool at the sight of a woman with large breasts.
Oh and guess what?! In pornography rape and pedophile are the most prevalent themes. On japanese porn sites you'll always find a video with a thumbnail of school girl being gang raped in her uniform. Moreover in most japanese porn videos, actresses often cry "no" and "stop it" and "it hurts". They portray women as timid and passive while exaggerating male dominance...
Now, imagine teenagers watching these porn regularly, watching men raping women and actors that play as "children", would they think its wrong or would they just jerk off to it? IT'S THE LATTER MY DEARS!
You could tell me that "people who watch these kind of porn do not mean that they will rape people in real life" but when we take into account the culture and sex education, their environment plainly encourages pedophilia and rape. The worst thing is that in Japan rape and sexual harassment is a taboo... they don't talk about it because it's considered "shameful".
And this is why I'll never defend people on this site saying that rape on manga is excused because it's fictional. No it isn't. It should never be normalized and thanks to whoever states this on this cursed site. If you ever find again a stupid comment saying the contrary, just copy and paste this as your answer to them
we gotta educate the ignorant.
Authors come up 90% of the times with shitty stories that contain rape somehow. Given their culture and how normalized it is for them, they might not be even doing it on purpose. I believe that all this exposition to not-consented sex, rape and nudity made them so numb that they can't even come up with interesting normal love stories as they would consider it "boring".
This is why guys it's VERY VERY important to educate ourselves on these matters. We should make the changes otherwise we'll be stuck into these shitty loopholes.
Hope this explained everything. Peace
And if you have time guys, I advise you to read this book on this topic:
https://www.wakefieldbooks.com/book/9781682479308
