Enjo Kosai : the issue of teenage prostitution

[Tamer Brad]

"this topic is enough to make me not want to live in Japan anymore."
men are men anywhere and EVERYWHERE; maybe a vacation at paradise island is in order?

Ahem, I am a boy

[A.A. Lee]

Aren't these all outcomes (exaggerated in places) of Western influence brought over to Japan since the 2nd world war?

No, prostitution in Asian countries has existed for a long time on a large scale. Overt sexual symbols in the media promoted more flexible attitudes towards sex in the West, but not prostitution. Many women in the West do have sex freely, but that doesn't make them whores.

The phenomenon of enjo kosai cannot be blamed on the West. If this were the case we would hear of Western teenage girls prostituting themselves in large numbers, but this isn't happening. In America, nobody respects a *****. A teenage girl who prostituted herself would automatically lose status no matter how fancy her clothes and accessories are. And the US is the most materialistic country in the world. Enjo kosai results from more lax attitudes towards prostitution in the East, which reflects the lower status of women there.

[Maciamo]

No, prostitution in Asian countries has existed for a long time on a large scale. Overt sexual symbols in the media promoted more flexible attitudes towards sex in the West, but not prostitution. Many women in the West do have sex freely, but that doesn't make them whores.

The phenomenon of enjo kosai cannot be blamed on the West. If this were the case we would hear of Western teenage girls prostituting themselves in large numbers, but this isn't happening. In America, nobody respects a *****. A teenage girl who prostituted herself would automatically lose status no matter how fancy her clothes and accessories are. And the US is the most materialistic country in the world. Enjo kosai results from more lax attitudes towards prostitution in the East, which reflects the lower status of women there.

I totally agree with you here.

[PaulTB]

The phenomenon of enjo kosai cannot be blamed on the West. If this were the case we would hear of Western teenage girls prostituting themselves in large numbers, but this isn't happening.

That doesn't logically follow. Just because influence of country A results in some situation in country B doesn't mean that the same situation is present in country A.

No, prostitution in Asian countries has existed for a long time on a large scale.

Which I'm not disagreeing with. Of course prostitution has also existed for a long time on a large scale in most of the countries of the world.

Overt sexual symbols in the media promoted more flexible attitudes towards sex in the West, but not prostitution.

But as you point out the West isn't the East. The same influence (westernised media sex symbols) doesn't have to have the exact same result.

Many women in the West do have sex freely, but that doesn't make them whores.

Technically I think that makes them sluts.*

In America, nobody respects a *****.

As opposed to sluts.

A teenage girl who prostituted herself would automatically lose status no matter how fancy her clothes and accessories are.

And when found out they lose status like nobody's business in Japan. It's now a fairly common problem for girl who have been involved in Enjo kousai and have pictures / movies get out on the Internet. If you think their status isn't lost you're nuts.

And the US is the most materialistic country in the world. Enjo kosai results from more lax attitudes towards prostitution in the East, which reflects the lower status of women there.

Granting the 'more lax attitudes towards prostitution' that only provides _one_ of the variables. Increased materialism and changing attitudes to sex form two of the others.

* Yes 'slut' is a nasty word - but so is '*****' which you've chosen to throw around.

[nurizeko]

ive always beleieved in the fact that just because an american-european thinks something isnt entirely right, doesnt make it so, and that we shouldnt judge other cultures and interfere beyond reason but....

sometimes their are certain aspects of another countries condition which i just feel cannot be protected by any given excuse.

enjo kasai, teenage prostitution is wrong, smack my opinion down as nothing more then western christian bigotry or whatever all you want, but i feel teenage prostitution is wrong, no matter what the country or culture.

i have friends who smoke pot, i dont care, its their choice, i know of girls who dont sell themselves, but sleep around like a marathon runner runs a race, hey its their choice, but i stop short of under-age girls selling themselves.

i know, im an evil evil man who deserves eternal damnation for my pseudo-christian evilness even though im not christian or of any religious persuasion outside of science and maybe a the odd passing philosophical hypothesis regarding those momments surrounded by nature.

and to a lesser extent, even though im not fond of the openess of this lolicon fetish in japan, and how blatantly avaliable pornographic imagry is in japan, that is somewhat more allowed to be excused by cultural difference.

think of cultural differences in respect to deciding what is just different or whats wrong like this......



if you were a father/mother, would you feel content with your daughter being an item of sexual desire by middle aged salary men ,and the prospect of her selling her body just to afford that accessory or clothing or bag or whatever?



after thinking from this viewpoint, picturing myself as a japanese father, ide still want to punch any dirty old man staring at my 13 year old daughter, but my western evil bias might still be in there somewhere.