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Introduction to Part I

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  22 December 2021

Micky Lee
Affiliation:
University of Suffolk
Peichi Chung
Affiliation:
The Chinese University of Hong Kong
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Summary

The two chapters in Part I discuss how sex and gender are understood in a digital environment in Japan and South Korea. In the first chapter, Kyooeun Jang discusses how online commerce appears to create new business opportunities for young women in South Korea, but the strong push for female entrepreneurship is actually a tactic to solve the problem of mass youth unemployment. Young women internalise a belief that if they do not achieve commercial success, it is because they are not passionate enough for their business. In the online environment, young women also do emotional labour, exploit their sexuality, and balance work and family responsibilities without knowing about the structural issues at play obstructing their finding gainful employment.

In the second chapter, Peter Galbraith examines a niche video game genre – adult-themed PC games – and questions whether it is possible to draw a boundary between Japan and the rest of the world in the digital globalised era. Although this video game niche only has a small number of players, its rape themes have ignited international condemnation. In order to avoid the spotlight, Japanese gamers avoid international attention by limiting the geolinguistic area within which these games are played. However, some gamers believe the survival of this niche depends on non-Japanese gamers outside the country.

The chapters in this part contribute to a discussion in digital media studies by asking whether new information and communication technologies would alter gender relations or reinforce them. In addition, they show how historical gender relations in Japan and South Korea shape how gender is experienced. As emphasised in the introduction, we do not aim to compare East Asia with the West. We believe gender relations are shaped by local practices of digital technologies in different countries. We first summarise some major schools of thought that concern women, gender, and digital technologies.

Since the advancement of digital technologies in the 1990s, there has been a debate about whether technologies would change gender relations or reinforce gender inequality. The Internet and mobile devices are believed to simultaneously liberate and oppress women. On the one hand, digital technologies allow women to participate in civic, public, and economic life. On the other hand, online sexual harassment is believed to oppress women, further exploiting them as sexual beings (Broadband Commission for Digital Development, 2015).

Type
Chapter
Information
Media Technologies for Work and Play in East Asia
Critical Perspectives on Japan and the Two Koreas
, pp. 39 - 46
Publisher: Bristol University Press
Print publication year: 2021

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  • Introduction to Part I
  • Edited by Micky Lee, University of Suffolk, Peichi Chung, The Chinese University of Hong Kong
  • Book: Media Technologies for Work and Play in East Asia
  • Online publication: 22 December 2021
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.46692/9781529213386.004
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  • Introduction to Part I
  • Edited by Micky Lee, University of Suffolk, Peichi Chung, The Chinese University of Hong Kong
  • Book: Media Technologies for Work and Play in East Asia
  • Online publication: 22 December 2021
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.46692/9781529213386.004
Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

  • Introduction to Part I
  • Edited by Micky Lee, University of Suffolk, Peichi Chung, The Chinese University of Hong Kong
  • Book: Media Technologies for Work and Play in East Asia
  • Online publication: 22 December 2021
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.46692/9781529213386.004
Available formats
×