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Lolicon

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File:Final Solution-chan.jpg
Lolicon art often depicts childlike characteristics with possible double meanings.

Lolicon is a Japanese slang term, short for Lolita Complex, used to refer to an attraction to any girl beneath the age of consent, or to an individual attracted to such a person. It is a term which encompasses both pedophilia and ephebophilia. As borrowed into the West, Lolicon means manga style sexual artwork involving child-like characters. Lolicon refers only to underage girls; see shotacon for the male equivalent.

Lolicon in Japan

Lolicon, alternate spelling Rorikon (ロリコン), is a Japanese abbreviation of Lolita complex, a term derived from Nabakov's book Lolita. Generally, it is a term used to describe an attraction to any girl beneath the age of consent, both perceived and actual pedophilia. ("Lolita Complex" is abbreviated as "lolicon" rather than "lolicom" due to the phonology of Japanese. Other foreign words with syllables ending in "m" are often transliterated in the same manner.) Strictly speaking, Lolita complex in Japanese refers only to the paraphilia, but the abbreviation lolicon can refer to the individual.

Lolicon is often also used to refer to an attraction to any girl beneath the age of consent; in such a context, it might be more analogous to ephebophilia. An ubiquitous theme in Japanese pornography is that of females of legal age dressed in school uniforms. Also popular is the practice of enjo kōsai, a form of dating service in which adult men are paired with high-school-age girls.

Lolicon is a widespread phenomenon in Japan, where it is a frequent subject of scholarly articles.[1] Many general bookstores and newsstands openly offer illustrated lolicon material.

In its original meaning in Japan, the term "lolicon" is not directly connected to lolicon art. "Loli" denotes any sexual imagery featuring young girls and children, not only manga, but also actual photographs of child models ("Loli photobooks") and videos. "Lolicon" can also refer to people who are sexually attracted to fictional or real underage girls and is thus synonymous to pedophile.

Sexual manga featuring children or childlike characters is called lolita manga or loli-manga. Loli-manga is generally legal in Japan, although Child pornography, including illustrations, that use actual children]] was outlawed in 1999.[2]

Lolicon in the West

The meaning of "lolicon" has changed in the West (as have the meanings of words such as anime, otaku and hentai). As evolved in the West, "lolicon" is anime or manga that contains sexual/erotic portrayals of children or childlike characters, and is thus it is close cognate to the Japanese term loli-manga. The use of the word lolicon is an indication the material is overtly, even if not explicitly erotic. [3]

Most lolicon images are produced in Japan. They are usually of females between the apparent ages of 8 and 13, though sometimes much younger. (This is also true of loli-manga.)

Subgenres

Toddlerkon is another Western term; it is essentially lolicon anime or manga that depicts girls younger than those in a typical lolicon image, typically infants and toddlers. The label was created in to distinguish it from lolicon images that focus on older prepubescents.

Cub art, in furry fandom, is pornography portraying the young of many species of anthropomorphic animals. This particular genre is generally marginalized by the fans of mainstream pornographic artwork and much of the furry fandom.

Controversy

An attraction towards illustrated and fictional lolicon characters is frequently accused of being similar to or a form of pedophilia, particularly by Westerners. Defenders of such material say that it does not adversely affect children, and in some cases may help to relieve the sexual tension of actual pedophiles; opponents often say that the existence of fictional material encourages the viewing of children as sex objects or can incite actual sexual abuse.[4] However, there is no evidence to support these claims. [5] Despite the fact that most lolicon artwork is produced in Japan, there is no evidence that it has caused an increase of violent crimes against children and teens. The number of reported incidents of crime against children in Japan, as well as violent crime in general, is well below that of most other developed countries.[6]

Images can be created which convincingly appear to involve actual under-age persons, but in fact do not. Originally this was done with adult actors who were disguised or could "pass" as minors. As digital animation technology has progressed, it has become possible to generate convincing simulations of child actors.

Proponents of prohibiting such materials argue that they might encourage child molesters, and when shown to a child, may give the child the impression that the depicted acts are normal (the term grooming is used in this connection); prohibition of possession could help prevent it being shown to a child.[citation needed] Also, the legality of simulated child pornography could make the prosecution of actual child pornography more difficult. Opponents of the prohibition claim that simulated child pornography does not harm children and should therefore fall under the United States First Amendment guarantee of freedom of the press.

Status in the United States

The United States Supreme Court decided in 2002, and affirmed in 2004, that previous American prohibition of simulated child pornography under the Child Pornography Prevention Act of 1996 was unconstitutional.[7] The majority ruling stated that "the CPPA prohibits speech that records no crime and creates no victims by its production. Virtual child pornography is not 'intrinsically related' to the sexual abuse of children."

The PROTECT Act of 2003 (also dubbed the Amber Alert Law)[8], which was signed into law by President George W. Bush on 30 April 2003, also criminalizes simulated child pornography. In December 2005, Dwight Whorley was convicted under this law [9] for receiving both "…obscene Japanese anime cartoons that graphically depicted prepubesecent female children being forced to engage in genital-genital and oral-genital intercourse with adult males." and "…digital photographs of actual children engaging in sexually explicit conduct." [10][11]Neither Whorley's, nor any other conviction under this law has been reviewed by the Supreme Court as of yet.

Status in the United Kingdom

UK law has dealt with simulated images quite differently since 1994, when the Criminal Justice and Public Order Act introduced the legal definition of an "indecent pseudo-photograph of a child", which is prohibited as if it were a true photograph. The Act however doesn't include works of art such as manga if they do not appear to look like a photograph.

Status in the Netherlands

On October 1, 2002, the Netherlands introduced legislation (Bulletin of Acts and Decrees 470) which deemed "virtual child pornography" as illegal. [12] The laws appear to only outlaw "realistic images representing a minor engaged in a sexually explicit conduct," and hence lolicon may or may not be included. [13]

Status in Germany

German law does not discriminate between actual and "realistic" sexual depictions of children.[14]

Status in Canada

Section 163.1 of the Canadian Criminal Code defines child pornography as "a visual representation, whether or not it was made by electronic or mechanical means", that "shows a person who is or is depicted as being under the age of eighteen years and is engaged in or is depicted as engaged in explicit sexual activity", or "the dominant characteristic of which is the depiction, for a sexual purpose, of a sexual organ or the anal region of a person under the age of eighteen years." The definitive Supreme Court decision, R. v. Sharpe, interprets the statute to include purely fictional material even when no real children were involved in its production. From paragraph 38 of the decision: "Interpreting "person" in accordance with Parliament's purpose of criminalizing possession of material that poses a reasoned risk of harm to children, it seems that it should include visual works of the imagination as well as depictions of actual people. Notwithstanding the fact that "person" in the charging section and in s. 163.1(1)(b) refers to a flesh-and-blood person, I conclude that "person" in s. 163.1(1)(a) includes both actual and imaginary human beings." [15]

In October 2005, Canadian courts sentenced an Edmonton, Alberta man to one year of community service for importing manga depicting child sex, possibly the first manga-related child pornography case in Canada. [16] The man was on probation at the time for possession of child pornography that featured real children.

In April 2006, an American was sentenced to 30 days in jail for bringing child pornography to Canada. While he had possession of three videos and three images of real children, a criminal investigator cited the 13,000 "mostly cartoon" or "anime" images in his possession and the "prohibitive nature of these goods". [17]

Status in South Africa

With the promulgation of the "Films and Publications Amendment Bill" in September 2003, a broad range of simulated child pornography became illegal in South Africa. For the purposes of the act, any image or description of a person "real or simulated" who is depicted or described as being under the age of 18 years and engaged in sexual conduct, broadly defined, constitutes 'child pornography'.[18] Under the act, anyone is guilty of an offence punishable by up to ten years imprisonment if he or she possesses, creates or produces, imports, exports, broadcasts, or in any way takes steps to procure or access child pornography.

Status in Hungary

According to the latest definition of the act (Law 1997/LXXIII., Penal Code 195/A. §), "Production of Forbidden Pornography" is only forbidden if an underage person actually suffered that production process. Due to this, any sort of graphics that were produced without using actual live models, or those using live models that were not sexually abused is legal. (Similarly it is legal if the resulting graphics is not original but a derivative of two or more pictures, in where the original picture of the underage person contains no matter violating the above paragraph of the Code. It does not need to bear any express label that the material was produced by any of those methods; and it is the task of the State to prove guilty, not of the defendant to prove innocent, which, with the recent developments in computer graphics, might be a burdensome if not impossible task.)

See also

  • Shotacon, the male equivalent of lolicon.
  • Moé, a similar aesthetic
  • Contrasts
    • Coppertone girl, illustrates state of mind and context make a difference.
    • Hentai, another term with a different Western meaning.

Footnotes

  1. ^ Sharon Kinsella, Adult Manga: Culture and Power in Contemporary Japanese Society. ISBN 0824823184
  2. ^ Tim Richardson, "Child porn banned in Japan". The Register, 18 May 1999
  3. ^ Glossary Entry: Lolicon Anime Meta-Review web site URL accessed May 13, 2006
  4. ^ President Signs PROTECT Act: President's Remarks Upon Signing of S. 151, the Protect Act (30 April 2003). Retrieved January 28, 2006.
  5. ^ The Early Window Liebert, R. M., Neale, J. M., & Davison, E. S. ISBN 0-08-017091-9
  6. ^ Pornography, Rape and Sex Crimes in Japan International Journal of Law and Psychiatry 22(1): 1-22. 1999.
  7. ^ "Ashcroft v. Free Speech Coalition". Retrieved 12 January. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help); Unknown parameter |accessyear= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help)
  8. ^ "Bush signs child protection bill". Retrieved May 1, 2003.
  9. ^ "Richmond man first convicted under expanded child-porn law". Retrieved 12 January. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help); Unknown parameter |accessyear= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help)
  10. ^ "Whorley Sentencing" (PDF) (Press release). U.S. Department of Justice, Eastern District of Virginia. 2006-03-10. Retrieved 2006-05-14. {{cite press release}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  11. ^ "Whorley Verdict" (PDF) (Press release). U.S. Department of Justice, Eastern District of Virginia. 2005-11-30. Retrieved 2006-05-14. {{cite press release}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  12. ^ Justitie (1 October 2002). Retrieved January 20, 2006.
  13. ^ Draft Convention on Cyber-crime (25 April 2000). Retrieved January 20, 2006.
  14. ^ Interpol (8 Jan 2003) which may or may not include lolicon. Retrieved January 20, 2006.
  15. ^ R. v. Sharpe (26 January 2001). Retrieved February 20, 2006.
  16. ^ Anime News Network (20 October 2005). Retrieved January 20, 2006.
  17. ^ CBC News (April 4 2006)
  18. ^ "Films and Publications Amendment Bill of 2003 (104kb pdf file)" (PDF). Retrieved 14 January. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help); Unknown parameter |accessyear= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help)
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