December 4, 2023/ 4:30 PM

Royce Hall, Rm 314

The popularity of pornography is predicated on the idea that those participating have given their consent. That is what allows the porn industry to dominate the media economy today. Looking at behind-the-scenes negotiations and abuses in Japan's adult video industry, Takeyama's work challenges this pervasive notion. With the idea of "involuntary consent," she argues consent seeking-and-giving manifests structural inequality and yet, involuntary consent is ubiquitous, not only in the porn industry, but in our everyday lives. Taking consent as her starting point, Takeyama illustrates the nuances of contract making and the legal structures, or lack thereof, that govern Japan's adult video and sex entertainment industries.

Akiko Takeyama is Professor of Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies and Director of the Center for East Asian Studies at the University of Kansas. She is the author of Staged Seduction: Selling Dreams in a Tokyo Host Club (Stanford University Press, 2016), which was shortlisted for the 2017 Michelle Rosaldo Book Prize. Her new book, Involuntary Consent: The Illusion of Choice, has just come out in July 2023.

Sponsor(s): Terasaki Center for Japanese Studies