My personal Theory of Japanese lolicon

[Meatbun-man]

Okay, as the topic says its my theory. Recently I've been learning kanji, and interestingly enough among the many kanji that I've been learning 好 (SUki; love, like) is one that I've learned. Well on further studying it, I couldn't help but notice that the radicals in the kanji were 女(ONNA; female) and 子（KO as in 子供, KOdomo; child）. Naturally since I've noticed many similarities in other kanji (ie. 食べる, taberu; to eat, and　飲む, nomu; to drink), which use similar radicals for part of the kanji, I concluded this MUST have some meaning. Since I was not positive that there was some sort of lolicon obsession in Japan I could not quite conclude that this was the reason. After reading about 40 of the editorials on this website I am not quite certain this is a very good explanation, a bit entertaining too.

Well for those that haven't used their detective skills :watson: to deduce what I'm saying; basically, if you add the two kanji 女 and 子 together you could say it says "female child" a bit of paraphrasing, and it changes to "little girl". Seeing as how 好 means like/love, adding them all together, in Azrael's great phrase, "one can say" that it means "like little girl[s]". To further express this I've come to learn that this exact same kanji in chinese means "good": therefore, "It's good to like little girls". Interestingly enough in Azrael's editorial "Catch-Up Part 1 - Skanks 'R Us" a Japanese bartender helps support this theory of mine:


Him: Oh...you guys are very lucky!
Me: ...'Scuse me?
Him: Oh, 17-year old girl is ideal! That's a good age. You should go and find them.
Friend: Dude, how old are you?
Him: I'm 37. I'm married. But that is my dream. To have my wife, and a 17 year old mistress.
Me: (to my friend) Japanese men are fucked up.
Friend: Kiyaa. (back to the bartender) Isn't that a little young?
Him: No, not at all! 17 is ideal! But 16 is still good. 15 is good too. 14 is actually very nice. 13...



Simple! The bartender says that young girls are good, which I've said is what the kanji could mean. Taking all this into account we're left with the idea that the Japanese, due to the influence of kanji, have taken that bit of information and converted it into a sort of fetish. Disturbing... yes, but, nonetheless, a possible reason of the lolicon craze in Japan.

Another simple reason is because Japanese women are so under-developed that 14 year old girls are just as well developed as a woman, say 25 years old. But this one just doesn't sound very fun at all, now does it.

Any comments on my theory? :hat:

[Langosta]

Yeah... we learned it had something to do with a mother loving her child, probably not the origin though

Final comment : Who cares?

The lolita thing is probably about dominance, not kanji radicals

[gentlemanandscholar]

An interesting assumption, but no.
Considering that 好 is taken from Chinese 好(hao) which is "good", you'd have to explain about China having a loli fetish, which they don't on a large scale.

It's simply fashioned after a mother's love for a child. It is taught that way in both Japanese and Chinese language classes.

I'm pretty sure the lolicon comes from the culture, where young pop groups and the like are advertised as sexually charged beings etc.

[Meatbun-man]

I'm not saying that's the meaning. I'm saying that Japanese took it one step further is all :).

[jindojim]

....I think not.

Japanese "lolita complex" or "rorikon" stems from a lot of factors in the society. Primarily, rorikon is a continuation of the desire among Japanese men to emphasize the girlish female as an ideal trait, which is in contrast to the more mature and "developed" women that are idealized in Western cultures. The source of sexual fantasy has traditionally been the genitals in Japanese culture, with less attention to the body figure. Thus, the ideal female was not the voluptuous sensual women but the youthful maiden. In fact, larger breasts, often associated with sexual maturity in the West, are not seen as having erotic puposes but rather more linked with feeding children.

Now, due to globalization, breasts are also obviously seen as sexual in the modern Japanese society. But this desire for the girlish maiden has not dissipated completely. With the emergence of the sexually assertive "Westernized" female in recent years, this longing for the girlish and immature female has created the counter movement (or rather, a return to traditional ideals) of "rorikon" among males to resist this trend of sexually independent Japanese women. In addition, a large number of men are actually intimidated by their wives, since, although Japan appears to be a male dominated society, women have a large amount of control over men as well, remaining the primary economic consumers. Women also tend to be more cosmopolitan than males, spending their free time (and their husbands' salaries) going out to travel, educating themselves, and taking classes to learn hobbies like cooking and flower arranging. On the other hand, most men simply do not have the time to pursue these leisure activities. Feeling a sort of inferiority complex to their own wives, it's not surprising that they would turn towards the traditional ideal of the demure, docile, and helpless girl. It is through this fantasy (and sometimes reality) that they can feel once again as if they are the ones in charge.

[Meatbun-man]

I only got 1 thing to say to that... WOW... that's detailed... but your ruined my fun :(... your's sounds pretty believable and sounds like its out of a book/article :).

[Akagaminosteven]

Man, screw lolicon.

Femdom ftw!

[/|/@/|/@し]

Question: How long ago did western influence change their culture so that it was illegal?

I'm wondering this because if it was after WWII, that was only 60 years ago. It could be them transitioning to the change of cultural ideas at such a rapid pace. Because way back when, even in our culture it was acceptable for people to marry at age 13. These were for breeding purposes because the lifespan was shorter and more women and children died in childbirth and childhood. Now, since these aren't as much of a risk anymore we seek a more emotionally healthy and stable relationships which also ties in with love and maturity unlike marriages of the past which were business arrangements. America and probably most other western countries transitioned into this after a couple hundred years. If Japan leaped into this by a more forceful nature to be more like western cultures they might be a little stunted.

That's just my hypothesis of why there seems to be more people with lolicon in Japan than America.. But honestly, there is also a lot of stuff that goes on in America that we hide. I think it's just more out there in Japan.