Women’s Pleasure Online? A Contrasting Analysis of One Japanese Mainstream and One Women’s Pornographic Film from the Internet

This paper introduces the results of a two-stage analysis of one Japanese mainstream and one women’s pornographic film from the Internet, asking whether any differences between the gender representations of both sexes can be observed, and whether these differences correspond to the films’ Western counterparts. In the first stage, the films are being analysed regarding their correspondence to characteristics of mainstream pornography and, respectively, criteria of women’s pornography, which were developed through Western feminists’ debates. The detailed case studies of the two films that were selected as examples deal with their general and sexual contents, aesthetic elements, dialogues, and the appearance of the characters. In the second stage, the gender roles are being examined. The analysis firstly confirms that both films correspond to their Western counterparts and that they contain substantial differences concerning contents, aesthetic elements, dialogues, and the quality of the displayed relationship of the characters. Secondly, the paper shows that the gender representations in the mainstream pornographic film stick to conventional gender roles related to this genre, with an emphasis on male-centered sexual practices, which are linked to the female body’s objectification. By contrast, the women’s pornographic film features-besides female-friendly sexual practices-non-sexual aspects of the relationship between the characters and introduces an alternative male role model.