/jp/ - Otaku Culture

Men of No Value: Contemporary Japanese Manhood and the Economies of Intimacy (2017) by Elizabeth Frances Miles

abstract: h ttps://pqdtopen.proquest.com/doc/1950584138.html?FMT=ABS
PDF available on the right (157 MB)

>the dissertation begins with a gendered history of postwar Japan culminating in the ideal of the dekiru otoko or "man who can do."
>Amidst the continuing importance of marriage to social ideals of male adulthood and personal desires for children, many young men find the marital union to be unachievable. These men, broadly categorized as "undesirable" (himote) ...
>increasing importance of what I term the postwar "sexual contract"—the implicit agreement between the state and its citizens that they will engage in reproductive sex—within a contemporary pronatalist regime. Challenging this contract is the rise of male virgin (dōtei) "movements"

The paper is full of term and expressions encountered in the sources and translated, like "being able to have children and a family", "coming of age day", "singlefication", "era of marriage difficulties for men", "nuclear family", makeinu (loser dog), ikemen (handsome man; cool guy); the word otaku (geeks) appears at least at page 108 (unfortunately Ctrl+F doesn't work here).