This weekly roundup thread is intended for all culture war posts. 'Culture war' is vaguely defined, but it basically means controversial issues that fall along set tribal lines. Arguments over culture war issues generate a lot of heat and little light, and few deeply entrenched people ever change their minds. This thread is for voicing opinions and analyzing the state of the discussion while trying to optimize for light over heat.
Optimistically, we think that engaging with people you disagree with is worth your time, and so is being nice! Pessimistically, there are many dynamics that can lead discussions on Culture War topics to become unproductive. There's a human tendency to divide along tribal lines, praising your ingroup and vilifying your outgroup - and if you think you find it easy to criticize your ingroup, then it may be that your outgroup is not who you think it is. Extremists with opposing positions can feed off each other, highlighting each other's worst points to justify their own angry rhetoric, which becomes in turn a new example of bad behavior for the other side to highlight.
We would like to avoid these negative dynamics. Accordingly, we ask that you do not use this thread for waging the Culture War. Examples of waging the Culture War:
-
Shaming.
-
Attempting to 'build consensus' or enforce ideological conformity.
-
Making sweeping generalizations to vilify a group you dislike.
-
Recruiting for a cause.
-
Posting links that could be summarized as 'Boo outgroup!' Basically, if your content is 'Can you believe what Those People did this week?' then you should either refrain from posting, or do some very patient work to contextualize and/or steel-man the relevant viewpoint.
In general, you should argue to understand, not to win. This thread is not territory to be claimed by one group or another; indeed, the aim is to have many different viewpoints represented here. Thus, we also ask that you follow some guidelines:
-
Speak plainly. Avoid sarcasm and mockery. When disagreeing with someone, state your objections explicitly.
-
Be as precise and charitable as you can. Don't paraphrase unflatteringly.
-
Don't imply that someone said something they did not say, even if you think it follows from what they said.
-
Write like everyone is reading and you want them to be included in the discussion.
On an ad hoc basis, the mods will try to compile a list of the best posts/comments from the previous week, posted in Quality Contribution threads and archived at /r/TheThread. You may nominate a comment for this list by clicking on 'report' at the bottom of the post and typing 'Actually a quality contribution' as the report reason.
Jump in the discussion.
No email address required.
Notes -
I think it's just endemic and underreported. I've heard that cops here will often blow off accusations of assault or violence unless it's truly egregious. He's your boyfriend/husband, right? Are you sure you weren't just having a lovers quarrel? He could get in a lot of trouble if you insist on reporting this, you know. What were you doing out this late, anyway? Were you drinking? A young woman your age shouldn't be doing that sort of thing. Etc etc. Which is not to say that they don't have a point, but I think there may be more sexual violence that you see in the news or in official stats.
Wouldn't we be able to tell if it was endemic though? We could estimate maybe via observing the spread of STDs in the country, or murders (hard to hide the disappearance of a dead wife or rape/murder victim), observe the behaviour of Japanese travellers overseas or just check vibes.
There may indeed be more sexual violence than is reported but it's probably still much lower than in the West, where there are also reporting problems (a big cover-up of grooming gangs in the UK for instance). If we do away with official data and go off vibes, pretty sure Japan still comes out ahead.
I think there is definitely less murder and violent assault, it is indeed hard to hide a missing wife or girlfriend.
But unlike many other countries, perverts generally seem to avoid tourists. Western women are stereotyped as being more assertive, and they're generally just physically larger and less demure than Japanese women. And from what I can tell and what I've been told, Japanese men just aren't that attracted to non-Japanese women. There seems to be an assumption that Japanese women are the most feminine, womanly women out there, and that anything else is a downgrade. And there's also the faint but pervasive sentiment permeating every layer and aspect of Japanese life that anything Japanese is "good" and "normal" while anything foreign, while perhaps interesting, is nonetheless alien and inferior (c.f. the stereotypical 20th century Englishman's "proper tea," "proper fish and chips," "foreign parts," etc).
On the other hand, very much like other countries, I've heard that a lot of the sexual assaults happen to lower-class women -- unsupervised teenage daughters of single working moms, young women very drunk or passed out in a nightlife district, and of course, young girls in crowded trains (although this seems to be decreasing). It seems like there is quite a lot of this, and tourists rarely experience it.
More options
Context Copy link
More options
Context Copy link
More options
Context Copy link