The 4th Installment of Talk Series on “Inequity, Stereotypes, and Stigma in Leisure”

The B’AI Global Forum will hold a talk by Mana Kamioka entitled “Idols and the Structure of Oppression：Norms and Distortions in Leisure Spaces,” which is the 4th talk of our talk series on “Inequity, Stereotypes, and Stigma in Leisure,” on Friday, July 2, 2021.

【Abstract】

Idols and the Structure of Oppression：Norms and Distortions in Leisure Spaces

Mana Kamioka（Graduate School of Human Relations, Keio University）

The leisure activities of listening to music and going to live concerts are simply enjoyable times and spaces if you look from outside. However, it can also be said that it is hard to see the oppression toward performers. Based on the fieldwork, interviews, and the case studies of gay idols, this talk will examine the norms and distortions surrounding idols that are difficult to visualize in the leisure space.

First, this talk will shed light on the oppression that idols suffer from due to their activity environment, living conditions, economic difficulties, and the stress of being evaluated subjectively under ambiguous evaluation standards, and how it is concocted into a virtue. Second, regarding the heterosexism behind idols, the talk illuminates its problematic nature through the case of the gay idols “Nichome no Sakigake Comingout.” By pointing out the values that continue to be reproduced by the old-fashioned culture surrounding idols and that have already been internalized by idols and their fans, this talk will reexamine the difficulties that lie behind the culture of leisure.

・Date：Friday, July 2, 2021, 17:00‐18:00 (JST)

・Venue：Zoom Meeting (No registration required)

・Language：Japanese

・Organizer：B’AI Global Forum, Institute for AI and Beyond at the University of Tokyo

・Co-organizer：Leisure Studies Kenkyukai, and the Association for Leisure and Tourism Studies

【Inquiry】

Yuko Itatsu (Professor, Interfaculty Initiative in Information Studies, the University of Tokyo)

itatsu[at]boz.c.u-tokyo.ac.jp（Please change [at] to @）