2022.Oct.25

REPORTS

The 5th Installment Report on Talk Series on “Inequity, Stereotypes, and Stigma in Leisure”

On August 4, 2022, the B’AI Global Forum held the fifth installment of talk series on “Inequality, Stereotypes, and Stigma in Leisure.” In this talk, Patty Ayukawa, who is a visiting research associate at the Research Center for Advanced Science and Technology and a part-time lecturer at the College of Arts and Sciences at the University of Tokyo, presented a talk entitled “Against the ‘New Exploitation’ Caused by Technology: Issues on virtual YouTuber and the ‘Objectification of the Body,’” which is about the issues of having a particular body image in VR space, especially gender issues.

First, Mr. Ayukawa referred to the results of a survey on social VR users and a communication service in the VR space, which showed that 87% of the users are male and 76% of the male users use female avatars[i]. That is, most users are male with female avatars. Based on the premise that the freedom to wear the desired self-representation should be respected, he then discussed two issues related to this.

One is the issue of the danger by generalizing the effects of images based on the Proteus effect, which is the effect of self-representation on speech and behavior, and statistical studies on this effect. He mentioned that phenomena such as “using a female avatar allows me to act gently,” which is an example of the Proteus effect on social VR, are merely representations of the gender stereotypes possessed by each individual. He then pointed out that generalizing would lead to the pursuit of existing gender images and the reinforcement of the gender system.

The other is related to the dissymmetric notion that “men are the subject / women are the object,” which have historically existed. As an example, he cited the increase in sexual comments on male virtual YouTubers who use female avatars, and the positive responses of those virtual YouTubers to these comments. In addition, he warned against a new “objectification of the body” by “becoming it (the female figure),” which is different from the existing objectification by placing the body externally, and the resulting “new exploitation.”

The topic then shifted to the relationship between transgender people and VR. It is often pointed out that the VR space is an ideal space for transgender people, where they can acquire their own self-representation. After referring to this, Mr. Ayukawa noted that the solution to the aforesaid problem about objectification by drawing a line between those who can use avatars and those who cannot is regressive since it leaves the issue of self-identification to others. He continued that it could hurt them if the dividing line spontaneously occurs.

Finally, he summarized that the issue of gender in VR space, especially social VR, is a matter of representation and requires ethics, not rules. He added that this ethics is almost the same as that demanded by feminism and that it is important to have ethics for the object because it is a space where the subject is not limited in terms of being able to change the image he or she wears.

The lecture was followed by a discussion with the participants through a Q&A session. In this session, there were active discussions about the impact of Japanese culture, such as “kawaii (cute),” on this issue, the differences between Japan and other countries, and the role of social VR.

This talk was an opportunity to not only learn about the issues, including potential problems, but also recognize that the importance of thinking about the relationship between technology, such as VR spaces, and gender issues is especially heightened at this time when technology is in the midst of development. As a participant, I also felt that if both the problems and advantages of social VR were widely known and discussed through this perspective, it would result in social VR being accepted by more people.

[i] Virtual Bishojo Nemu (2022). Homo Metaverse: A Phantom Key to Tomorrow. Tokyo: Gijutsu Hyoron Sha. (バーチャル美少女ねむ『メタバース進化論』（技術評論者、2022年）P162「物理性別とアバターの性別 – ソーシャルVR国勢調査」)