SOAS Research Online

Abstract

This paper looks at female fans of male porn actors in Jôsei-muke Adult Videos (AV) in Japan. The genre of Jôsei-muke is a form of pornography aimed at heterosexual women that features good-looking male porn actors; Eromen and Lovemen. This new genre has emerged in reaction to the decline of mainstream porn studios due to the popularity of porn streaming websites and captures heterosexual women who had been neglected as audiences as a new market. Despite the media attention that the new genre has garnered as a female sexual emancipation, the phenomenon is supported by ‘fans’ of Eromen and Lovemen. Based on fieldwork at a series of Eromen and Lovemen fan events and on online communities as a part of my on-going doctoral research, I found that the women who self-identified as ‘fans’ of Eromen and Lovemen carefully designed their personas in the fan community. For instance, they used pseudonyms in order to conceal their public selves at work or home. Simultaneously, it has become apparent that female fans look for intimate interactions with male actors at these events in order to be recognized as feminine and have their confidence restored. The paper draws on conversations with female fans to elucidate the expectations fans have regarding their interactions with Eromen and Lovemen, and how this fan community influences their everyday lives.