Sexless Marriage in Japan as Women’s Political Resistance

Rika Tsuji

doi:10.20897/femenc/3890

Abstract

A recent survey by the Japan Family Planning Association (JFPA) shows that nearly half of married couples in Japan are in sexless marriages. Japanese society is paying attention to sexless marriage because it is considered to be related to prolonged working hours and the current low total fertility rate. However, this interpretation of the phenomenon ignores the social conditions of sexuality and marriage relations in Japan, in which the sexuality of heterosexual married women is objectified for the needs of men in a patriarchal-androcentric society. I will use Judith Butler’s theory on gender performativity to analyse the gendered aspect of sexless marriage, and argue that sexless marriage should be viewed as a form of women’s political action against the present power system. This discussion corresponds to other related phenomena such as postponing marriage, choosing men who do not demand women to be housewives, not bearing children, and staying single. These women’s choices can and should be understood as political actions that resist constructed social norms and expand women’s modes of agency within the norms of Japanese femininity.

Highlights

The Japan Family Planning Association (JFPA) recently published a survey that reported that almost half of married couples in Japan are in sexless marriages (Kitamura, 2015)
Yamaguchi’s article questions the reception of the ‘sexless’ phenomenon by Japanese society, which is largely focusing on this phenomenon because it is considered to be related to Japan’s low total fertility rate
Butler’s account of gender performativity shows that experiences where gender is involved are inseparable from social and cultural discourse. This suggests that to understand the phenomenon of sexless marriage in Japan requires a historical analysis of discourse on gender and sexuality, because, as a gendered issue, it is part of a reiterative process of normativity which by necessity happens through long spans of time and political interaction rather than singular data points

Summary

Introduction

The Japan Family Planning Association (JFPA) recently published a survey that reported that almost half of married couples in Japan are in sexless marriages (Kitamura, 2015). This interpretation of the phenomenon does not consider the struggles related to women’s marital sexuality in Japan, even though the most common reason given for sexless marriages by married women was mendōkusai, hassle.

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Conclusion