A man named Manabu Sekiguchi has started a petition directed at Shueisha, the parent company of Shonen Jump.
Titled "We men are not wolves. Please distinguish the difference between "eroticism" and "sexual violence" in Shonen Jump," Sekiguchi is demanding for the company to put content warnings or explanations in manga that contain scenes of sexual violence. He also wants Jump to launch a survey asking its readers about their level of sexual education so they can adjust the level of sexual content in the magazine to a level more suitable for its readers.
Sekiguchi recalls his youth as an avid Shonen Jump fan. He was specifically into To Love-Ru as a teenager, but only realized just how sketchy the many non-consensual sexual content in the series were after starting university and talking to a friend who had not read the manga. In his adulthood, he now believes that such scenes in manga aren't created by people who understand the difference between fiction and real life, but they're the results of a general lack of sexual education in Japanese society. He says:
"Personally speaking, I feel uncomfortable when I look at Jump these days and how it gleefully sells women's bodies as if they are livestock. Perhaps out of a belief that they won't be criticized if it's between girls, there are more manga these days which show girls sexually harassing other girls. I want Jump's editors to realize that, regardless of who is doing it, sexual acts performed without the consent of both parties is sexual violence that hurts people."
He also cites an incident when he was in elementary school. A group of boys sexually harassed a number of girls, but he didn't speak up at the time because of the "boys will be boys" attitude he had regarding sexual harassment, which stemmed from being desensitized after reading many similar scenes in manga.
As the name suggests, Shonen Jump is aimed at the young male demographic, aged roughly 12-18 years old. Obviously, depiction does not equal endorsement, but considering how teenagers are impressionable and Japanese society tends to be sexually repressed, Sekiguchi believes that kids that see this stuff could easily get the wrong idea just as he did. He claims Jump manga frequently shows female bodies as inherently sexual and men as horny "wolves" who go out of their way to get a good look or cop a feel whether the girls are willing or not, and in a lot of cases said girls younger than high school age.
The petition ended a few days ago with over 4,000 signatures and Sekiguchi has now sent it to Shueisha. Seeing how quickly they dropped one of their manga after the creator's recent arrest for sexual harassment, it'll be interesting to see whether they'll respond.
I'm intrigued to see what you guys think of this one. Should Shonen Jump include content warnings for scenes of sexual violence? Is the magazine really sending teenagers the wrong idea about consent? Is it a problem caused by a lack of sexual education in the country? Sound off below!
