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Post-Feminism, Social Media, and the Celebrification of a Female Fraudster in Neoliberal Japan

Bibliographic Data

ID6014819
AuthorsYoko Demelius (0000-0002-3115-2731, University of Turku, corresponding author), Yutaka Yoshida (0000-0001-5676-3048, Cardiff University)
Year2025
Volume23
Publication date2025-01-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueJapan focus (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1557-4660 • E-ISSN: 1557-4660
PublisherCambridge University Press (CUP) (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1017/apj.2025.10024
OpenAlexW4416606920
LanguageEN
References cited24

This research note explores an iconic female fraudster, who achieved celebrity criminal status with a substantial fanbase, by analyzing her status as an empowering female figure and the sociocultural context in contemporary Japan. In due course, we attempt to fill the notable research gap regarding the phenomenon of a female fraudster becoming a “celebrity criminal” from a post-feminist perspective. By analyzing online and interview materials, this article demonstrates that the highlighted otherness in Young’s “transgressive other” (Young 2007, 2011) is hardly applicable. We shed light on instrumentalized femininity shared among young women challenging the pre-existing normative femininity in contemporary Japan

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