Introduction to Part I

Abstract

This mini-introduction to Part I Gender Online and Digital Sex discusses how the chapters '“Sharing, Selling, Striving: The Gendered Labour of Female Social Entrepreneurship in South Korea' and '“For Japan Only?” Crossing and Re-inscribing Boundaries in the Circulation of Adult Computer Games' can be understood in the context of gender inequality in Japan and South Korea where adult women are still expected to become housewives. Both chapters contribute to a discussion in digital media studies by asking whether new information and communication technologies would alter gender relations or reinforce them. In addition, they show how historical gender relations in Japan and South Korea shape how gender is experienced. More specifically, the two chapters show how an online space enables users to experience different gender expressions and challenge gender relations through e-commerce and digital gaming. At the same time, they also pointed out that gender expressions and gender relations in the offline space constrain gender experience in the online space.