Sexual and Individual Liberation in a Magazine between 1970-80s

The Case of Discourses about Womenʼs Bodies and Careers in the Magazine Bikkuri House

Abstract

This study aims to clarify that womenʼs discourses regarding their sexuality and career can convey either liberation from or conforming to their gender roles. Previous studies have analyzed womenʼs narratives of sexuality and career in womenʼs magazines, and have argued that such narratives have been regarded as a form of womenʼs liberation from their traditional gender roles and independence in the context of the womenʼs liberation movement in the early 1970s. Contrarily, some studies have suggested that women's magazines adhere to idealized figures of liberated women; however, most of the female readers who play peripheral roles in the workplace felt frustration with the idealized figures. In this study, we examined the backgrounds that define womenʼs narratives regarding their own bodies and careers in the magazine Bikkuri House, published between the 1970s and 1980s, because female editors at the magazine did not play a central role in the workplace, nor did they actively portray the idealized figure of women. First, our research found that the female editors were proud of their work, but did not see themselves as Career Women as described in the other women's media. Moreover, female editors find themselves standing at the opposite side of the traditional housewife. Second, we observed that editors and readers talked about their own body parts and experiences but many of their stories undermine themselves. Our analyses suggest that such narratives were created by the internalization of the gazes toward women editors thrown at them by both male editors and readers who can only capture women within a conventional framework. From these perspectives, this study contributes to previous research by presenting the narratives of individual and sexual liberation that may reinforce traditional gender roles, and highlight the importance of presenting idealized vision of sexual liberation.