When we talk about sexuality, the exploration of youth especially teenage girls is prominent. That leads us to discuss a subculture that is closely related to this, “enjo kosai”. The term “enjo kosai”  is loosely translated as “freelance teenage sex work” (Lam(2003)) and it originated in Japan in the 70s as “culture” among teenage girls. It could be a result of capitalism but not entirely hinged on it since we cannot consider this on purely economic terms as it has two aspects to it namely the ‘leisure’ part of it and the transactional sex. 

Be it exploration or not, it is evident that sex has risen as a commodity among youth in Taiwan. From the rise of teenage sex work in the late 90s to the new internet world, teenage girls have more means of being involved in sexual activities. From the cross border perspective, teenage sex work was always present in Taiwan but hidden and it only starts to get popular after 1999’s release of the “dorama” “God, Please Give Me More Time” (Lam(2003))

Teenage girls in Taiwan have been part of this “enjo kosai” as after school hours activities to gain some income before the emergence of other forms of employment like fast-food restaurant employment. (Lam) This highlights the fact that girls can start engaging in sexual activities based solely on the prospect of earning some money. Importantly, the social problems that exists in these countries East Asian countries, Taiwan in this case are the main cause of why teenage girls start engaging in sexual activities as early as at thirteen years old. Teenage girls are subject to exploitation by a patriarchal society and their sexuality might be shaped based on constructs such as rape, molestation, unwanted pregnancies and sex trafficking among other things (Josephine Ho, Spice girls to Enjo Kosai .) The first factor that shapes these identities are From these social problems, we can kind of see how the teenage girls’ sexual lives are going to be shaped like. Victims of such circumstances as rape might end up being forced into marriage. This explains the economic reasons for engaging in “enjo-kosai”, however, “enjo kosai” didn't anchor in Taiwan entirely for economic reasons by also just for leisure. Youth saw this as a means to express themselves and get out of the bonds of society.

1. Worth of the Body