One of the biggest issues with the image of the freeter is that it is predominantly linked to males. As Cook points out in her research, of the 38% of documented freeters in 2012, 22.1% of the laborers were male (36). Furthermore, the expectation of the Japanese woman to get married and become a housewife limits her mobility as a freeter. Whereas the male freeters balance of an unstable lifestyle from job to job is viewed as the norm, female freeters are often viewed as women in limbo of temporary—not long term or insecure—work and marriage. This pervasive view of women not only restricted the worth of the female body in terms of economic profitability, but also confined the type of labor the female body could provide.

Even though various forms of prostitution existed in Japan prior to the collapse of the bubble economy, enjo kosai began to increase in popularity among young Japanese girls and subsequently gained national attention during the 1990s. “Enjo,” meaning to assist, and “kosai,” meaning socializing or entertaining, became a way for Japanese high school girls, or older women playing the role of a schoolgirl, to receive money by offering services to older men (Lam 353). While these services range from late night walks in the park, to watching the young girls eat ramen, the overwhelming evidence suggests that many girls offer sexual favors. The women participating in enjo kosai relationships are often labeled as high school girls, but because the Japanese schoolgirl has become a prominent symbol of sexual desire, women beyond the years of high school utilize the image of the adolescent girl’s body to receive money. In a documentary investigating the phenomenon of enjo kosai, many of the women are revealed to be either in between jobs, or attempting to make enough money to help support their significant other. However, this process of enjo kosai, which closely mirrors young male freeters working a series of jobs in an attempt to maintain a somewhat stable lifestyle, is deemed morally wrong and the girls involved become labeled as deviants; interestingly enough, in regard to literature on enjo kosai, the young girls are painted as the moral panic sites while the older men they with whom they engage are ignored.

Resources

Cook, Emma E. "Intimate Expectations and Practices: Freeter Relationships and Marriage in Contemporary Japan." Asian Anthropology (2014): 36-51. Web.

Lam, Oi-Wan. "Why Did Enjo Kosai Anchor in Taiwan but Not in Hong Kong? Or the Convergence of "enjo" and "kosai" in Teenage Sex Work." Inter-Asia Cultural Studies 4.2 (2003): 353-63. Web.

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