Essay On Masturbation Over Japanese Erotic Comic With 'Young Boy Characters' Prompts Inquiry

The journal in which the essay appeared has reportedly launched an investigation into the matter, and researchers have examined the review processes that exist at the paper.

An essay running to nearly 4,000 words published in the April edition of peer-reviewed journal Qualitative Research has recently attracted quite a bit of scrutiny after going viral on Twitter.

The paper was written by Karl Andersson, a PhD student at the School of Arts, Languages and Cultures at The University of Manchester, and is titled 'I am not alone – we are all alone: Using masturbation as an ethnographic method in research on shota subculture in Japan', “shota” being described by the author as a “Japanese genre of self-published erotic comics that feature boy characters".

“In this research note, I will recount how I set up an experimental method of masturbating to shota comics, and how this participant observation of my own desire not only gave me a more embodied understanding of the topic for my research but also made me think about loneliness and ways to combat it as driving forces of the culture of self-published erotic comics,” Andersson wrote.

According to Vice News, the essay essentially amounts to the description of the author’s “masturbation habits” and thoughts and feelings while reading the comics in question, as well as “defenses of all of the above as legitimate research".

Lots of generative discussion on this new piece of research at #ASA2022. pic.twitter.com/DZ7bEY9Akq

— Tim Gill (@timgill924) August 9, 2022

As the paper received an increasing amount of attention online, many sociologists and researchers denounced it as “deeply problematic, embarrassing, and even dangerous to the field”, with some even initially suspecting that it was a joke, the media outlet notes.

“While sexuality researchers have written about masturbation, this is the first I have heard of masturbation as a methodology, let alone masturbation to depictions of children,” Andrea Becker, postdoctoral research fellow studying sexual and reproductive health at the University of California, San Francisco, told Vice. “It is a misrepresentation of qualitative work, of sociology, and of sexualities research.”

Justin Gutzwa, a postdoctoral scholar at the University of Utah who researches gender, sexuality, and transphobia in education, also wondered aloud “what was the review process for this article like?”

“I’m mystified that any reviewer would pass off on this as an exemplar of innovative ethnographic methods, let alone an acceptable, appropriate, or ethical piece of writing,” he remarked.

Qualitative Research has announced that they launched an investigation into the publication on 9 August.

The media outlet also points out that Andersson’s fascination with 'shota' appears to be well-documented, and that this particular genre of publication is actually illegal in the UK - where Andersson “goes to school” - as well as in several other countries.