LIKE MOTHS TO A FLAME: A NUANCED EXPLORATION OF WOMEN AND DANGEROUS LOVE IN HIRUGAO

Abstract

The theme of adultery has always been present in Japanese productions, from the pre-modern plays, literary classics to contemporary popular media - television dramas. Till current, adultery remains popular and is continually adapted into various drama plots. However, in recent years, drama portrayals of adultery seem to take up a different pattern. Instead of being predominantly male-centric, as it has always been, more dramas are portraying adultery in female terms, presenting females as sexually active agents who like men, can freely act upon their sexual desires through having extramarital affairs. However, Japan’s society is still largely patriarchal, dominant ideologies and embedded gender notions continue to exist, subjecting women and condemning their sexual behaviors, often more so than men’s. This article examines the growing female-centric portrayal within adultery content in Japan and explores how adultery dramas while putting female adultery in the spotlight, navigate through this gender-sensitive realm of extramarital activities. Achieved by employing archival research and textual analysis of an adultery drama, Hirugao, this thesis aims to explore on a macro level, the general media trends in portrayals of women within the adultery narrative. Then, on a micro-level, this article aims to use Hirugao as a case study to demonstrate a more current interpretation of female-centric adultery portrayals that is unique to Hirugao.