Moto Fuuzokujou ga Kanemochi Tsuma ni Narimashita

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It's very unsettling that they paint something that's so underground and illegal with this air of normalcy like she was a regular office lady trying to climb up the corporate ladder. Her circumstances are horrible but surely there was another path she could've taken? Is prostitution really this normalized in Japan?
 
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It's very unsettling that they paint something that's so underground and illegal with this air of normalcy like she was a regular office lady trying to climb up the corporate ladder. Her circumstances are horrible but surely there was another path she could've taken? Is prostitution really this normalized in Japan?
As strange as it may seem, this is based on her autobiographical book.
Prostitution is very repressed and normalized at the same time because Japanese are certified hypocrisy masters
 
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It's very unsettling that they paint something that's so underground and illegal with this air of normalcy like she was a regular office lady trying to climb up the corporate ladder.
It isn't illegal; it's legal.
What's illegal under Japanese law is penio-vaginal intercourse against a fee between complete strangers. This is why they legally have to spend some time talking and get to know each other. The conversations they have beforehand are a legal requirement so that they aren't completely strangers any more and know each other a little.

It isn't underground and illegal at all; it's an above-ground service that's being offered publicly as advertised.

Her circumstances are horrible but surely there was another path she could've taken? Is prostitution really this normalized in Japan?
I'm sure there was, but this character really enjoys this job which is obvious from reading it opposed to projecting your own feelings onto the character?

It's obvious from the first chapter on how much Honoka enjoys this line of work and making people happy and it also pays very well.
 
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The conversations they have beforehand are a legal requirement so that they aren't completely strangers any more and know each other a little.

It isn't underground and illegal at all; it's an above-ground service that's being offered publicly as advertised.

I'm sure there was, but this character really enjoys this job which is obvious from reading it opposed to projecting your own feelings onto the character?

It's obvious from the first chapter on how much Honoka enjoys this line of work and making people happy and it also pays very well.
Okay, first what you are describing is a legal gray area. It's technically legal because they are working around the law. On most of the world it is still illegal and on paper still illegal there as you're saying. It is also underground on most of the world, which is what prompted me to ask if it was really that normalized in Japan. Judging by your username you're probably dutch and yours is one of the few countries where things are different from elsewhere, forgive me if i'm wrong on that one.

And well, if she enjoys it then great for her. It is still unsettling to an observer, and it's with good reason a trade where women have been historically exploited and ruined many lives. Maybe the idea of organized prostitution creates more safety for the women working on that? Still can't shake the feeling she's been exploited throughout the whole story, because that is how the reality is on most of the world.
 
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Okay, first what you are describing is a legal gray area. It's technically legal because they are working around the law.
No, they stay within the confines of the law. The law prohibits sex for a fee against unacquainted persons.

On most of the world it is still illegal
Since when?

Zy2ZmhF.png

It seems to pretty much only be illegal in theocracies, Russia, China and the U.S.A. — What company to share.


and on paper still illegal there as you're saying.
No, what they're doing is entirely legal on paper.

It is also underground on most of the world, which is what prompted me to ask if it was really that normalized in Japan. Judging by your username you're probably dutch and yours is one of the few countries where things are different from elsewhere, forgive me if i'm wrong on that one.
For whatever reason, the Netherlands is mistakenly known in some countries as the only country where prostitution, same-sex marriage, euthanasia and drugs are legal because it was the first. As In reality most European countries followed a couple of years after and as the map indicates, prostitution is legal in almost any industrialized nation at this point.

And well, if she enjoys it then great for her. It is still unsettling to an observer, and it's with good reason a trade where women have been historically exploited and ruined many lives. Maybe the idea of organized prostitution creates more safety for the women working on that? Still can't shake the feeling she's been exploited throughout the whole story, because that is how the reality is on most of the world.
I think you're quite mistaken about that.

For instance:
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-03-12/u-k-sex-workers-report-high-job-satisfaction

It is also legal in the U.K. as the map indicates.[/quote]
 
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No, they stay within the confines of the law. The law prohibits sex for a fee against unacquainted persons.


Since when?

Zy2ZmhF.png

I'd still argue that chart is showing that it's illegal on most of the world, with only India and well, europe being the most relevant places where it's legal. I've done some research and while it's 'technically' legal over here in the sense women are allowed to do it, the situation as presented in the manga (where there's an institution mediating it) would still be illegal here and probably in all of the countries listed as blue there unless there's some gray area being exploited like in Japan, as there are others profiting from her work, and that enables the real danger of pimps/brothels exploiting the vulnerable situation of younger women for profit. That happens a lot here and it's illegal, i know of one woman whose life was ruined by it (since drugs tend to overlap with underground things like prostitution) and there's probably thousands if not millions of women going through the same around the world.
 
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Damn good, if not quite great. It's refreshing to read a well-informed, non-judgmental account of sex work from the perspective of someone who engaged in it healthily and emerged with few regrets. I enjoyed this so much, in fact, that I found myself wishing the storytelling were less efficient, providing more space for Honoka's stray thoughts and the day-to-day details of her life. At the same time, I understand why such novelistic minutia might not suit a serialized manga adaptation.

Yagi Katsumi's art is key to The Former Prostitute's success, adeptly compressing a wide range of character types and emotional expressions into elegant visual language, with a particular emphasis on Honoka's earnest optimism and joy. It's clean, straightforward work that recalls past masters without ever seeming old-fashioned or derivative.

My only complaints have to with the translation. It's perfectly acceptable but can be awkward and leans too hard on distinctly British slang. Worse are the scanlation group's memes. These appear at the end of each chapter and without fail strike me as gratingly smug (ymmv).

Finally, I'm surprised that anyone takes issue with Honoka's presentation of sex work as a "normal" form of employment. There should be no argument on that point: sex work is as normal as jobs get. Legal or not, it's existed throughout history in every culture. And Honoka, by her own account, is engaged in a well-regulated and at least tacitly legal form of it.
 
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Zy2ZmhF.png

It seems to pretty much only be illegal in theocracies, Russia, China and the U.S.A. — What company to share.
[/QUOTE]

You really twisted that as much as you could to help support your point, didn't you?

Well firstly, if it's legal to sell sex but illegal to buy it, then prostitution still sounds pretty illegal to me since it does require both parts. So the yellow countries are out.

Secondly, he said it was illegal in most of the world, and you proceeded to group most of the world under a "theocracy" label and tried to sell it as 1 point in the list. Then listed 3 world superpowers with a straight face. And you also said "pretty much" which I assume means there were several more countries where it's illegal but that would've made the list look too long.
 

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