response to 2 discussion posts

Need two responses to two posts. These responses should be 100- 150 words each and say more than “I agree” or “Good point.” Rather, your responses should extend or somehow further the discussion and analysis that was begun by one of your classmates. (These posts are based on the readings in the attached file.)

Post 1 The Lives of Affective Laborers 

During the Post-Industrial Stage, Japan’s economy relies on digital technology and services distribution such as entertainment. For example, Akiko Takeyama’s novel of “The Stage Seduction” and Jake Clennell’s film of “The Great Happiness Space” describes the host clubs in Osaka, where men work as affective labor who sells romance, love, friendship, and sometimes sex to entertain female customers (3). These hosts became commodities themselves and sell “dreams” to women in return for the huge amount of fortune. In addition, the host club’s menu is priceless. As a client’s love towards the host increase, they would pay a huge amount of money for a not expensive item just for the host. And the host would gain more profit. As Japan’s economy shifted to a consumer-oriented post-industrial stage, the host club industry symbolizes a neoliberal ideal where people find alternative ways to achieve professional success, such that men became entertainment workers and women became the clients. At the beginning of the film, I thought many rich women go to the host club to seek attention and love. However, what surprises me was that most of these women were affective laborers themselves. Because the public looks down on people who work as affective labor, these women find comfort when they are with the hosts as they work in similar industries. In my opinion, this occupation is very stressful both physically and psychologically, as the hosts may have to sell their bodies in exchange for money. 

Post 2

The Hosting Industry and the Affect Economy

With Japan’s shifting towards a consumer-oriented postindustrial economy beginning  in the 1970s, the way in which people worked and consumed goods experienced great change. (Takeyama, p. 7) Neoliberal reforms that were enacted during this time made way to a more flexible workforce, yet also forced the country’s traditional employment values such as lifetime employment to become lost. Without job security or upward mobility in a company, young Japanese people began to find the hosting industry appealing in achieving their dreams. Although Japanese society as a whole still seems to condemn and shut out the world of underground “love businesses,” it is interesting how much revenue affective laborers have brought into the Japanese economy annually, and why the business has never slowed down since its emergence. 

For the male hosts, their goal is money, and for female customers, their goal is to have their “dreams fulfilled” as mentioned by Takeyama in "Staged Seduction." In order to increase profit, many of the hosts in the documentary resorted to feeding lies to their customers. As a result, male hosts in "The Great Happiness Space" are seen destroying their personalities, ultimately becoming confused about what their true feelings are, as we see in particular with Issei, the owner of Rakkyo. The general manager of the host club mentions in his interview that some hosts only last for a few months, and very rarely, male hosts stay for years. This could be due to how demanding the labor is emotionally and physically on hosts. It is also important to analyze that many of the customers were affective laborers themselves, which caused the so-called “happy” space to become more stressful for hosts because most of their customers came looking for emotional support.