BOOK REVIEW EDITOR-IN-CHIEF ELLA KELLEHER WRITES – The “perfect suburban life” is pretty simple in theory: get married, buy a house, and have children. Invite your neighbors over. Take up a hobby – like raising exotic fish. Yet, this seemingly picturesque ideal of marital bliss is scrutinized in Japanese storyteller…
Full Article BOOK REVIEW: WEASELS IN THE ATTIC (2022) BY HIROKO OYAMADA – WHAT’S HIDING IN THE DARK?
AMANDA SUHARTONO WRITES – There has been an increased correlation between social media and marital problems, likely due to the growing influence of the internet in Asia. The internet has created new outlets for forming secret affairs. Engagement in social media has been the cause of 1,826 divorce cases reported…
Full Article INDONESIA: HOW SOCIAL MEDIA IS RUINING MARRIAGES
ELIZABETH SOELISTIO WRITES – Sure, Tinder and OKCupid are good for finding a mate. But what if you’re after mates, plural? To make up for the lack of polygamy features in most dating websites and mobile apps, Lindu Pranayama created AyoPoligami which literally translates to “Let’s do polygamy.” Since AyoPoligami…
Full Article INDONESIA: SWIPE RIGHT FOR AYOPOLIGAMI DATING APP
KATIE TRINH WITES – Whether it’s religious influences, social norms, or human nature, society tends to view a “relationship” as exclusively between an individual man and an individual woman – or in today’s increasing acceptance of various sexualities, a man and a man, a woman and a woman, and so…
Full Article VIETNAM: Infidelity and the New Scarlet LetterRYAN LIPPERT WRITES – The South Korean LGBT community has struggled with discrimination throughout the country’s history, but there are some signs that the tide is changing. In May, South Korean film director Kim Jho Gwang-soo revealed plans to hold a ceremony in September to celebrate the commitment between him…
Full Article SOUTH KOREA: Just Short of Wedding Bells
FILM REVIEW BY LANI LUO – “Wake up. This is the new China. Things need to be planned and centrally controlled.” This quote comes from a short film written by Craig Rosenthal called Shanghai Love Market. Clearly, the title indicates that the story is not an academic critique on the…
Full Article CHINA: Shanghai Love MarketPolitics can make strange bedfellows, as the famous saying goes. Witness the brewing brouhaha in Indonesia, where a high-profile marital union is drawing almost as much attention as a presidential campaign. The upscale marriage is between the son of the country’s president (Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono) and the daughter of a…
Full Article INDONESIA: For Love or For Politics?