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Lolicon, or Rorikon (ロリコン) is the Japanese (or Engrish) term for "Lolita complex" (derived from the novel Lolita), the sexual attraction to fictional and real underage girls.

It is used to refer to hentai anime, manga, and other visual forms of art that contain sexual/erotic representations of underage girls, and also to people who are sexually attracted to fictional and real underage girls (and who are not themselves underage). Actual photographs or videos of underage children in sexual situations can be considered lolicon, but is usually simply called child pornography; lolicon manga are legal in Japan (so long as actual underage models are not used in the creation of the art), child pornography is not.

"Complex" is abbreviated as "con", rather than "com", due to the phonology of Japanese. Other foreign words with syllables ending in "m" are often transliterated in the same manner.

Generally speaking, lolicon involves girls between the ages of 8 and 13, which is within the clinical definition of pedophilia. It is frequently accused of being similar to or a form of pedophilia, particularly by westerners. Those people who have a "lolicon" are believed by some to have a tendency to act violently against children or to prefer sex with children to adults. Despite Japan producing (and consuming) most lolicon media, there is no evidence that it causes violent crimes against children and teens. Their prevalence (as is the case for violent crimes in general) is well below that of most other countries.

Lolicon is a frequent subject of scholarly articles on sexuality in Japan, and is often suggested to exist in Japan for the same reasons that adult women in high-school uniforms are considered attractive, and enjo kosai is popular. Despite stereotypes, however, neither culture has homogeneous views; there are many Japanese staunchly opposed to lolicon, and there are many westerners that would have no objection to it. Defenders of lolicon say that fictional material does not adversely affect children, and may in some cases help to relieve the sexual tension of actual pedophiles; opponents often say that the existence of fictional material encourages the viewing of children as sex objects.

Shota-con is the underage-boy equivalent of lolicon.

External links

• Japan Times: Does comic relief hurt kids?
• Japan Times: Views from the street: Is a crackdown needed on "lolicom"?

• Japanese terms
• Anime
• Manga