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I think the current situation is simply a consequence of freedom being granted to people without real episteme. Shiori, at this moment, doesn’t care whether what she’s doing is right or wrong. She only knows that this is what she, her body, not her soul, desires. And since she has the means to do it without facing any major consequences, there is no reason for her not to. She clearly has a hedonistic worldview.
The search for freedom has always been a fundamental part of the human condition, but it has been even more pronounced in Western and Protestant countries. In my opinion, however, liberty is also an idea that resonates more with women, as they have historically been treated as the second sex, raised to serve male authority figures, first their fathers, then their husbands after marriage. The reason they largely accepted this role was that men provided them with security in exchange for their loyalty. If a woman rejected this position of servitude, she would be punished by being denied financial and physical security. But that has changed in recent times.
Reproduction and by extension sex is essential not only to the human race but to all sexually reproductive animals. The problem is that sex has always been fundamentally imbalanced in favor of men. For men, sex is generally low risk and high reward. The worst consequence is an STD, and orgasms are almost guaranteed since male climax is necessary for reproduction, whereas the female orgasm is not. This, unsurprisingly, led to female pleasure being neglected. Women’s incentives for engaging in sex were historically financial rather than sexual, whether in traditional marriage or prostitution.
The problem with prostitution is that, although the women involved are financially compensated, they are also highly vulnerable to physical and psychological abuse. This is where the internet changed everything. Online prostitution retains nearly all the benefits of traditional prostitution while removing most of the dangers. If a woman opens an OnlyFans and starts selling explicit content, she is still profiting from sexual acts, but with no risk of physical abuse or STDs. This is a perfect scenario for hedonists. They don’t care whether their actions are moral or not. As long as the benefits outweigh the harm and their body desires it, they will do it.
In my view, Shiori is the embodiment of all these factors combined. She is an American woman who grew up in the internet age, and her insatiable pursuit of freedom was further exacerbated by her strict and controlling mother. As we all know, when you try to force something onto someone, the result is often the exact opposite of what you intended. This is a phenomenon known as reactance. When individuals feel their freedom is being restricted, they instinctively rebel, often acting in ways that contradict what they were forced to comply with.
Shiori coped with her lack of freedom at home through the internet, but that led to another problem. She ended up finding herself under a different form of control. Eilene became yet another authority figure, arguably worse than her mother, since Eilene was not only a leech but also even more irresponsible. Shiori spent most of her life being controlled, and she resented it. But everything changed when she finally obtained the one thing that can truly buy freedom, money.
When she joined Hololive, it was clear that her primary goal was to earn as much as possible. However, she hated herself for it because she was acting just like the people she despised, lying, concealing her true self, and putting on a facade for money. In Hololive, plenty of girls act differently from their past personas. Raora, Gigi, Rissa, Gura, and especially Fauna are prime examples. And there is nothing inherently wrong with that. But Shiori couldn’t accept it in herself. I believe she doesn’t see Shiori as just a character or a job. She sees it as her true self and wants people to like her as she really is.
For me, Fauna’s graduation was the catalyst for our current situation. While in Hololive, Fauna never interacted with male vtubers. However, she did so immediately after graduating. And the key point is that she faced no punishment for it. She is still making plenty of money streaming. So why would Shiori bother hiding her desire to collab with men if she knows she will receive the same rewards with very few consequences?
I know the text is confusing as shit. But I still wanted to write something about the current situation.
