lolicon

See also: loli-con

English

Alternative forms

• lolicom, loli-con, lolikon
• roricon, rorikon (influenced by Japanese pronunciation)

Etymology

Borrowed from Japanese ロリコン (rorikon), clipping of ロリータ・コンプレックス (“Lolita complex”), from the Vladimir Nabokov novel Lolita and English complex (not from English Lolita complex, which comes from the Japanese term). Lolita comes from Spanish Lolita, diminutive of Lola, from the given name Dolores. By surface analysis, loli +‎ -con (“abnormal sexual attraction”).

Noun

lolicon (usually uncountable, plural lolicons)

1. (uncountable, anime and manga) Attraction (often erotic) to young or young-looking female characters.
   • 2004, Patrick Macias, Tomohiro Machiyama, Cruising The Anime City: An Otaku Guide to Neo Tokyo, Stone Bridge Press, page 48:

     Innocence’s story—about female sex androids that kill their owners—is possible only in a Lolicon country like Japan. The androids are modeled after little girls[.]

   • 2014 October 15, Matt Alt, “Pharrell Williams’s Lolicon Video”, in The New Yorker‎^[1]:

     A Japanese term derived from the English phrase “Lolita complex,” lolicon describes a fascination with cartoons of very young-looking girls engaged in varying degrees of erotic behavior.

2. (countable, anime and manga) An individual who is attracted to young or young-looking female characters.
   • 1993 October 29, "Eldrick Tobin, Master of Perversion" (username), "The Arc: Joyful Noise Omakefic Unit 01: Sentenced: A Fanboys! Crossover "jnomk01.txt" (1/1)", in alt.hentai.sailor-moon, Usenet:

     I don't need to hear you are becoming a lolicon.

   • 1998 March 9, Chadwick Ngan, “BLAND Manga Capsules 3/4/98”, in rec.arts.manga (Usenet):

     Ken's a lolicon (pedophile).

   • 2000 July 6, OLF, i.e. Olf Le Fol, “:: chokes :: :: passes out ::”, in alt.hentai.sailor-moon (Usenet):

     Hey, don't take me for a lolicon: I'm not! It is just that I find that kind of anime... fun, refreshing.

   • 2016 July 14, Aiko_Hiroshi, Kono Bijutsubu ni wa Mondai ga Aru! Episode 2 Discussion‎^[2]:

     I like lolis, I consider myself a lolicon, but I'm not attracted to real children. Your argument fails immediately there since most lolicons are not attracted to real children. Am I a pedophile?

   • 2016 July 15, YizelTro, Kono Bijutsubu ni wa Mondai ga Aru! Episode 2 Discussion‎^[3]:

     Let me say it again, lolicon and pedo are a different thing. japanese people are just saying it lolicon because in their mind, they already implanted the word of lolicon as pedo, but in anime community, pedo and lolicon are a different thing. why make it different ? so that we can see the difference from people who likes "fictional" little girl and from people who likes "real" little girl.

3. (uncountable, anime and manga) Erotic or suggestive artwork depicting young or young-looking girls.
   • 1989 September 23, Mark Crispin, “bringing stuff into the US from Japan”, in soc.culture.japan (Usenet):

     If you are into bishojo, loli-con, or bishonen materials, be advised that customs *does* frown on what might be considered pornography.

   • 1993 March 27, Rafael Brown, “Anime Potrayal of Japanese Women”, in rec.arts.anime (Usenet):

     the whole gamut of lolicon and girls-with-guns genres

   • 2006, Lawrence Eng, Otaku Engagements: subcultural appropriation of science and technology, page 168:

     Some critics of lolicon claim that those who enjoy it also necessarily enjoy real child porn […]

   • 2010, Sarah D. Goode, Understanding and Addressing Adult Sexual Attraction to Children: a Study of Paedophiles in Contemporary Society, page 29:

     Bizarrely, viewing and collecting lolicon seems to have become a subcultural norm, especially in Japan, […]

   • 2010, Paul M. Malone, “From BRAVO to Animexx.de to Export”, in Boys’ Love Manga, page 33:

     Most importantly, because German child pornography and child abuse laws forbid representation of children as sexual objects, there is a complete ban on shota or lolicon.

4. (uncountable, Japanese contexts) Sexual attraction to or fascination with young girls in general.
   • 1995 April 4, Joseph L. Petrow, “Marmalade Boy - Just Plain Screwed Up!!”, in rec.arts.anime (Usenet):

     I got many flames for denoucing Nacchan's Lolicon ways a few months back!

   • 2008, Kenny Loui, Tokyo Phantasmagoria: An Analysis of Politics, page 69:

     This work can be considered a commentary on Japan's sexual fetishisms, inclusive of BDSM and lolicon, […]

   Coordinate terms: korophilia, hebephilia, parthenophilia

Related terms

• shotacon
• siscon
• toddlercon

Translations

an individual fixated on young, generally prepubescent, girls

• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 蘿莉控／萝莉控 (zh) (luólìkòng)

• French: lolicon (fr)
• Japanese: ロリコン (ja) (rorikon)
• Korean: 로리콘 (rorikon)
• Polish: lolikon m
• Russian: лолико́н (ru) m (lolikón), рорико́н m (rorikón)

See also

• hentai
• pedophilia

Further reading

• Porn Studies, page 101, Linda Williams (editor), Duke University Press, 2004 July
• Chambers's Encyclopædia: A Dictionary of Universal Knowledge for the People