Racialized and Sexualized Branding in Japan's Online Eikaiwa Industry: The Objectification of Female Eastern European Teachers

ABSTRACT

This article examines how an online eikaiwa (English conversation) provider in Japan that employs only female Eastern European (particularly Ukrainian) teachers brands them through objectification. Analysis of textual and visual elements of the provider's website and related media, including videos, demonstrates that the teachers are objectified as attractive, beautiful Eastern European women , which is reinforced by viewers’ comments on the videos. Such objectification shapes and is shaped by the discourse in Japanese society that associates Ukraine with beautiful women. Although these findings closely parallel those of research on the learner‐driven gendered construction of female Filipino teachers, this article foregrounds the provider's racialized and sexualized branding of female Eastern European teachers as a strategy to differentiate itself from competitors. While the diversification of English language teaching (ELT) spurred by the growth of the online English tutoring sector is generally to be welcomed, such racialized and sexualized branding of teachers warrants sustained scrutiny. Researchers and practitioners must engage more critically with emerging forms of ELT in today's digitalized society, some of which appear intended primarily to cater to learners’ sexual desires.