Based on an excerpt from a story I created, taking place in Edo Japan, my rod piece will look at how people view women. Has how women are perceived changed since the Edo period?
A wolf transforms into a woman. Is she still strong and vicious or is she now docile because she is a woman? If a woman is strong and brave is she no longer viewed as feminine?
I want to explore these questions and ideas using Otome (the only type of Japanese traditional puppetry women are permitted to perform...coinicidence?)
Here is some of my research about women and Edo Japan:
Edo Period (1603 - 1867)
The Edo period was an extended time of peace in Japanese history, and the richest time in the history of Feudal Japan. Rising income, increasing leisure, and growing literacy enabled women and most residents to engage in social and cultural activities to some extent.
The Edo period text Onna-Daigaku (the greater learning for women) describes the various rules women must follow in order to effectively serve their fathers, their husbands and then their sons.
The most important rule from the Onna-Daigaku had three parts:
1. A woman must follow the directions of her parents when she is young.
2. A woman must show submission to her husband when she is married.
3. A woman must submit to her adult male children when she is widowed or old.
Here are five worst things about women from the Onna-Daigaku:
1. They are indocile because they are not calm and peaceful.
2. They are discontented because they are not happy.
3. They slander other people. They say bad things about other people.
4. They are jealous.
5. They are silly.
This narrative scroll depicts the preparation for betrothal of a fox and a vixen. Representations of animals, insects, and imaginary creatures engaged in human activities were common in the arts of the 19th century, and many had hidden political meanings. The marriage was part of the shogunate's efforts to smooth relations with followers of the powerful imperialist movement. Women were used for making family connection to take advantages in politics.
2 comments:
Otome actually means 'maiden' or 'virgin'.
It might be interesting to explore attitudes to the body in this period to this day. What was the male attitude to the body of a woman after child-birth when no longer a maiden?
The Female Eunuch by Germaine Greer would be useful to help you formulate your questions.
This is a book review for Women who run with Wolves-
The Wild Woman's archetype manifestation is an endangered aspect in our psyche. The chauvinistic/psychopathic societies we live in, are designed to strangle this feminine aspect as to deprive women from their instinctual nature to resist, to fight back and to overcome. Women are to be kept subservient. But despite the predators from outside, a woman's worst predator is that of her inner landscape, born of the suppression from outside.
And that is why Estes book is of vital importance to each and every woman on this planet: through excellent writing, the use of stories and a profound insight into the feminine realm, she offers us the means and ways to understand the inner and outer restrictions on our instinctual selfs, and a map out to freedom, the key to unlock the chains that hold the Wild Woman captive.
A must read!
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