Cultural Expectations of Young, Aristocratic Women Living in the Heian Era

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In Heian era Japan, the way people expected young women to look and act differs strongly from today’s standards. Aristocratic women faced the harshest scrutiny, and those who didn’t live up to the cultural values faced judgement from people. Every action, outfit and sentence uttered faced the criticism of maids, parents, and suitors. Many of these were based on the Buddhist religion, while others stemmed from the popular culture. One is able to better understand what these expectations specifically included in the Lady Who Admired Vermin. By observing her appearance and behaviour, the life of a young aristocrat is revealed. The cultural expectations of young, aristocratic women in the Heian era included beauty, the separation of, and the interactions between men and women.
Through cultural studies, one is able to better understand and appreciate literature in different societies. It has broadened what literary theory once looked at in terms of non-western literature. Non-western literature, specifically Japanese literature, has gone from something that needs to be counted to something that needs to be read (Culler, 46). Literary theory, in hand with cultural studies, helps to understand the context of Japanese literature and to read the texts without “common sense.” By knowing the background of a culture, one can read a text as if they are a native of that culture. In the Lady Who Admired Vermin, cultural expectations can be examined with cultural studies in order to reveal how the culture influenced word choice and phrasing. Both literary theory and cultural studies create a dynamic lense for which to analyze how women are treated and their expectations in The Lady Who Admired Vermin.
The Lady Who Admired Vermin tells the st...

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...e Assistant Director, show how men and women interacted with each other. Together all of these give a realistic picture of the cultural expectations of young, aristocratic women living in the Heian era.

Works Cited

Citations

McCullough, Helen Craig. Classical Japanese Prose: An Anthology. Stanford, CA: Stanford UP, 1990. Print. 256-263
Wakita Haruko "Women and the Creation of the Ie in Japan: An Overview from the Medieval Period to the Present," U.S.-Japan Women's Journal: English Supplement 4 (1993): 83-105.
Culler, Jonathan D. Literary Theory: A Very Short Introduction. Oxford: Oxford Univ.Press, 2011. Print.
White, Matthew. "The Japanese WritingSystem." Japanese Writing System. N.p., n.d. Web. 29 Oct. 2013.
Minamoto Junko, "Buddhism and the Historical Construction of Sexuality in Japan," U.S.-Japan Women's Journal: English Supplement 5 (1993): 87-115.

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