One of the most prominent aspects of identities that we observed from Hayao Miyazaki’s films is how he constantly attempted to revert the conventional notions of feminine qualities by creating female protagonists who are empowered with an unusual strength and determination denied in reality. Mothers, not only in Japanese society, but in most of the cultures, are expected to show caring and loving nature towards their children. Those who sacrifice their lives for the sake of their husbands and children are often glorified through media as a role-model for all mothers to look up to. In the mid 1890s, along with a formation of a nuclear family, the society started to regard the nuclear family as the basic unit that comprises the foundation of …show more content…
the nation. Thus, it observed greater greater importance of mothers’ role not only as a main worker in domestic, household affairs in the nuclear family but also as a primary educator of their children. These expectations on mothers, however, are not portrayed in Miyazaki’s films.
For example, in his film Castle in the sky, he intentionally characterizes Dola as a strong female who is not embedded with the traditional roles of a mother. The most salient feature of Dola in the film is that she collects treasures with her sons for living. She is certainly not confined to the traditional role of mothers who had to stay at home, doing house chores and looking after their children. Even though it is true that her sons are all grown-ups and that she does not need to take care of them anymore, she certainly does a variety of jobs that are often considered as ‘masculine’ or exist in the ‘external realm’ where males are traditionally expected to work. Looking after treasures, which often requires hard determination and boldness, is certainly not a job one would expect to align with the traditional role of women or mothers. Moreover, in a traditional Japanese family where there is a no father figure, it is often the case that grown-up sons stand up as a patriarchal figure of authority. However, even though Dola’s sons are mature enough to take the role of a patriarchal figure, it is Dola who decides important decisions and issues commands on her
ship. Thus, she is indeed a character of power which contrasts sharply with women and mothers in reality. The question then naturally flows to ask why Miyazaki has created Dola that differs significantly from what she was supposed to represent. It is an undisputable fact that women in Japanese have been historically deprived of power in a society where males dominate the power hierarchy. The essential segregation of their fields of work and their respective roles constantly repressed women’s desire to realize their potentials and strength. The society made sure that they remain submissive to the order by establishing certain virtues for women and mothers to look up to, and imprint their minds that it is virtuous and good to be caring and loving mothers who sacrifice their lives for husbands and children. Perhaps, what Miyazaki wanted to convey to the audience through his character, Dola, is that women face a gloomy reality where the only way they can exhibit their potential strength and capability is through empowerment in an imaginary world.
The character, Miss Sasaki, who was left trapped, disabled and severely injured, by the dropping of the bomb suffered more in the long haul, from the emotional impact than just the physical destruction alone. Not only was she physically disabled, but also emotionally disabled, as the overwhelming feeling of being hopeless is a permanent psychological scar on the brain. Being unable to walk properly for the remainder of her life, Miss Sasaki, knew that she would no longer be able to provide for her family anymore; in Japanese cultural the honor of their family is of utmost importance, similar in nature to radical religious groups. Also of Japanese cultural priorities, were that of marriage. In Japan, women who were married were looked upon with higher statue and class. Miss Sasaki knew that her chances of getting married now had been reduced and for a woman of this time, that realization, also leaves damaged emotional baggage within herself. All of the aforementioned, left Miss Sasaki depressed for years to come and ultimately left her a permanent emotional scar affecting the rest of her life. By including the accounts of Miss Sasaki, in this book, John Hersey, exposes to the readers, that atomic warfare not only affects the human body physically for years to come but also
It is through these mundane interactions that Sone illustrates the process of assimilation, wherein members of a minority group adopt the behaviors and attitudes of the majority population among which they live. In Nisei Daughter, the issue of assimilation becomes especially complex, as the Issei were more resistant to letting go of their once strong heritage. While most Nisei made a great effort to assimilate, a significant segment of the American population seems to resist, and even thwart, these efforts. This brought yet another conflict between the two generations of Japanese Americans during the pre-World War II
It is not often that a strong and significant female character is introduced in a movie and/or book as the main character. Pan’s Labyrinth, though not the typical fairy tale, introduces the viewer to three females that prove controversial and necessary to the plot, which passes the Bechdel Test, designed to identify gender bias in the media. There is Carmen, the loving mother, Ofelia, the supposed princess/innocent girl, and then there is Mercedes, Captain Vidal’s maid and rebel spy. These three women show different portrayals, different characterizations, of how women should defy the gender bias in films.
The Disney movie, Mulan, is a fantastic movie that depicts gender-stereotyped roles, socialization of gender roles, and consequences of over stepping one’s gender role. Both males and females have a specific role in the Chinese society that one must follow. Mulan made a brave choice pretending to be a man and going to war against the Huns in place of her father, risking serious consequences if she were to get caught. She broke the socialization of gender roles and could have been faced with very serious consequences of her actions. The Chinese society in Mulan exemplifies the typical gender roles of males and females, the consequences of displaying the opposite gender role, and showed what the society expected in males and females in characteristics and attitudes.
Known for her work as a historian and rather outspoken political activist, Yamakawa Kikue was also the author of her book titled Women of the Mito Domain (p. xix). At the time she was writing this work, Yamakawa was under the surveillance of the Japanese government as the result of her and her husband’s work for the socialist and feminist movements in Japan (p. xx-xxi). But despite the restrictions she was undoubtedly required to abide by in order to produce this book, her work contains an air of commentary on the past and present political, social, and economic issues that had been plaguing the nation (p. xxi). This work is a piece that comments on the significance of women’s roles in history through the example of Yamakawa’s own family and
his Essay will analyse, introduce, and discuss the terms Hegemonic Masculinity and Emphasized femininity, if it still applies in modern times and the use of these concepts to comprehend the role of the man and female in Eastern Asia, in relation to post-war Japan. In order to present a clear and linear argument I will divide this essay into three parts: In the first part I will define the term hegemonic masculinity, the common traits and the influence that it has in society; the essay will continue then in explaining and outlining the term emphasized femininity. The second part will analyse the impact of the notions of hegemonic masculinity and emphasized femininity in relation to post war Japan has. The last part will briefly identify some
In Boy princess, the young prince must learn to adapt to appearing as a girl, yet he expresses gender diversity by accomplishing feats, such as sword fighting, that defy the stereotypical limitations that are imposed on girls in terms of masculine behavior. More so, the boy princess is able to accept and endure his role as a “princess”, which shows Kim’s (2006) intention of informing the audience of the validity of gender diversity. In Wandering Son, Shuichi’s desire to become a girl is counted by Yoshiko’s desire to be a boy, which allows them to nurture and support each other’s gender choices. Shimura (2002) informs the reader that Shuichi and Yoshiko are examples of gender diversity, which should be tolerated in opposition to teenage heterosexual stereotypes of male and female behaviors. These manga stories define the underlying theme of gender diversity as a way to inform the reader of the different gender roles that male and female boys can enact in a predominantly heterosexual culture. Kim and Shumira presents important scenes that show the interaction of gender diversity as defined in the characterization of individuals that choose to oppose heterosexual gender norms through the medium of
In multiple instances throughout the film, female characters violate gender norms by acting as both warriors and leaders because they are adapting typically masculine traits. In the film, women are the majority of the labor force at iron town. The men are merely there to do the labor that needs the most physical power. “Americans oversimplify Japanese women as demure, submissive, and oppressed” (Kyu Hyun, 2002, 38). This quote shows that the stereotype of women in Japanese culture had been just like the western perspective where they were below men. This quote also shows that Princess Mononoke reverses the gender role from being submissive to being above men. Another quote that supports that women were not submissive says that “the young unmarried women in Japan have become a powerful group, demographically and economically” (Kyu Hyun, 2002, 39). The women who were in the upper class society of Japan had time on their hands and we know this because they had time to write literature. “Most of the canonical work from this period was produced by women of the upper social class” (Varner, 2005,
Through an appealing narrative centering on Hase-Hime’s early life, one is exposed to a multitude of socio-cultural aspects pertaining to female model behavior as perceived in the culture of old Japan. Hase-Hime’s rearing to be obedient, diligent, and patient, along with her artistic preoccupations catalogue the fundamentals of feminine decorum, an ideal Japanese women were trained to aspire to. This essay not only investigates the traditional Japanese feminine ethos but also resolves the oxymoron which arises from the possible authority such a woman could bear, and provides information for the origins of the influences formulating the image of a Japanese “model woman.”
Manga and Anime, as inviting and open as they may seem, are at heart the products of Japan's culture. Despite its technological advancement, Japan somehow manages to retain much of its historical character, in addition to blending in the overwhelming influences of the West. The Japanese treatment of gender and gender relations has taken many turns over the last millennium, and manga and anime reflect those changes. Still, at the core of the culture lies certain fundamental beliefs that are proving difficult to change.
A constant form of exposure to gender roles in society is from the viewing of cartoon programs. Cartoon programs present a captivating format for children and adults alike, this outlet allows for subjects to be discussed and presented in an informal format. Though many may assume that there is little impact on children from cartoons, research has shown that such shows impact the socialization of individuals. One of the most common complaints about cartoons, especially those created for children and adolescents, is that there is an insufficient amount of female representation and that the characters don’t present genders fairly (Thompson & Zerbinos, 1995). Gender portrayal in cartoons plays a role in the formation of social behaviors and what are seen as appropriate; the portrayals demonstrated often follow a stereotypical format, though in some cases show deviance.
...es each item with the historical happenings of each time period, with a particular interest in the feminist spectrum. Included topics of study are ‘mother blame,’ domestic expectations, maternal sacrifice, ‘feminine containment’, and more (Walters). Suzanna Walters wrote insightfully and intelligently about the various condemning ways that mothers and daughters have been viewed in popular media for more than sixty years. I found this text to be extremely helpful in that I gained knowledge in the many ways that society’s sexism was/is portrayed in various popular media outlets; the pressure laid on mothers and daughters was/is excruciating and, as displayed in many of the films, resulted in general unhappiness for women. I believe this text will prove to be extremely helpful in evaluating mother/daughter relationships as related in history and in the media.
The concepts of constructing gender and socialization can be applied to the film Mulan mainly because one of the major plots in the film consists of Mulan’s use of a false male identity with the name Ping, to prevent her father from fighting to the death in the upcoming war against The Huns. This extreme behaviour alone serves the purpose of exemplifying the emphasis of gender roles in the film, in that Mulan had to be seen physical as a male member in society, in order to fight for her country. Even her father as weak as he is, was chosen to fight over Mulan, who throughout the film exemplifies strength, honor and bravery, just a few of the characteristics that the males were seen to have, which permitted them with the right to fight for
Here, there are depictions of women and girls as motherly, innocent, silly, and passive. This occurs not only in popular programming on Public Broadcasting, but also on television in other countries. Mothering images on Philippine TV have shown some of the same trends that are seen in the United States. Although “Teletubbies and Barney & Friends display an equal representation in number, each show displays gender stereotyped qualities,” it is obvious that these programs are sometimes reinforcing the wrong ideas about gender roles for children, roles that feminists have been battling for almost half a century. “Both programs demonstrated clear gendered roles with males being more active and females being more social and passive.
In order to be able to consider the relevance of the ie to an understanding of contemporary Japanese society, it is necessary both to understand the full meaning of ie and to have an awareness of contemporary Japanese family life and its variables. I will therefore endeavour to analyse and explain the meaning of ie and, by comparing traditional Japanese lifestyles with contemporary ones, attempt to evaluate its modern-day relevance. In considering the different influences on contemporary Japanese family life – location, education and class, I hope to be able to make a realistic evaluation of the relevance of the ie to an understanding of Japanese family life, bringing in any evidence of the influence of the ie on other aspects of society, before drawing a conclusion.