Many trees have died to research the effects of Japan’s patriarchal society on women. I also did my part by killing digital trees. Surprisingly, not as much research has been done on men. Patriarchal societies may appear to be a man’s paradise, but these societies place a heavy burden on men, perhaps even heavier than…
Tag: samurai
Musings On Nameless Old Women in Edo-Period Popular Literature
About a year ago, I was looking at Edo-period book illustrations and reading name cartuoches – until I stumbled upon two which did not actually contain a name! I was working behind the scenes of an exhibition at my former university (Goethe-University Frankfurt Main, Germany[1]), which owns a small but very well-preserved collection of mid-…
Japan’s Warrior Women
The one characteristic that sets women apart from men has shaped how women are treated in most societies. No, I am not referring to boobs. There is something about childbirth that relegates women to the role of property in most agricultural societies. Perhaps it is because most agricultural societies have the idea of land ownership…