Focusing on the experiences and perspectives of women in Japan, this course provides an introduction to Japanese culture and society through a lens of gender and sexuality. Using both scholarly and popular materials, it examines a variety of topics that present both the diversity of lives of women in Japan and the ways that notions of gender and sexuality have shaped women's experiences in potentially unifying ways.
Readings emphasize Japanese women's voices and perspectives.
The aim throughout is to gain a sense of the diversity of women in Japan, the specific ways women's lives are shaped by the state and by hegemonic notions of gender and sexuality, and the ways women engage and contest these notions. Course Introduction Course aims and focus, as well as requirements, will be introduced. Nolte, Sharon H. and Sally Ann Hastings. Yamazaki, Tomoko. 1975. Sandakan No. 8 Brothel.