In the novel Life of a Sensuous Woman, Ihara Saikaku depicts the journey of a woman who, due to voraciously indulging in the ever-seeking pleasure of the Ukiyo lifestyle, finds herself in an inexorable decline in social status and life fulfillment. Saikaku, utilizing characters, plot, and water imagery, transforms Life of a Sensuous Woman into a satirically critical commentary of the Ukiyo lifestyle: proposing that it creates a superficial, unequal, and hypocritical society. Ukiyo is a culture that strives to live a strictly pleasure-seeking routine. The largest flaw in this way of life, as Saikaku points out, is that its superficial nature forces people to live lives as meaningless and fluffy as its name, the “Floating World,” suggests. It is shallow in the physical sense, in that it focuses primarily on “beautiful” external appearances, and in the metaphorical sense, whereby individuals never really make deep-seated connections to anyone because of their addiction to finding these so-called pleasures. One particular character that Saikaku satirizes to embody this superficial nature of Ukiyo is the old, rotting woman found on the verandah in the episode of “A Monk’s Wife in a Worldly Temple.” He cleverly employs situational irony with this character to prove his point, as it is expected for the archetypal old woman to pass moral lessons to the younger generation. By the character’s own, sorrowful admission she claims that she “can’t forget about sex” and is going to “bite right into” (Saikaku 614) the protagonist; completely the opposite of what the audience expects her to say. This satire highlights the extent to which the Ukiyo lifestyle socially conditions individuals; the old woman is so far gone down that path that she no l... ... middle of paper ... ...t pure?” (621). This rhetorical statement is the final stroke to his satirical masterpiece: it forces the reader to laugh at the outrageousness of the statement, which is the final key of his subtle attempt to expose the full absurdity that is the hedonistic Ukiyo lifestyle. By having the reader sit at the door step of the old woman’s hut and listen in on her stories with the various characters she meets, Saikaku is able to convey how Ukiyo’s superficial, unequal, and hypocritical nature is a breeding ground for corruption. Through Life of a Sensuous Woman, he paints only one conclusion: the dangers and pitfalls that Ukiyo poses to society far outweigh the thrill and pleasure of the “floating-world.” Works Cited Saikaku, Ihara. Life of a Sensuous Woman. The Longman Anthology of World Literature. (Vol. D) Ed. Damrosch. New York: Pearson, 2004. 604-621. [Excerpt.]
This literary analysis will define the historical differentiation of female gender identity roles that occurred in the Memoirs of Lady Hyegyong and the Tale of Genji. The modern gender values in the Joseon Period define a more elevated freedom for women in patriarchal Korean society that is defined in Memoirs of Lady Hyegyong. In a more progressive gender role for women, Lady Hyegyong exhibits an aggressive male trait in angrily denouncing the execution of her younger brother, which advocates a less submission depiction of women’s rights in early 19th century Korea. In contrast to this aggressive female gender role, Murasaki Shikibu writes a novel through the perspective of Emperor Hikaru Genji and his illicit love affair with his stepmother, Lady Fujitsubo. Lady Fujitsubo is a strong woman, much like the mother of Genji, but she is a concubine with little real power in the court. Historically, the patriarchal culture of 11th century Heian Period in Japan is different from the Joseon Period in that
The Immortal life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot is a story of science, religion and the life of the Henrietta Lacks herself. It has won many awards and was on the New York Best Seller list for over three years. To summarize it briefly, the book is based on the cells of Henrietta Lacks who died of cervical cancer in 1951. Sometime before she died, some of her tissue was sampled and used for research without her permission. They used the cells form her body to experiment on which led to many breakthrough discoveries in the scientific world. The cells were later named HeLa cells. No one in her family knew about this until years after her death, so they felt like she was just being used as an experiment from which they got nothing. When looking at the book as a whole, it is easy to see why so many people hold it in such high regards; however it appealed to me in a different way.
In 2002 Yuki Tanaka published a book titled, “Japan’s Comfort Women. On the military use of women during the Japanese war. The subtitle, “Sexual slavery and prostitution during World War 2 and the US occupation,” gives a short description on what the book will be about. In the introduction to the book Tanaka starts with how sex is a beautiful thing that is shared by two people. That is suppose help bring life into the world, but as soon as someone involves sex in wartimes it becomes ugly and “exploited” (pg. 1). It shows the dominance of a conquered country. Sex becomes a twisted organized system that was used as a way to control the VD rates of Japanese soldiers. Even though this was seen as a way for women to support their country. The fact that there was comfort houses and comfort women during the war was secretive, “My father and my uncles were particularly silent about the issue of comfort women” (pg.2). The morale these men followed seemed to be correct to them. Just like his father and his uncles Tanaka believed that Japanese soldiers, “adhered to high moral standards during...
Sievers, Sharon L. Flowers in Salt - The Beginnings of Femenist Consciousness in Modern Japan. Stanford: Stanford University Press, 1983.
Wendy Doniger and Sudir Kakar call the sexually violent Kama Sutra ‘bright and shiny,’ but when people hear the words ‘bright and shiny’ sexual violence is not usually paired together with those terms. This idea of ‘bright and shiny’ contrasts the idea of intercourse being ‘dark and heavy.’ Sexual violence can be relatively cheerful though it lacks emotional eroticism. Emotional eroticism is not so constrained and is more focused around the idea of love. The violence used during intercourse helps one to obtain continuity through physical eroticism. Bataille said, “Physical eroticism has in any case a heavy, sinister quality. It holds on to the separateness of the individual in a rather selfish and cynical
Accordingly, I decided the purposes behind women 's resistance neither renamed sexual introduction parts nor overcame money related dependence. I recalled why their yearning for the trappings of progression could darken into a self-compelling consumerism. I evaluated how a conviction arrangement of feeling could end in sexual danger or a married woman 's troublesome twofold day. None of that, regardless, ought to cloud an era 's legacy. I comprehend prerequisites for a standard of female open work, another style of sexual expressiveness, the area of women into open space and political fights previously cornered by men all these pushed against ordinary restrictions even as they made new susceptibilities.
Poetry is a form of literature that some view as obsolete in the modern world, but in the poem “To the Man Who Shouted ‘I Like Pork Fried Rice’ at Me on the Street”, Franny Choi dispels that belief. She uses poetry as a medium to convey her own personal experience with the stereotyping and fetishization of Asian American women, which is an issue that millions of Asian American women still face today. When considering Choi’s background as a Korean American woman and how that has shaped her identity and philosophy, we see how being an Asian American woman is intrinsically a core part of her work, which is why much of her work is about breaking the stereotypes that come with this identity.
Aoki challenges cultural norms, including all of the things she is discriminated for. From identifying as queer to being a trans woman of color, she has a lot of battles to fight, but does so in a way that it does not detract from the meaning of her writing. From having fewer resources available to her to what is expected from writers today, her discrimination is a problem that needs to be faced. Discrimination is still very prevalent in today’s society and attacking it through the form of writing is a peaceful way to make a strong point. Relating Aoki’s struggle back to class, a frequent theme that is seen across various pieces is the role that discrimination plays. It often limits a person by crippling what options and resources are made available to them, which is clearly seen in the case of Aoki. However, despite these limitations placed on her because of the way she identifies, she has a tougher path compared to her colleagues, yet she does it. She persevered and now tours the countries giving lectures and readings in spite of the odds against her. Aoki is just one great example of how despite the odds can sometimes be against—sometimes in more way than one—nothing is impossible if one has the necessary drive and desire to achieve their goal.
Power and Money do not Substitute Love and as it denotes, it is a deep feeling expressed by Feng Menglong who was in love with a public figure prostitute at his tender ages. Sadly, Feng Menglong was incapable to bear the expense of repossessing his lover. Eventually, a great merchant repossessed his lover, and that marked the end of their relationship. Feng Menglong was extremely affected through distress and desperation because of the separation and he ultimately, decided to express his desolation through poems. This incidence changed his perception and the way he represents women roles in his stories. In deed, Feng Menglong, is among a small number of writers who portrayed female as being strong and intelligent. We see a different picture build around women by many authors who profoundly tried to ignore the important role played by them in the society. Feng Menglong regards woman as being bright and brave and their value should never be weighed against
Common sense seems to dictate that commercials just advertise products. But in reality, advertising is a multi-headed beast that targets specific genders, races, ages, etc. In “Men’s Men & Women’s Women”, author Steve Craig focuses on one head of the beast: gender. Craig suggests that, “Advertisers . . . portray different images to men and women in order to exploit the different deep seated motivations and anxieties connected to gender identity.” In other words, advertisers manipulate consumers’ fantasies to sell their product. In this essay, I will be analyzing four different commercials that focuses on appealing to specific genders.
The family's personal encounters with the destructive nature of the traditional family have forced them to think in modern ways so they will not follow the same destructive path that they've seen so many before they get lost. In this new age struggle for happiness within the Kao family, a cultural barrier is constructed between the modern youth and the traditional adults, with Chueh-hsin teeter tottering on the edge, lost between them both. While the traditional family seems to be cracking and falling apart much like an iceberg in warm ocean waters, the bond between Chueh-min, Chueh-hui, Chin and their friends becomes as strong as the ocean itself. While traditional Confucianism plays a large role in the problems faced by the Kao family, it is the combination of both Confucianism and modernization that brings the family to its knees. Chueh-hsin is a huge factor in the novel for many reasons.
Feminism is a word that is stock-full of implications, and has many misconceptions. Full Frontal Feminism by Jessica Valenti attempts to give a broad overview of what feminism is, and how you should feel about it (hint: it’s positively). The book is directed primarily towards the younger generation, and talks about a variety of issues relevant to the feminist movement today and in history. The weaknesses of the book include the casual writing, the assumptions Valenti makes, and the contradictory statements that are consistently made. The strengths include providing an entertaining, broad overview of feminism, and discussing ways to contribute to gender equality. Overall, the book is more likely to be a positive experience for high-schoolers that identify as women then college-aged individuals looking for a critical analysis of issues society faces in regards to gender inequality.
Wolff, Cynthia Griffin. "Un-Utterable Longing: The Discourse of Feminine Sexuality in The Awakening." Studies in American Fiction 24.1 (Spring 1996): 3-23. Rpt. in Twentieth-Century Literary Criticism. Ed. Janet Witalec. Vol. 127. Detroit: Gale, 2002. Literature Resource Center. Web. 19 May 2014.
Toyotomi Hideyoshi was displeased with the freedom of sexual intercourse, therefore, he decided to regulate the sexual activities within a district, which will later be known as pleasure quarter, yukaku. It is a government sanctioned, walled districts set apart from the urban centre providing all manners of entertainment: prostitution, theatrical performances, fine dining, parades, and festivals. In this report, I am going to analyze and discuss the concept of Floating World.
Boa, Elizabeth. "Wedekind and the 'Woman Question'." Boa, Elizabeth. The Sexual Circus: Wedekind's Theatre of Subversion. New York : Basil Blackwell Inc. , 1987. 167-202. Print.