Fall 2007

ANS 340 • Gender/Power in Japanese Society-W

Course Description

In this class, we will explore the cultural construction of gender and power and consider how power and gender are intertwined in Japanese society. Using ethnographic studies, we will consider the conceptualization of gender in the Japanese context, as well as the manner in which men and women interact. What is it to be a woman? What is it to be a man? Where does homosexuality fit in the Japanese world? A central aim of the course is to discuss and debate the relationship between gender and power in Japan and, ultimately, use the example of Japanese society to think about gender and power from a theoretical perspective.

Grading Policy

Six 3 page critical reviews, one for each book we read (70%) Take-home final exam (30%)

Texts

Tamanoi, Mariko. 1998. Under the Shadow of Nationalism: Politics and Poetics of Rural Japanese Women. Univ of Hawaii Pr; ISBN: 0824820045 Allison, Anne. 1994. Nightwork: Sexuality, Pleasure, and Corporate Masculinity in a Tokyo Hostess Club. University of Chicago Press; ISBN: 0226014878. Lock, Margaret. 1993. Encounters With Aging: Mythologies of Menopause in Japan and North America. University of California Press; ISBN: 0520201620 Nancy Rosenberger. 2001. Gambling with Virtue: Japanese Women and the Search for Self in a Changing Nation. Univ of Hawaii Pr; ISBN: 0824823885 Ogasawara, Yuko. 1998. Office Ladies and Salaried Men: Power, Gender, and Work in Japanese Companies. University of California Press; ISBN: 0520210441 Gill, Tom. 2001. Men of Uncertainty: The Social Organization of Day Laborers in Contemporary Japan. ISBN 0-7914-4828-2

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