Danielle
Do you think that Memoirs of a Geisha can be considered fantasy for people who want to be taken into another world?
Marc
How as a reviewer can you love the detail of Japanese society then reject the factual definitions behind it?
Anna
Could Hastings’ first line of description, “If you want to immerse yourself in a complex and mysterious culture” be considered to support what Anne Allison discusses about why American women are interested in reading this story?
Zach F.
The author is suggesting a powerful lesson in ethics. Do you think that non academic writers think about the ethical concepts when writing? Or are they more profit driven? Is this a problem?
Stephanie W.
Allison suggests that Golden works to convince the reader that Memoirs 'rings true". Why is it necessary to look for a "reason" as to why the book became as popular as it has? Is it really that different from any other captivating work of fiction?
Nicole
Why have parasite women received more scrutiny than parasite men?
Kristen L.
What is it about the Japanese culture that makes the US almost obsessed with its people, culture, and traditions? Why do movies such as this one "Memoirs of a Geisha" get exaggerated so much by the US?
Kristyn
To actively criticize society, the "Parasite Singles" would need intention. Do you believe they are truly self-absorbed and their actions are byproducts of this?
Hannah
In what ways does the fact that this story read like a memoir while it is a novel affect the way in which a person perceives it?
Matt
Do you think the fact Golden's "Memoir's of a Geisha" reads like a memoir makes people believe everything that is written rather than treating the text for what it is, a novel?
Megan
Should hastings recommend Memoirs of a Geisha as an insight to Japanese culture?
Allison
"Truth in the details does not add up to a truthfulness of the whole" (388). Is this why Americans have such a skewed view of Japan?
Katie
Iida says, that the Japanese men have "hired all these educated, intelligent, even bilingual women in their companies, but that they don't utilize them the way they could" In return, rather than feeling discriminated against, the Japanese women go out, shop and have fun. Do you think that this reaction is rebellion or is it accepting subordination?
LB
Allison talks a great deal about the authenticity perceived and actually found in Memoirs of a Geisha, and states that many women connected with Sayuri as a woman in general, while other liked to imagine themselves in this "exotic" world. What I am curious about, though, is if these perceptions and newfound interests are harmful in any way to the broader American perception of Japanese culture?
Marquis
In the New York Times article it says "Memoirs of a Geisha immerses the reader in an exotic world". Can peoples obsession with the exotic be why the book was so popular?
Allison H.
How has the author 'exoticized' Sayuri's story?
Katy
Many Americans enjoyed Memoirs because it was an escape to an exotic land. Why/how has Japan become a fantasy land for Americans?
Stephanie B.
How can a white, male from California, “capture the emotions of his characters perfectly while describing Japanese life,” if he himself did not go through it?
Emily P.
This article was primarily American based, but how prevelant are these words/ideas in Japanese society?
Katie
Do you think that gender and the terms we associate with gender are necessary or helpful for American society to function?
Alexa
Do you think that Scott is right when asserting that gender and the power relationship it carries can eventually be changed?
Zach F.
"There is nothing except the inherent inequality of the sexual relation itself," is the author assuming that all sexual relation is inherently unequal? Is this a case of over simplification of sexual relations? Are there no equal sexual relations?
Kristyn
Cranny-Francis argues that the "system of compulsory heterosexuality is so deeply implicated in women's oppression that real social change will involve challenging this norm." What ways can people challenge the idea that heterosexuality is normal and everything else is deviant?
Hannah
The idea that gender has been constructed by american feminists, is that a legitimate argument? How can that be a consideration what the previous article takes gender back to aristotle.
LB
"It is not sexuality which haunts society, but society which haunts the body's sexuality" (Godelier on p 1069). How do you interpret this statement? Do you see it as being more true in cultures rather than American culture, or is it equally applicable?
Zach N.
Yes, "our bodies are rigorously policed into two sexes- male and female," however, biologically we are more similar than different. Therefore, why is gender so important?
Shannon
Are historians who focus primarily on female gender roles helping to eliminate the dichotomy between men/women or are they merely proliferating the divide?
Bijal
Do you believe gender, sex, and sexuality are binary or or on a continuum?
Jerome
why is there so much emphasis put on labels like heterosexual and homosexual in the west when in other places they don't even worry about it.
Katy
How are the concepts of naturalness and gender dangerous, particularly with regards to national character arguments?
Michaela
Are there any instances in life where gender doesn't play a role in experience? Or is gender always present?
Matt
Do you agree with Scott's definition on page 1067 when she says "gender is a constitutive element of social relationships based on perceieved differences between the sexes, and gender is a primary way of signifying relationship and power"?