Anna
Did you feel there was a contrast in how Bumiller represented Japanese housewives and how LeBlanc described the ashamed feelings associated with the term "shufu"?
Kristyn
Why is taking different routes to examine Japanese women necessary and interesting?
Stephanie W.
In America I feel that "housewife" as a professional occupation is more frowned upon than in Japan (at least as the author describes it). I wonder what are some of the main differences in the tradition of the family in America and in Japan that allowed these beliefs to develop in one country and not the other.
Stacey
Why is there such an emphasis on the differences between males and females? Do Japanese women feel they are being treated unequal? And if they do, do they care?
Danielle
The author states on page 39 that a housewife's identity often structures her social experiences in crucial ways. Do you think that housewives seperate themselves from society? Do you think that they could change their social experiences by trying to stray from the housewife identity?
Alix
According to LeBlanc, "The housewife comes to be because a woman has a social role beyond her role in the home that requires her to organize and present herself in a way she thinks a 'generalized other' will understand. Politics is just such a generalized other...[the housewife] is pressured to rely on her housewife identity to make who she is clear to the social audience. Politics as a social context reinforces housewifery" (54). Does LeBlanc suggest, then, that politics is only concerned with exterior, group identities which do not necessarily reflect individual identities or beliefs? Does LeBlanc imply that the "Japanese housewife" identity (despite its positive & negative connotations) is the only way for Japanese women to be recognized within the male-dominated political arena?
Marc
Leblanc writes about how housewives are limited in their political participation because of their housewife label. Much like a housewife may be devoted to housework for most of the day, salarymen are devoted to their business life for most of the day. Do you think that salarymen might have similar issues of political pathways and restrictions with their own label?
Nicole
On page 29, the author writes, "The ironic pairing of exclusion and opportunity that define a housewife's bicycle citizenship begins in her strained but somehow necessary housewife identity. By describing herself as a housewife, a Japanese woman places herself in a paradoxical position- a paradox of which most self-described housewives are quite aware." The author continues to mention that the housewife is outside "economic structures" and that the issues with gender and citizen identities are 'tsumikasaneteiru.' Do you think the majority of Japanese women consider the "paradoxical" situation as the author does? Also, do you agree that housewives are outside "economic structures?"
Matt
What do you think of LeBlanc's notion that by studying Japanese housewives she will be able to learn more about Japanese politics? Do you think Japanese housewives were the best group of people in Japan to study in regards to Japanese politics after finishing the article?
Marquis
Do the benefits that come with being a housewife (pg.25) ultimately build the structure of society?
Shannon
LeBlanc spends a portion of his essay describing how "people do contradict themselves." While he discusses these contradictions in political terms, what other contradictions within Japanese females have we seen in our readings? Are these contradictions natural in the way which LeBlanc describes them or are they a by product of the extensive pressures within Japanese society to conform to strict gender norms?
Alexa
On page 28 LeBlanc states that the "housewife" is theoretically and politically invisible. However the identity is not to women who label themselves that. Does this whole idea seem somewhat contradictory? Do people only live through images/stereotypes?
Hannah
in terms of women playing a role in the political society of japan, how does their "typical" household role play into the way in which they hold a political role?
Zach N.
Are fieldwork observations usually unorthodox? Is this a normal occurrence when doing research?
Emanuel
Do Japanese women become housewives out of more than a desire for security in marriage? Is there also a sense of security in relationships that are established outside of the marriage after a woman becomes a housewife?
LB
As LeBlanc suggests at the bottom of pg 31, how exactly does a mother working outside the home only "reinforce a woman's identification with a housewife role"?