Before I came to Japan, I never realized how big of a difference the male and female roles are compared to my own. Even though my grandparents are 2nd generation Japanese, it seemed completely normal to observe their interactions and roles within the family. However, having stepped out of my home country and having been deeply immersed into the culture with my host family, I have been able to see a different perspective. Now that I am here, I can look back on my grandparents daily practices and say, “Oh yeah, they must have picked this up from their parents as Japanese culture.” At the time, I just thought it was something they as a family did.
The first picture is of my host mother. When taking the pictures, I tried to get them in their stereotypical roles. Although the word stereotypical is usually associated with something being false, I think that this picture is truly how most Japanese mothers are. Their role can be characterized as the person who keeps function within the house. This deals with everything from laundry and cleaning to cooking virtually every meal from scratch. In contrast, in my home back home, we try to disperse the house duties evenly. I think one of the reasons why my host mother has her duties as the cook and cleaner is because of the mentality of their culture. The Japanese culture is surrounded by a sense of wanting to do everything to the best of their ability every time. This can even be seen in the men who stand at the Kansai Gaidai gates all day who in the eyes of an American do nothing.
The second picture I would have liked to be set in a train during rush hour. One thing I’ve noticed is that the Japanese business men tend to carry the stereotypical persona of a businessman being serious with no messing around. However, if you actually take the chance to talk to one, they are usually always very nice. One of the reasons why I like this picture is because my host father is not showing his business face but actually who he is.
My host father
My host father is the perfect complement to my host mother. While she takes care of the house, my host father brings in the money. I have noticed that there is also a strong sense of roles in Japan. Having said this, it would be almost unheard of for the wife to be the breadwinner and the husband to be the stay at home “mom”. Because their society has been programmed for hundreds of years like this, it is very difficult to stray outside of the norms.
I would like to finish by saying that I think many of us as a first reaction tend to look down upon other cultures if they are different than our own. However, there is always more than one solution to a problem and the Japanese just get it done in a different way.
Your final comments on the gender roles in Japan is a poignant reality that I agree is easily overlooked with hasty judgment. I find it interesting you called your host father the perfect complement to your host mother, and it leaves me curious if they see themselves in this same frame of thinking. I would not be surprised if they agreed with it.
ReplyDeleteI agree with R.A.'s comments above - different cultures have different gender roles and if they work for them - fine. Seems to work well for your host family as it did for my former host family as well. That is not so say that things can't or won't change. Every once in a while I hear about stay-at-home-dads. Actually last night I was watching a documentary about John Lennon, one of the original house-husbands. Changes in gender roles are included in the DPJ manifesto - it will be interesting to see what happens in the near future. This begs the question, is the example you provide a cultural norm or a dying tradition?
ReplyDeleteI like your first photo a lot. If you lightened the exposure I think your host mother's face would come even more alive.