Thursday a.m. Idea Post 10/08

“Onna no jidai” – “The Era of Women”

Women in different cultures and countries, the number 30, the idea of limitation evoking freedom, and performing on the popular day of rest are all things that have been whirling around in my head lately and are the basis for my upcoming performances. My performances have received a great amount of feminist feedback and I have been thinking about how that has made me feel and how I could either work with that input or away from it. But, I knew in order to do that I needed to have a reason. When thinking about what I do when I perform I see myself as being one on one with myself in a space of my own doing something that I want to do. It is very independent and very much an alone process. When thinking about women in the Japanese culture and how they are very much independent and the ruler of the house while indoors but outdoors in public they are somewhat subservient to their men, I wanted to bring forth a group of performances commenting on that. I would like to comment on being able to be who you are with no limitations in public; in the light. I hate to think of feeling so empowered within four walls but that immediately being stripped from you when you walk out behind someone into public. Studies are currently showing that women in Japan are breaking down the inequality barriers chunk by chunk but it is a slow process. In a study conducted in 1992 “which looked at perceptions of the extent to which men and women enjoy equality in the home, the workplace, education, the political arena, legal provisions, and in terms of social attitudes, customs, and conventions, women responded that they thought men received superior treatment in all areas, with the exception of education, in which they thought there was equality.” What I am trying to get to is that when performing for yourself and doing something for yourself, it is your esteem that is being affected and the way you feel about yourself is being affected. These women are being affected every day because of restraints and don’ts that are put on them. I want to open that gate and comment on how it feels to let your guard down and move.
I am going to be performing these on the next few Sundays to come. The idea of performing on the “day of rest” is significant because I look at and consider these days as one where you take care of yourself. It is the beginning of a new week and in order to perform at your highest level, you must keep yourself healthy and upbeat about life and what is coming next. With that said, I will have some limitations to these performances like the amount of time it will last, the type of music I will be listening to, and where I will be performing each one.


Japanese Feminist Movement Article

Culture of Japan