ument. When Kawa take says that the onnagata are more "woman-like than women," he is not talking about an "essential" femininity, but a "traditional" feminin ity. "Traditional Japanese femininity," like "traditional" kabuki, is appar ently a product of eighteenth-century J
I appreciate how Kawatake specifies the "traditional" element of the onnagata's feminity.
It is only through this lens that we can claim that the onnagata presents an "ideal" femininity, the "essence" of femininity, or a feminin ity more "woman-like than a real woman.
Dictionary.com defines essence as the basic, real, and invariable nature of a thing or its significant individual featrure(s). With this definition in mind, how could the onnagata present the "essence" of feminity? Especially a feminity more "woman-like than a real woman".
n essential "strangeness" to the onnagata with
I can understand what Cavaye is arguing here, yet am curious what he means by "strangeness".
interrogate their assumptions about gender and cu
This reminds me of our first reading in this class, discussing the role historians play. It is a good reminder going forward with reading this article.
asks whether it is "possible to apply critical theory with out imposing Western percept
I often think about this notion when viewing various aspects of foreign countries. I think this relates to how Americans view foreign politics and policies- with a Western perception/point of view.