More Geisha Nonsense

I'm superbusy at work, so I don't have time to give this piece the full angry rant it deserves.


Geisha grrrls

The author of a new book about gender in Japan sets aside Western stereotypes and talks about how ordinary women are fueling a feminist revolution that's transforming the country.

I read the above book review article at Salon.com while filled with disgust. There was a short period when I hoped the blurb might be true: that the author really does attack and expose stereotypes. Instead, she just confirms them.

"You can find a woman who works as a vice president at Canon and also really likes playing the shamisen, which is one of the traditional geisha arts..."

Again, Japanese tradition always has to be represented by the geisha. Nevermind that throughout their long history, the vast majority of Japanese women have been peasant farmers.

I left a comment at Salon.com. Given my previous posts on the subject here at my blog - Memoirs of a Ho Ho Ho and Memoirs of a Ho Ho Ho (Revisited) - it should be quite easy to tell which comment is mine. I suspect that my salon.com comment will soon be followed with lots of angry protestations and denials.

The author of the book doesn't get a pass because she's black, either, just as I wouldn't give an Asian woman author a pass for perpetuating stereotypes about black women. She should know better. I guess putting "geisha" in the title of any book about Japan makes it much more marketable.