Ooku

Ooku was an interesting read! The part of the novel that intrigued me the most was how the shortage of men in society leads to a reversal of gender roles in some aspects of society. Prostitution is an example. Prostitutes, throughout society, are usually women. They are seen as objects, and paid only for their bodies. Prostitution is seen as an extremely demeaning job, and often used as a last resort in times of poverty, when there are no other sources of income. In Ooku, the shortage of men has led to the popularity of male prostitution. Men are seen primarily for their reproductive capabilities, and that’s what they are paid to do. In Ooku, prostitution is seen as demeaning too. Mizuno thanks his parents several times throughout the novel for not making him sell his body, even though his family is impoverished.

Women began doing all jobs, including holding governmental positions, while men were raised with extreme care as seed bearers. This raises an interesting question. Is the value we put on reproduction instinctive or socially constructed? The way in which men are treated following the outbreak of the virus seems to suggest that instinctively, we value reproduction greatly. It is our only way of ensuring the survival of our species. We do not want anything to happen to our chance of surviving as a species, so society protects males naturally. They do not work because they are too valuable to society to be lost in any accidents.

After reading the graphic novel, I decided to look up more information about Ooku. The Ooku was real, it actually existed in the Edo era of Japan! This little fact makes what we read even more impactful…

Anupama Tadanki

I watched Anupama present her paper at the TO conference. Her paper was about different social classes, and how they can be seen in the art that each social class produces. Her paper was centered around a quote by Pierre Bordieu, which states that different classes designate themselves by by the different kinds of art they produce. Forster, an anthropologist and author, writes about how artistic production manipulates peoples perception of others, and how this can be carried over to a societal level. She draws from A Passage to India, Forster's novel, and a story that is told within the novel. Overall, Anupama's argument was extremely compelling. I enjoyed her speech!