Contemporary Japanese Thought

Richard Calichman

• Publisher: Columbia University Press
• Year: 2005
• ISBN:
  9780231509886
• Topic: History
• Subtopic: Central Asian History
• Index: History

Appearing for the first time in English, the writings in this collection reflect some of the most innovative and influential work by Japanese intellectuals in recent years. The volume offers a rare and much-needed window into the crucial ideas and positions currently shaping Japanese thought ( shiso ).

In addressing the political, historical, and cultural issues that have dominated Japanese society, these essays cross a range of disciplines, including literary theory, philosophy, history, gender studies, and cultural studies. Contributors examine Japan's imperialist and nationalist past as well as representations and remembrances of this history. They also critique recent efforts in Japanese right-wing circles to erase or obscure the more troubling aspects of Japan's colonial enterprise in East Asia. Other essays explore how Japan has viewed itself in regard to the West and the complex influence of Western thought on Japanese intellectual and political life.

The volume's groundbreaking essays on issues of gender and the contested place of feminist thought in Japan discuss the similarities between the emotional bullying of women who do not accept traditional gender roles and teasing in schools; how the Japanese have adopted elements of Western orientalism to discredit feminism; and historical constructions of Japanese motherhood.

Chapter 1

Ehara Yumiko

THE POLITICS OF TEASING

1. Introduction

Ever since the women’s liberation movement first appeared in Japan in the early 1970s, its treatment by the mass media has been characterized by “teasing” and “ridicule.” “Viragoes’ Sexual Sensibilities Revealed in the Journal Woman-Eros,” “The Frightful Contents of the Lib Calendar,” “Women on Top in Preventing Rape and Pregnancy, Proclaims this Brainy Women’s Libber,” “Four Days at a Women’s Lib Retreat: ‘Men are Better After All,’” “The ‘Adorable Aspects’ of Amazons Assembled for the Jamboree”—these are some representative titles of articles dealing with “women’s lib” in weekly magazines.¹ Of course there were articles that presented the movement straightforwardly, and this treatment of course differed depending on the nature of the media.² But we can still say that the media’s mainstream attitude was one of “teasing” and “ridicule.”

As goes without saying, this attitude of “teasing” has deeply offended women in the lib movement. “We know they will tease us whenever we do or say anything, but we will just grit our teeth and go on anyway.”³ “Ever since women calling themselves women’s lib started appearing in Tokyo last October, the articles have been filled with jeering laughter and mockery. In a word, they portray us as ‘ugly women making a fuss.’”⁴ “Why do you immediately caricature someone when you hear the word ‘lib’?” one woman protested to a reporter.⁵

It had been no different in the United States. Jo Freeman summarizes the media response to the women’s liberation movement of the 1960s and 1970s as follows: “Most of the media compounded this problem by treating early women’s liberation activities with a mixture of humor, ridicule, and disbelief.”⁶ Whereas reporters had examined the political message underlying the parodic antics of the Yippies,⁷ “they just glanced at the surface of the women’s actions and used them to illustrate how silly women were. The press treated women’s liberation much as society treats women—as entertainment not to be taken seriously.”⁸ Likewise, in looking at the history of women’s liberation movements in general, we can say that society’s basic response has always been one of teasing and ridicule. The radical activities of the British and American suffragists as well as the Japanese Blue Stockings were confronted repeatedly by “mocking” and “teasing.”

Based on these facts, we could censure journalists’ attitudes and criticize their innate predispositions. In this article, however, I would like to consider this “teasing” of the women’s liberation movement as a political expression and examine the logic and meaning of its rhetoric.

For the way “teasing” is expressed has a particular quality that goes beyond mere criticism, attack, or harassment. We can see this, for example, in the fact that the angry response of the “teased” women differs from the response to a mere attack. It is a kind of anger that seems to turn inward and be deprived of an outlet. Such anger would not arise in response to an intentional attack. We could thus say that this anger arises in response to the way “teasing” is expressed, rather than in response to the intentions behind the criticism or attack.

Of course, as Freeman states, “teasing” has its roots in the contempt for women in general. But disdain does not necessarily breed “teasing”: coolly ignoring women or blatantly insulting them would be other possible consequences of contempt. When other groups of disdained people stood up to demand an end to discrimination, they did not encounter the kind of concentrated barrage of “teasing,” “ridicule,” and “mocking” that the women’s movement encountered. Instead they were either treated with blatant hostility or ignored completely.

We can thus surmise the existence of a kind of deep “categorization” at work, one that is hidden from our consciousness. We can suppose that there exists some kind of “interpretive framework” that makes us react to some groups with “teasing” and to others with “blatant hostility.” This interpretive framework operates unconsciously, on the side of both the “teased” and the “teaser.”

Together with this deeper “categorization,” “teasing” adds a meaning that goes beyond the content as expressed in words. This added meaning is a structural one inherent in the rhetoric of “teasing.” Because it is not clearly verbalized, it works as if it were a “trap” or “bind” that constrains interaction. As a result, those who are “teased” are positioned within the “teasing” itself, where they can find no outlet, and have no choice but to let their undirected anger simmer inwardly.

Because of this process, “teasing” comes to have a strong if tacit political power. In Japan, the mass media’s response of “teasing” has had a significant effect of psychologically distancing many women from the lib movement. Precisely because this effect has been achieved tacitly, however, any critique of such teasing has so far failed to be persuasive.

In this article, I would like to take up the “structure of teasing” itself, examining the various “categories” to which “teasing” is applied and considering why and how “teasing” comes to have political effects. In such a brief space, of course, I cannot explore this “structure” too deeply. What follows is thus merely one attempt to expose the political effects of “teasing” from an immanent analysis. In this way, we can begin to clarify why the lib movement was faced with such a fusillade of “teasing” as well as uncover the extent of its political effects.

2. The Structure of Teasing

What then is “teasing”? As seen from one side of this act, it is a form of interaction. “Teasing” is an act that is directed from the “teaser” to the “teased,” and is usually accompanied by words. In this section, I would like to consider the verbal dimension of “teasing.”

In general, words have dual meanings: the meaning of their content itself and that of their particular context or situation, i.e., the way words should be taken. The same is true of “teasing.”

Let us begin with the latter. “Teasing” words are situated in the context of “play,” that is, they are not meant to be taken “seriously” or literally. As part of “play,” these are words of ease and latitude, and so escape the responsibility that words customarily hold in daily life.

Hence “teasing” is usually accompanied by certain kinds of markers, as for example snickering, a certain tone of voice or gesture, and suggestive winking. These markers are not necessarily exhibited directly to the “teased.” They might be exhibited to a third party, instead. There are of course instances in which the “teased” person is “unaware” of such markers. Whenever anyone recognizes the markers as such, however, these words are then proclaimed to be “teasing” and “play.”

“Teasing” prevents the specification of the utterance’s agent of responsibility precisely because it is not regarded as “serious.” It is of course clear in a face-to-face situation who is speaking, but the content of the teasing statement is expressed as if it were hearsay or a self-evident fact. We do not feel teased by statements that take the form of “I think you are X,” in which content is ascribed to the speaker’s thoughts and intentions, for here the location of responsibility is clear. But since “teasing” is “play,” it is unnecessary to clarify responsibility. The rules of “play” render this unnecessary.

Hence “teasing” words are made “universal” and “anonymous” so as not to be ascribed to the individual’s intentions.

In, for instance, magazine articles in which “teasing” is conducted by words alone, the markers are given through the sentences’ tone, vocabulary, and style. What is important here is to leave the subject of the sentence ambiguous and “anonymous.” Thus one writes, “Wow! How frightening! Don’t go near them!” etc.

When “teasing” arises within a group, everyone present is compelled to be complicit in it unless there is a particular reason to object, for such “teasing” is “play” and a form of “joking.” As “play,” it would be the greatest sacrilege to break the rules. Everyone present is thus forced into a passive complicity, that of not breaking the rules. It not only takes a great deal of courage to break the rules, it also requires a legitimate reason to persuade everyone present.

On the other hand, the person who initiates the “teasing” tries to establish the game by actively involving others. In this way, the teaser successfully renders “teasing” words more “anonymous.”

The double meanings and contexts of these words clearly show that “teasing” presupposes not only the existence of the “teased,” but also that of an audience as third party. Principally or structurally, “teasing” words maintain a stance of “play” to the audience and one of “universal, anonymous, self-evident statements” to the “teased.” Yet this fact does not prevent the following: first, that both these meanings are read by the two different parties, each of whom must nonetheless continue to act according to their given script; and second, that even with no audience, such words represent “teasing” since the “teased” person can always also act as audience. The “teased” can always proceed according to the script as if there were an audience, as can the “teaser” as well.

This double meaning is fundamentally the structure of “teasing” itself. Anything can be “teasing” insofar as it contains this structure. Lying to someone who has forgotten that it is April Fool’s Day and ridiculing their response, sticking a rude note on someone’s back, telling horror stories to children and enjoying their reaction—these are all acts of “teasing” that arise between someone who knows this is “play” and another who mistakes it as “truth.” In all such cases, the audience is shown that this is a “game” or “play,” yet such is concealed from the “teased.”

Let us next consider the content of “teasing” words. While, of course, anything can become a target of “teasing,” such words reveal a few obvious patterns based on their content. The most important of these is to shift the intent or motivation of the “teased” onto an unintended or only privately expressed context.

When, for instance, the “teased” is enthusiastic or passionately involved in some act, “teasing” “mocks” these acts or words by placing them in a different context. One example would be to call a domestic dispute a “friendly tussle.” “Seriousness” and “enthusiasm” make excellent targets for “mocking.”

Another tactic is to ascribe a more base motivation, one different from that which is publicly expressed, to the actions and words of the “teased.” Examples can be found in ascribing mercenary motives to moral or ethical claims, or finding signs of romance in a couple’s innocent behavior. In such cases, the “teaser” claims to know the real intentions better than the “teased.” The motivations and intentions ascribed to the “teased” are those that would normally be considered “shameful” or “embarrassing” to express publicly, and yet might very generally or universally be held by anyone. Hence it can be claimed at one and the same time that it is only natural for the “teased” both to have and to “hide” such motivations.

In their content, then, “teasing” words can make some kind of claim about the acts and attributes of the “teased.” Since this claim is made within the context of “teasing,” however, such words are declared to be “play.”

From this analysis, we can see that the pattern of social interaction called “teasing” has the following characteristics. First, by fundamentally belonging to the context of “play,” “teasing” actions and words avoid the responsibility of “serious” social interactions. Second, its words must nonetheless be presented to the “teased” as “anonymous, universal, and self-evident” in order for this game to exist. Through this double meaning, the “teaser” stands in a superior position to the “teased.” Third, “teasing” words can in their content make some kind of claim about the actions and attributes of the “teased.”

3. The Function of Teasing

“Teasing” may possess various functions, the most important of which is its ability to confirm “familiarity.”

“Teasing” is usually not deployed with strangers. Rather it takes place between two familiar parties, and functions to confirm that our relationship is of such familiarity that we can “tease one another.” For it is difficult to “tease” without expecting to be forgiven, since otherwise the act’s disingenuous nature may incite the anger of the “teased.” “Familiarity” is confirmed when the “teased” acknowledges the “teaser’s” expectation to be forgiven.

Such mutual “teasing” might arise among those in a familiar and equal relationship, or in a relationship between cohorts. Here “teasing” is indeed a pastime or game, much like children’s “play.”

However, “teasing” will have various other meanings when one side is clearly dominant over the other or is in a role of protecting the other. Let us consider a relation between a stronger and weaker party, in which the former is clearly dominant, and examine its various aspects.

In such a relationship, “teasing” obviously has the function of confirming that the two parties are in a relation of “familiarity” as well. In this familiar relation between a stronger and weaker party, there exists a “mutual teasing” that is a kind of “expression of affection.” Here the weaker party’s act of “teasing” the stronger serves to confirm that the latter’s protection or affection is indeed turned toward the former, while the stronger party’s “teasing” of the weaker shows the former’s “leniency” and affirms his affection for the latter.

Yet those who are generally considered to be in a socially weaker position tend to receive “teasing” from absolute strangers. Children are one example. This kind of “teasing” is often the expression of “familiarity.” Adults who “tease” children rarely...

Table of contents

• Cover 
• Half title
• Series Page
• Title
• Copyright
• Contents 
• Acknowledgments
• Introduction
• Chapter 1. Ehara Yumiko
• Chapter 2. Kang Sangjung
• Chapter 3. Karatani Kōjin
• Chapter 4. Nishitani Osamu
• Chapter 5. Naoki sakai
• Chapter 6. Takahashi Tetsuya
• Chapter 7. Ueno Chizuko
• Chapter 8. Ukai Satoshi
• Glossary
• List of Contributors
• Index of Names