Kushi Fusako , In the defense of her tale, writes about two men from “... the Okinawa Student Association” demanded an apology for her embarrassing their culture (which is also her own) (407). She uses wonderful insight and impeccable logical reasoning to defend her work as stood and not falter in her avid defense. She used a feminist stand against these two men by pointing out their hurt pride and their feeling of lacking superiority when their masculinity was challenged by a short story written by an uneducated woman.
I found this section interesting for a number of reasons. 1. The time this was written and her open expression of her opinions even as a marginalized citizen 2. she was doubly discriminated against as a woman. 3. The culture of Asia typically teaches women to be submissive and she challenges this in her refusal of apology.
She writes
“I do apologize for their hurt feelings. I can well imagine how angry they are at me, and Okinawan woman with no higher education. It is the rule in Okinawa that only men with power are supposed to express their opinions, while people without power and formal education have no alternative but to follow behind without power and formal education have no alternative but to follow behind without them. As long as those with power control us, we who are powerless have no hope of salvation. “ (408).
She is obviously not apologizing for her writing, but rather that the men were too delicate to handle her honesty. She stands by her work and points out how they simply further the point she is trying to make about the attitudes of men and their need to be seen as powerful and superior, much like the uncle who hides his true linage. Her unwillingness to step back and sell out her work shows how strong of a woman she was. Even though she did not write again after this. She was able to still use these two short works to not only state the facts of the life she knew, but also to confirm and validate her work by showing the modern embodiment of what her story had depicted.
Hi Savannah! I'm glad you pointed out that she used feminist arguments, I didn't think of them that way when I first read them but now I notice that she was focusing a lot on the experience not just as Ryukyuan person but also as a woman. That's probably why she was attacked by her critics, in addition to being a perceived slight against their culture, they probably also felt she was out of line as a woman speaking against men.
ReplyDeleteHi Savannah, I really enjoyed reading your analysis. You provide a very different take on the reading since you focus a lot on the feminist perspective. I had read the story in a very different way, thinking of it more on a socio economic level rather than the threat on masculinity point of view. You mention a lot of great points supporting your statement that the men were more threatened by her female status and the break from the stereotypical roles held by the men in that culture. You did a great job.
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