I'm Married to Your Company! Everyday Voices of Japanese Women
, by Itoh, Masako; Adachi, Nobuko; Stanlaw, JamesNote: Supplemental materials are not guaranteed with Rental or Used book purchases.
- ISBN: 9780742554641 | 0742554643
- Cover: Paperback
- Copyright: 12/24/2007
This approachable and absorbing book offers a unique window into Japanese culture and language. Highlighting the overlooked world of the silent majority, the housewives and mothers who are the mainstay of Japanese society, this work tells the stories of ordinary women in their own voices. An annotated translation of a Japanese bestseller, the volume explores the daily communication of Japanese women and what their words tell us about their relationships and lives in a globalized, post-industrial, yet still often male-dominated Japan.
Masako Itoh is a Japanese feminist cultural critic and community activist long associated with the Kunitachi Public Community Center in Tokyo
Introduction | p. 1 |
Looking at ... | |
Marriage and Tradition | p. 17 |
Oh no, I'm married to your company! | p. 17 |
Your wife is bragging about her misfortune | p. 19 |
We have to remember that it is our own fault because we raised them that way, didn't we? | p. 21 |
It looks like she can't respect her husband anymore | p. 22 |
When my husband lost his job, I thought, "This is my chance!" | p. 23 |
I don't like New Year's | p. 25 |
Men | p. 27 |
Men always want to lead women around | p. 27 |
Men do not know the world | p. 28 |
A man who is sleeping makes a great impression | p. 29 |
It looks like people are now looking for "home cooking" outside the home | p. 30 |
Once a man becomes middle aged, he has to make a lot of female friends | p. 32 |
Ourselves | p. 35 |
Thanks for getting to the point where I cannot kill you anymore | p. 35 |
It is always said that women's happiness is something that is made for them | p. 36 |
I do not like my age no matter how old I am | p. 37 |
I was a cold person who tried to live a "faultless" life | p. 38 |
I am a D student (literally, "I am a sixty-point person") | p. 39 |
I don't have the word criticism in my vocabulary | p. 40 |
Do not ask us to butter you up! | p. 41 |
I have a pet monkey who knows how to tie a necktie very well | p. 42 |
Is honne (showing one's true colors) such a good thing? | p. 43 |
Is a woman's identification card her husband's business card? | p. 44 |
What did I want to be, I wonder? | p. 46 |
There are more people these days who don't feel ashamed about being highly educated | p. 47 |
It was punishment for being an ideal, perfect, good wife | p. 48 |
The people who dress up to go to a reunion are pitiful | p. 50 |
Women are thought to be just the place where men sleep | p. 51 |
It is hard to see someone having to smile all the time | p. 52 |
I wonder if even the wife of a guy like that thinks he's OK? | p. 53 |
Even though she is a healthy adult, only a wife gets categorized as a dependent | p. 55 |
My days go by with me only speaking baby talk | p. 56 |
It's kind of nice to be able to feel happy about someone else's happiness | p. 58 |
That woman is like an obstinate, grumpy old man | p. 59 |
Other Women | p. 61 |
Women don't need their own names, do they? | p. 61 |
The shujin (literally, "master") of the house is me | p. 62 |
It is not because I am afraid of my husband | p. 64 |
One always has to make sure to speak logically | p. 65 |
We can see very well the home life at the other end of the phone | p. 66 |
Their double income has been in vain | p. 67 |
Housewife is just the pronoun for stupid | p. 68 |
Although she talks big, her house is probably still a mess | p. 70 |
With much difficulty, she had a baby when she was older | p. 71 |
As a housewife and mother, I am proud that I have done my duty | p. 73 |
At the workplace she still acts like a housewife | p. 74 |
Please discriminate against women | p. 75 |
It's become a case of "the weak fish eat the weaker fish," hasn't it? | p. 76 |
How to Deal with ... | |
Families, Parents, and Parents-in-Law | p. 81 |
I always feel "Thank god we have TV" during mealtime | p. 81 |
I am nice (yasashii) to elderly people whom I don't know ... | p. 82 |
Because I don't need to do anything while I am walking, I love it | p. 83 |
My children are my life, but my work is my life's purpose | p. 84 |
It would have been better if I had liked my mother-in-law | p. 85 |
Since I am the eldest daughter, my father is not immunized yet ... | p. 87 |
They can't stand each other unless they change their surroundings from time to time | p. 88 |
Life and Society | p. 91 |
We should only have surface-level associations with others | p. 91 |
Being the perpetrator is very hard | p. 92 |
Because I cannot see the faces of my audience ... | p. 93 |
We can't conduct a conversation equally when we only use women's language | p. 95 |
I am a kind person on the outside who really just disposes of people | p. 97 |
I cry because there is nothing I can do | p. 98 |
Thinking about ... | |
Women's Social Roles and Our Behavior in Men's Society | p. 103 |
Kindness just because you're a woman is a real pain! | p. 103 |
We can't stand by and let women's sincere good intentions be exploited anymore | p. 104 |
Women, please don't become a person who is "female on the outside but male on the inside" | p. 106 |
Today I have to go intimidate men | p. 107 |
Social Attitudes toward Women | p. 109 |
Men don't work for free, do they? | p. 109 |
Mother is waiting | p. 110 |
Because she gives me money, she is tricky | p. 111 |
Women can't be unemployed, right? | p. 112 |
Mothers are mothers of children, but at the same time mothers of the nation | p. 113 |
I am sorry that we women have to feel frightened when we go out at night | p. 115 |
When they found she was defective, they naturally returned her | p. 116 |
How We Are Seen | p. 119 |
Why do mothers threaten their children so much? | p. 119 |
Please don't tie me down | p. 120 |
Congratulations on not being the eldest son | p. 122 |
It looks like I'm an auntie now. Hah! | p. 123 |
What is your social status? | p. 124 |
What I Want to Be | p. 127 |
A "Ms. Ditz" cannot remain a "bachelorette" | p. 127 |
A person who does not have some inferiority complex is weird | p. 128 |
I do not want to be a "cute little old lady" | p. 129 |
How can we say it is honorable to be killed that way? | p. 130 |
If you want, you can call me a traitor. I don't care | p. 132 |
Why do women have to be cute (kawaii)? | p. 133 |
Whatever I have is all mine | p. 134 |
I hope the days of the unknown future will be beautiful! | p. 135 |
You should protect your own sensibilities | p. 137 |
The abundant seeds of grass that don't know national boundaries are cast upon the ground | p. 138 |
A person whom we can ask for advice is nice | p. 141 |
It is good that I have a dress that makes my accessory look nice | p. 143 |
My father knows only the words, "fall in love" | p. 144 |
When men are around it is happy and cheerful | p. 146 |
I would like to age subjectively | p. 147 |
How Society Should Be | p. 149 |
She is a person who lets people "wait without frustration" | p. 149 |
The public is us [because the public opinion is our voice] | p. 150 |
If I become a person who becomes bedridden, I'd rather die | p. 151 |
A medical doctor is a person who cannot understand anything without doing an examination first | p. 152 |
We should not use titles on the rooms of nursing homes | p. 154 |
I wish I could always say the right thing in the right way | p. 156 |
The woman who lies here by herself prays for peace | p. 157 |
Life exists between person and person | p. 158 |
Fortunately my mouth and spirit are still healthy | p. 160 |
The future really is the power of imagination | p. 161 |
Each individual's words gave me strength | p. 162 |
This is a town that keeps the worst of the country and has lost the best of the country | p. 163 |
Married Life | p. 167 |
The only thing I ever did with my husband was arrange for my father-in-law's funeral | p. 167 |
It is just that "my domestic life comes with me" | p. 168 |
Why did you get involved with that kind of woman? | p. 169 |
What is a family? When we become ill, we find out very soon | p. 171 |
But you love that kind of man, right? | p. 172 |
I wonder when a home became a thing that can be bought and sold | p. 173 |
Social Issues | p. 175 |
I am getting to know how to get along with my illness | p. 175 |
The most important thing about being a human being is to learn about the world by ourselves | p. 176 |
I just attend events because they have day care | p. 177 |
If it is a love affair, it is an offense against a wife, but if it is prostitution, it is an offense against all women | p. 179 |
It is a mother's love that makes her want to not draw attention to her child in a crowd | p. 181 |
I think it is so good that I am not a Japanese | p. 182 |
Volunteer activities, in other words, are underpaid part-time jobs | p. 184 |
I already passed the age when I should have died! | p. 186 |
Nature and Beauty | p. 189 |
Outside I wear clothes that suit my figure, but at home I wear clothes that I like | p. 189 |
Far away, far away, cherry blossoms are falling | p. 190 |
There is no such thing as a plant called "weed" | p. 192 |
Oh,... I am still beautiful! | p. 194 |
The winter chrysanthemum is not pleasant | p. 195 |
A Conclusion? | p. 197 |
References | p. 207 |
Index | p. 211 |
About the Author, Translators, and Editors | p. 221 |
Table of Contents provided by Ingram. All Rights Reserved. |
What is included with this book?
The New copy of this book will include any supplemental materials advertised. Please check the title of the book to determine if it should include any access cards, study guides, lab manuals, CDs, etc.
The Used, Rental and eBook copies of this book are not guaranteed to include any supplemental materials. Typically, only the book itself is included. This is true even if the title states it includes any access cards, study guides, lab manuals, CDs, etc.