What's the deal in the "sexist" countries?
Growing up, I saw the different roles that both genders played, but it seemed that the female was put at a higher status than the male. For example, I grew up in Saudi Arabia in the era of the older royal family, and probably the only thing that represented sexism in the country was that the royal family didn't allow women to drive. But this is because that Saudi Arabia had their constitution, laws, and bills built around Islamic teachings. But because Saudi Arabia doesn't want females to drive doesn't mean that Islam is sexist. Saudi Arabia established this law as a form of protection and honor towards women. But how?
First let's discuss the "protection part". Blandly, most men are pigs. Most men can control themselves, but those that aren't chastise could harass women with no hesitation. That's why Islam wants women to cover themselves up, but Saudi Arabia took it a step further and implemented the law that women should wear the Abaya, which covers them from the neck down, and doesn't show their figure as well, even though Islam only commands women to cover themselves from head to toe without wearing something that's too tight and could show their figure.
But what about the form of honor? Well let's not forget that Islam removes most forms of sexism towards women. Before Islam, women weren't allowed to work. Before Islam, if the mothers gave birth to a girl, that father would bury it because it was seen as shameful. Before Islam, women were just an object of sexual content towards men. In Islam, women are allowed to work and do everything a man could do. But Saudi Arabia, again, takes things too far. By keeping them in their homes, Saudi Arabia has protected women from any from of harassment, even visual harassment, and as a form of honor, men were required to bring her a chauffer and a maid (not a butler since a man and a woman who aren't married can't be together), and yes, we had both growing up. My mom also resumed with her work as well, in all the Arab countries they have more flexible hours towards women than men. But, again, are there presumed gender roles?
Are there presumed gender roles in general?
Naturally, a baby needs a father playing all the male roles, but most importantly, a baby needs a mother playing all the female roles. The male plays the "providing" part. A baby needs a house, clothes, food, and comfort, and a father is responsible for all those components. Even in Islam, a woman can't marry a man who can't provide her with these necessities. But a baby needs the most important factor in his life, which is nurturement. A mom is there from A-Z, patient, and full of love. Warmth immersing from her, making the baby feel safe. Even from personal experience, if someone was changing my clothes for me as I was a child, I would rather my mom change me than my dad, because of that feeling of warmth.
Are there presumed gender roles in "Obasan"?
Yes, there are definitely gender roles in "Obasan". But before we continue, I want you to think of a villain. It could be one that exists, or one that's made up in your head. Now I want you to think of a deuteragonist, again, it can be one that exists, or from your head. What were the genders of both? Was the villain a man or a woman? Was the protagonist's helper a man or woman?
From the Canadian governments and Guards, to the main character and narrator, Joy Kogawa used the assigned gender roles for both parties. For the guards and the more authoritative characters, Kogawa mainly used men, and for the wise and oppressed characters she mainly used women. It's worth mentioning that Kogawa used Isamu, Noami's uncle who is also a man, as one of the wise and oppressed characters too, but he too had the male role to play for Naomi and Stephen growing up, as they had no father figure. Isamu was kind and provided well for his wife Ayako, Naomi and Stephen, but he wasn't the nurturing figure. That honor goes to his wife Ayako, who is so nurturing and wise to Stephen and mainly Naomi that she wins the title "Obasan", which again means "aunt" in Japanese.
Most of the dirty roles were played by a cast of males. Even the neighbor that harassed Naomi, Old Man Gower, had these awful traits. He also separated her from her mother violently, and alienated her from Stephen, and imprints in her mind the conviction that men are not to be trusted. This isn't a take on men, but men are known to be more stern than lenient, and especially to people they hate. Even her relationship with her brother isn't strong, probably because of Old Man Gower. The government, and army/police forces were also predominantly male. But, again, the male cast wasn't entirely evil.
So yes, all the major gender roles were used by Kogawa to deepen an effect. This is different from a Disney movie, where in one of those, Disney would encourage the viewer that any gender can play any role. In the case of "Obasan", Kogawa wanted to assign familiarity to her novel. We also can't forget that the novel was written back in the 1980s, where the progression of both genders didn't exist yet. All in all, gender stereotypes have existed back then, and are now being adjusted, but Kogawa decided to use them anyway because of the effect that each gender brings in.
*Scroll all the way down after taking the quiz*
To finish, take this little fun quiz on gender stereotypes:
I don't recommend this, but try searching up "real life villains" in google and check out the images, it totally proves my point.
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