From Gay To Gei (Kabuki)
From Gay To Gei (Kabuki)
From Gay To Gei (Kabuki)
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Drama
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betweenkeisei
The sleeves are anothersourceof difference
and otherwomen.Manipulationof thehangingsleeves- whose
lengthvaries accordingto the charactertype- can suggestan
extraordinary
range of feelings,and theyare of particularuse
when wipingaway one's tears.The keisei,however,normally
fromher
dabs herswitha wad of paperalways seen protruding
breastfold; it can also serve a varietyof otherimportant
purposes, such as forfanningoneselfor repairingthe thongon a
sandal.
are thegeisha,entertainers
Closely alignedto theprostitute
who came on thescenein themid-eighteenth
butdidnot
century,
sell sex, at least notovertly.One interesting
difference
between
and
from
the
derives
hold
their
geisha
prostitutes
way they
An
skirts,althoughtoday's actorsoftenignorethe distinction.
old name forthe femalegeisha (thereweremale geisha,too) is
hidarizuma[leftskirt],whichderivesfromthe traditionof her
holdingup herkimonoskirtwithherlefthand,whiletheprostitutedoes so withherright(providingthetermmigizuma).Critic
Tobe Ginsakureportsthatthe skirtsopen widerwiththe right
grip,therebybeing more revealing,as suits a sexual professional,while themodestleftgrippermitsa moregracefulmanner of movement.15
differsomeAlthoughtheircircumstances
whatfromthoseof theprostitutes,
geishaare embroiledin similar love problemsand,because they,too,wereindentured,
often
facecomparablesituations.
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Drama
Comparative
502
III
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SamuelL. Leiter
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Drama
Comparative
or townswomen.Fromthe latter
noblewomen,countrywomen,
two groupscome thoseknownas "daughters"[musume],while
fromthe formercome the upper-classgirlscalled "princesses"
[hime].These maidens,comingas theydo fromthe mostproare extremely
tectedenvironments,
delicate,gentle,modest,and
Withtheirentireexistencerestingon an unsulliedbut
retiring.
tragiclove, they shamelesslyelicit audience sympathy.Such
women are kabukis quietest,using theirsleeves and skirtsto
communicateembarrassment,
happiness,sorrow,laughter,and
the like, and so holdingtheirvoluminoussleeves thatone can
barelydiscerntheirhandswithinthem.
Kabuki criticscall the threemostchallengingof such roles
the"threeprincesses"[sanhime],
just as theysimilarlydesignate
the"threewiferoles" [sannyb]and "thethreeold lady roles"
[sanbb], although,forsome reason,perhapsthe sheerabundance of the field,thereare no "threecourtesans."One of the
reasons forthese selectionsis that,despitetheirreticenceand
ofmind
theyexpressconsiderableindependence
physicalfrailty,
and action.In some cases theirdesiresare so strongthatsupernaturalforcesappear to aid them.PrincessToki in Record of
Three Generationsat Kamakura [KamakuraSandaiki] (1781)
to spendone night
breaksconventionby beggingherbetrothed
withherbeforehe goes offto battleand,despiteherhavingbeen
to prepare
raisedwithabsolutelyno domesticskills,determines
dinnerno matterwhatthecost.PrincessYuki in The GoldenPavilion [Kinkakuji](1757) is so set on rescuingher lover that,
whenboundwithropesto a cherrytree,she becomescapable of
willingthecherryblossomsat herfeetto turnintoratswho chew
her free. The sexually naive Princess Yaegaki in Japan's
Paragons of Filial Virtue [Honch Nijshik]
Twenty-four
to reach her endangeredlover so greatlythat
wishes
(1766)
to help her cross a frozenlake. To convey
foxes
appear
magic
the abnormalpower of these lattertwo climactictransformathemin puppet
tions,kabukihas bothYaegaki and Yuki perform
black-robed
with
theaterfashion [ningyburi],
manipulators
seemingto controltheirmovements.CriticTsuda Rui tells us
that,fortheoppressedwomenoftheday,whohad littlefreedom
of thoughtor action,such heroineswere theiralteregos, their
dreamscome true.15
release,a liberTheyactedas a momentary
to fightforthe
convention
of
in
their
force,
overturning
ating
oftheirlove andtheirstruggleforfreedom.
perfection
Commonergirls are similarlydevoted to theirmen, of
Oshichi.Ofune,
course,as we saw withthestoryof Greengrocer
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505
SamuelL Leiter
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Drama
Comparative
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Drama
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X
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Drama
Comparative
5 10
handkerchief
againstthe gate to softenthe effect,and thisbecamethestandardbusiness.
XI
Hell Hath No FuryLike a Kabuki WomanScorned.As we
have seen, kabukiwomen are mainlysincere,self-sacrificing,
demureeven when robust,gracious,and so on. We have also
notedthatwomencan startout all thesethingsand thendescend
into the mire of decadence and disgust,but with it all, such
womenrarelydisplayovertevil. One of thechiefways in which
womenwho have beentrampledon becomeempoweredis to turn
into vengefulspiritsaftertheyhave died. The entireworld of
husbandsand loversmusttakecoverwhenone
selfish,unfaithful
ofthesewomencomesback fromtheotherworldto seekrevenge
on thosewhohave wrongedher.
In more earthlyrevengedramas,women are mainlybrave
spouses,although
pillarsof supportfortheirretribution-seeking
theymay have to commitsuicide to help bringthe actionto a
successfulconclusion,as in Go Board RecordoftheGreatPeace
[Goban Taiheiki](1706). But plays in whichthelivingavengers
are womendo exist,mostnotablyThe Tale ofShiroishiand the
Taihei Chronicles[Go Taiheiki](1780), based on an actual 1723
vendettaaccomplishedby a pairof teenagesisters,heredepicted
fortypicalkabukicontrastas a countrybumpkinand hercitified
courtesansibling.
To return,
though,to thedepictionof womenwho exude viciousness:therelativelyfewwho existare generallyconfinedto
courtwomenwho live sethreetypes.One is themean-spirited
cluded frommostmen and fillout theirtimewithintriguesand
backbiting.Such murderouscreaturesare consideredtoo treacherousforpureonnagatato play and are almostalwayscast with
male-roleactorsto underlinetheiruglierqualities.In a sense,
thisrepresentscrossgendercastingwithina one-gendertheater.
and
Otherdistastefulwomen include heartlessmothers-in-law
of
conas
those
as
well
in
who
plays
stepmothers, appear history
temporarylife. In The Double Suicide of Two Sashes [Shinju
kicks her
FutatsuHaraobi] (1722) a notablybrutalstepmother
no
has
house.
She
of
the
out
redeeming
daughter-in-law
pregnant
features,but the abusive Otaki in The Kama Depths [Kama ga
Fuchi] (1737) revealsas she dies thatherbullyingbehaviorwas
intendedto driveherstepsonaway in orderto protecthimfrom
potential disgrace. There are also some terrificallyhateful
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SamuelL Leiter
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Drama
Comparative
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mandressedas a woman,definitely
conveysa touchof forbidden
desire.
Kabukialso has examplesof womenwho dressas men,most
in The Female Student[Onna Shosei] (1877), writinterestingly
and inspiredby a
ten duringthe earlyyearsof Westernization,
real incident.It tellsof a countrygirlbroughtup as a boy whose
hairis cut shortin thenew fashionand who,passingas a male,
to commita
goes to studyin Tokyo; is forcedby circumstances
to
blow
hercover.
with
a
lout
who
threatens
and
has
sex
crime;
discovers
Whenthemanagainstwhomhercrimewas committed
her sex, he blackmailsher intobeing his mistress.Amongthe
anotherwomanfallsforherin hermale guise
plotcomplications,
but triesto drownherselfon learningthe truth.Otherwomen
dressed as men include Miyokichi,who dresses in a male
dancer's festivalcostumein Crepe Seller Shinsuke,and, more
"Demon" Omatsuin NewlyPublishedSuperbandit
dramatically,
[ShinpanKoshi no Shiranami](1780). Omatsu is a wife who
banteachesfencingas a frontforheractivitiesas a crossdressed
ditleader;afterbeingcaptured,she is slainby herhusband,who
has notrecognizedherinhermaleguise.
and unusual
Thereare of coursenumerousotheroutstanding
- some of themtrulygrandand hefemalecharactersin kabuki
- and quitea numberof other
roic,othersdepravedand immoral
waysof lookingat thewaystheywereconceivedforthisall-male
theater.The briefsurveypresentedhere,the firstof its kind I
knowof in English,hopefullyprovidesa pictureof theJapanese
woman's infinitevarietywithin kabukVs severely restricted
boundaries.It mightalso serveas a starting
pointformorecritical and historicalexaminationsof the ways in which,once kabukihad progressedfromgay to gei, theactorgrappledwiththe
problemsoffemalerepresentation.
BrooklynCollege and theGraduateCenter,CUNY
NOTES
1
GaryLeupp, Male Colors: The Construction
of Homosexualityin TokugawaJaof Hawaii Press,1995), 185.
pan (Berkeley:University
2Sue-Ellen
Case, Feminismand Theatre(London:Macmillan,1988), 6.
3For reasonsof
space, thediscussiondoes notcoverthe important
categoryof old
women.Most play titlesmentionedin thetextare based on theabbreviatedversionsby
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Drama
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