Searching for Equality in Japanese
These two videos by Tamarah Cohen of Kansai Gaidai University deal with the use of kanji and its interpretation in Japanese society. When I taught English for Special Purposes in Osaka and Tokyo, I often used similar examples shown in the videos to discuss language usage and various issues faced by Japanese women. Special ARIGATO to Steve Silver for posting the videos to Face Book.
According to Ms. Cohen, "In KANJI, after engaging in a little "dictionary research," the presenter makes a startling discovery regarding who, according to the writing system of Japan, qualifies as a person -- and who does not!"
[vimeo]http://vimeo.com/4000956[/vimeo]
Ms. Cohen says of
What is Equal, "There are, according to presenter, 989 words in contemporary Japanese that include the radical 'onna' (woman), and many if not most are negative. There are, in contrast, no "negative" words that include 'otoko' (man)."The presenter argues that this is an obstacle to sexual equality. Watch and see why!
[googlevideo]http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=7040713472235209664[/googlevideo]