Holy Cross Science College
International Projects
Holy Cross Science College
International Projects
Women in Society: UK and Japan
The following is an account of an exploration, through drama,
of the role of women in the United Kingdom compared with women
in Japan, by video-conference. In London, we were surprised
to learn that, in Japanese, there are “superior”
male forms of the language and “inferior” female
forms…….
1. Let's eat is said
in these two ways |
| men: mesi-kuo |
women: gohan-tabeyo |
2. I'll do it means |
| men: orega-yaru |
women: watasiga-yaru |
3. I'm going to the
bathroom is |
| men: benjo-ittekuru |
women: toire-ittekuru |
4. Come here later is |
| men: ato-de-koi
|
women: ato-de-kite |
5. This cake is delicious
is |
| men: kono-cake-umai! |
women: kono-cake-oisi! |
6. I'm hungry is |
| men: hara-hetta |
women: onaka-suita |
7: When people scream
in Japan, they say |
| men: Uwaaaaaaaaa
|
women: Kyaaaaaaaaaaa |
The two schools involved were The Holy Cross School,
New Malden, Surrey, and the Ikeda Junior High School,
Osaka, Japan. In Japan, the television station NHK has just
made a documentary about the drama work of the Ikeda School.
Report on the video-conference by Skylar
DeVos, visiting Holy Cross
from Colorado Christian University, Denver, USA
On 19 May 2004, I was able to take part in a video-conference
between The Holy Cross secondary school and a group of Japanese
students from the Ikeda Junior High School. It began with
introductions on both sides of the screen, along with the
students sharing what career they hoped to pursue. There were
a fair number of future doctors, lawyers, teachers and artists
in each group, along with one boy who joked about becoming
a pirate. Prior to introductions, I had thought the Ikeda
school was nearly all boys: it was interesting to realize
that most of the girls were just seated in the back two rows.
The central topic of the day was “women in society,”
a subject which led to interesting discussion between the
all-female students at The Holy Cross and the Japanese students,
from a society in which women in the past had always been
considered inferior to men. The Japanese students performed
a few well-planned dramas to demonstrate their thoughts on
women in society, which the Holy Cross girls responded nicely
to.
Both groups were very respectful and interested in each
other, and the question and answer time was a learning experience
for everyone. The groups also shared many laughs, especially
as the Holy Cross students practised speaking in Japanese,
including a feminine form of screaming!
I think the English girls were surprised to hear that most
of the Japanese girls planned to stop working when they married.
They had quite varied reactions to the view that a male boss
is less controversial than a female one, and were interested
in how those views might affect a woman’s pursuit of
her career in Japan. The Ikeda students were equally interested
in the social atmosphere of the UK, but were unfortunately
limited by the window of time for which the Holy Cross students
were available. Every student seemed glued to the screen,
and looked forward to having an opportunity to perform for
their friends across the sea, as well as answer the questions
they have.
Hopefully, they will meet again, soon.
Watch this space for further developments of this fascinating
work……….
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