F. HISTORICAL FICTION
FEMINISM APPROACH
MEMOIRS OF A GEISHA
By: Arthur Golden
Japan’s love for labor is undeniable. At an early age, they try to teach their kids on the importance of work and the need to put so much effort to it. Japanese people are indeed hardworking however they also make sure to have time for leisure. The book of Arthur Golden revealed that Japanese people invest so much to a geisha, a class of female entertainers from Japan trained in traditional styles of performing art, such as Japanese dance and singing. Although people might be surprised to know that according to an article in Toki, a geisha is originally a man, as the world changes, Japan embraced evolution in their culture as well that paved way for women to become a geisha. On another note, the novel presented issues that women are experiencing. There are a lot of critics who have delved with this piece and their findings are quite similar.
Memoirs of a Geisha is a novel which expresses the struggle of a woman from exploitation. In the novel, the main character, Sayuri, experienced such at a very young age. She was sold by her father to become a geisha. During this era, the only way that a woman can have a high paying job is to become a geisha. According to a study entitled “Sayuri’s Struggle in confronting Geisha Exploition in Arthur Golden’s Memoirs of a Geisha: a Feminist Criticism”, being sold and becoming a money machine is a form of slavery. More so, Sayuri was deprived of getting proper education which basically is the right of all young women. The author, Arthur Golden emphasized in the novel how women became a source of entertainment and how becoming a geisha meant to a woman’s survival in a world dominated by men. Sayuri came from a poor family and all her life, she was taught that becoming a geisha is a way to uplift her status in life. There, she learned how to appear beautiful admired by people especially men. Further, in the novel there is this tradition called mizuage, a ritual where a young female loses her virginity, usually to bidding suitor, and in this case will soon become a full-fledged geisha. The author tried to emphasize how women are becoming part of the sex industry. This is in consonance with the study mentioned above, whose results showed that this ritual mentioned in the novel is a representation of sexual harassment.
Such novel highlighted how women struggle in fighting against the bonds of exploitation. Sayuri, the main character have showed resilience in combatting this adversary. However, women should not be treated as mere entertainers and sex possessions. This novel should serve as a catalyst to help in addressing the dilemma of sexual harassment and slavery across the world. They say women are the weaker sex, have you not thought that now is the time to prove them wrong?
References:
Afif, S. (2012). Woman Exploitation in Arthur Golden’s the Memoirs of a Geisha as Feminism Study. SJLC Indonesia. Retrieved from https://www.unisbank.ac.id/ojs/index.php/fbib2/article/view/742?PageSpeed=noscript
Gerhold, P. (2013). The top 10 words to describe Japanese people (according to foreigners). Japan Today. Retrieved from https://japantoday.com/category/features/lifestyle/the-top-10-words-to-describe-japanese-people-according-to-foreigners
Toki. (2016). The history of Geisha in Japanese Culture. Retrieved from https://www.toki.tokyo/blogt/2016/8/2/the-history-of-geisha-in-japanese-culture#:~:text=The%20first%20geisha%20were%20actually%20male%2C%20appearing%20around%20the%20year%201730.&text=The%20original%20role%20of%20geisha,Period%20(1603%2D1886)
Ratnasari,N.A. (2014). Sayuri’s Struggle in confronting Geisha Exploition in Arthur Golden’s Memoirs of a Geisha: a Feminist Criticism. Universitas Negeri Yogyakarta. Retrieved from https://eprints.uny.ac.id/17630/
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