History of Japanese pop culture

Ann Art

History of Japanese pop culture

Very often society's views of men and women and their roles in society are reflected in TV and the movies. Television can in fact be considered a medium against which people identify, develop and revise their perceptions of their role as a man or women (Gossmann, 207), and the extent to which they identify with gender roles in society. In Japanese media, gender roles have significantly changed over time, and this change has been for the most part accurately reflected within the media, most notably in the theatre and in television dramas. The most significant shift has been recognition of the need to portray more independent women who is interested in life outside of the home.

Identification and elaboration of gender roles is very evident in Japanese media, particularly television and the movies. Many Japanese women view television as a means to learn about life (Gossmann, 207) not just for entertainment. Many women have hailed the accomplishments of women who are portrayed as independent and well educated within the media. Men and women in Japan are depicted in television in ways that reflect conditions, whether actual or idealized, in society (Gossman, 207). Television and the movies have the unique ability to depict social values in a manner in which people can relate to in their every day life. The success of Japanese television and movies is due in part to its ability to accurately change over time and reflect the roles that men and women have had in a new and realistic manner.

During the 1990s, a series of television dramas in Japan called renzoku or serial dramas, depicted the lives of married couples. The drama identified two types of groups, the fist in which the wife acted as housewife to a working husband, and the second in which both the wife and husband worked (Gossman, 213). Prior to this time many programs still depicted women in the home only, even though a majority of women were starting to work just as their counterparts. As time passed, more programs started depicting women and their lives and roles outside of the home, away from their husbands, which indicative of the changing gender roles women is held in Japanese society. The newer TV dramas began to more accurately reflect the changing gender roles in society by depicting working wives and husbands. Husbands also became more family oriented in many media presentations, perhaps a reflection of the need of both parents to be nurturing and caring.

Later TV dramas also showed women leaving their husbands because they were searching for "lives of their own and to pursue careers" (Gossman, 213). This also reflects women's changing role in society. Earlier programs depicted women leaving their husbands only in the instance of extramarital affairs (Gossman, 213). Thus, the media reflected the newly independent and changing face of the Japanese woman accurately.