I started with Diary of a Void, where Shibata lies about a pregnancy at work, and this breaks down the hierarchy within her mostly male workplace. Although she is not in a relationship and does not have kids, she basically already acts as a mother to her male coworkers as despite being hired to do the same job, she is also required to do menial tasks such as cleaning and handing out sweets. Shibata falls into this stereotypical role of "caregiver/mother" that is forced upon women in the workplace, and by lying about her pregnancy she takes advantage of this stereotype, and faces to pushback as her coworkers know nothing about pregnancy. Maybe it becomes more clear through the whole novel, but I think the ending was intentionally very open ended about whether or not the baby was ever real. Personally I felt like the baby started out as a lie but manifested into something more as she fully let herself believe it, but she never really gave birth as having a child is not necessarily able to "fill the void." What really filled her void was having a healthy work-life balance and not having to baby her coworkers.
Similarly, Naked also talks about how women are perceived in the workplace, but we see it through Izumi's conversations with her friends/former coworkers. She is unemployed at the time after being worked to the bone by her company and ex husband, and the people around her judge her harshly for taking years to return to the workforce. Izumi's past worklife and not knowing what free time feels like comments on the terrible reality of some companies in Japan, but also is about how society views employed vs unemployed women. At work, many of Izumi's coworkers saw her as strict and a workaholic, things that Izumi did not believe for herself. While unemployed, people constantly assume she needs to "get back on her feet," even though she is doing fine financially. I wonder if this could also be about women being pressured to return to work after maternity leave.
The Most Boring Red on Earth focuses on women's health and the stigma that surrounds it. Rika prioritises her work and societal expectations to not bother others with your troubles, thus ignoring the needs of her body. By turning her period into something interesting and even beautiful, it makes Rika appreciate her body and her period, and maybe even makes it something to talk about with others in order to break the taboo around periods.
The Lonesome Bodybuilder also discusses women's health and body, and it was kind of a crazy story but I liked it. It starts off breaking down some of the male vs female gaze around what we find attractive, then subverts it when the main character becomes a successful bodybuilder. And rather than the people around her rejecting her appearance, they actually embrace it. Everyone except her husband, and this to me is about how women are constantly expected to sacrifice their own mental and physical health to take care of their husbands while not receiving the same support in return, thus the bodybuilder relies on her coach. It was interesting that they chose bodybuilding specifically. The coach talks about it being a very lonesome sport, and one portion also mentions that the muscle is all for show and not strength, both things being about putting up a front.
My favorite reading from this week was the chapter from Breasts and Eggs. I had previously read one chapter from this book, and it is written so emotionally. I especially loved this chapter we read and I think it's convinced me to read the whole book, but maybe in Japanese because kansai-ben. I think overall this book questions what it means to be a woman, what defines woman. This chapter seems to break down the idea that women are meant to serve their husbands, especially sexually. Natsuko breaks free of this idea and puts herself and her needs first, but her boyfriend rejected this and her. Even when he randomly called her, it was to make himself feel like a bigger person, not because he cared about her. Despite not wanting to have sex, Natsuko is still interested in having a family, which makes Naruse's rejection even more upsetting as it shows he saw her for her body, not as a person.
Lastly is The Woman in the Purple Skirt, and I really am not sure what to say about this one. It gave very creepy stalker vibes, and I really just wonder how the main character has this much free time/is able to know all of these things. I think the woman in the yellow cardigan is jealous of the woman in the purple skirt, thus she gives herself a similar name and follows her around, judging her. Yellow cardigan constantly comments on how other people seem to notice and care about Purple Skirt, but not about herself. She also tries to run into her for no reason which is so strange, but fails so bad it basically ruins her life (karma). I wonder if maybe it's an exaggerated metaphor of how women are jealous of other women, but I'm not really sure.
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