Popular Culture Review Vol. 8, No. 2, August 1997 | Page 53

From Rapeman to Mother Superior

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in-law taking marriage). In a muko-tori marriage, still practiced by
some in contemporary Japan, a man is married into his wife's
household and their children bear the mother's surname.
Two other TV shows also play on the theme of
matrilineality. In Murders in Abundance (Satsujin ga Ippai), a string
of murders is solved with the help of a precocious teenage girl, who
proudly tells people that her family has a tradition of female
superiority and of marrying men only for reproductive purposes. She
has little respect for her womanizing absentee father who is large in
body (being a former Olympic hopeful), but insignificant in
everything else. W's Tragedy (W no Higeki) is a story of weak men in
a proud family, the V/a Ji clan. The clan's patriarch was murdered at
his birthday party and his grandniece took the blame. In the end, the
aunt and the niece showed their unity and declared that they, the
women of the clan, would re-establish the good name of Wa Ji.
According to Iwao, from ancient times to the middle of the
14th century (Muromachi era), Japan was a matrilineal society where
the average women had considerable freedom and power. It is
believed that the importance of women in former times was related to
Japan's indigenous religion, Shintoism, which holds that the
forerunner of all Japanese people is a female deity, the sun goddess,
Amaterasu Omikami. These shows, therefore, are raising the
consciousness of the audience to its matriarchal past.
Concluding Remarks
The television dramas examined in this article project an
image of Japanese women that is independent and self-confident.
They work or act in a capacity that is traditionally in the domain of
men. They are bright and talented in what they do. Moreover, they
are not afraid to stand up to male authorities. Almost all the women
are single (even in A Family of Matrilineal Descent, only the second
daughter is married). Most of the women on these shows put career
and personal fulfillment over marriage. Some also put female
friendship over romance with men.
It is noteworthy that a parallel portrayal of characters and
lifestyles has been observed on American television. In a study of
professional women on TV (such as, Angela Bauer on "Who's the
Boss?", DeeDee McCall on "Hunter," and Laura Holt on "Remington
Steele"), the researchers remarked that "These women are not