Kushi Fusako received some backlash and hatred towards "Memoirs of a Declining Ryukyuan Woman" after it was published in Fujin koron, a monthly woman's magazine. She was called out by a few men who did not agree with her usage of names she gave people and how she associated them with other classes or races in the story. The phrase that upset the men was, "the Okinawan people" because it put the Korean people and Aniu people in the same category, thus degrading the Okinawan people. After reading, "Memoirs Of A Declining Ryukyuan Woman" I agree with Kushi Fusako, in her use of "Okinawan people". Her intent on using the phrase wasn't to degrade the Okinawan people. She was not being racist or prejudice against the group of people, but in fact the men who are upset are the racist ones because they believe the Okinwan people are more superior. Kushi Fusako wrote on page 407, "we are all Asians and equal as human beings". She believes there are no superior races in Japan and never wrote her story with the intent of putting another race down.
After reading her story for myself, I did not think she was being racist or degrading towards the Okinawan people. Sadly, I feel that this is something we deal with in our current culture. People have become so sensitive to race and gender names. I understand that there are negative and derogatory words out there, but that is not what I am talking about. There seems to be an issue that pops up every few weeks now where something was said by someone or an advertisement did something that was prejudice, when in fact, if you understand the context or what happened, it wasn't prejudice at all. The people who are upset are usually being the prejudice party.
Hey Patrick, I liked your analysis because you first provided context to the backlash the author was receiving. I liked that you made your analysis on proving that her representation on Okinawan people wasn't meant to be racist at all. I liked that you made the point that the men who were criticizing her were the ones who were prejudice because they viewed themselves better than other races. In contrast, Fusako is the one who's portraying that no one's better than anyone as she shows that anyone, even Okinawan people can fall short in terms of morality. Great job on your analysis!
ReplyDeleteHello Patrick,
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed your analysis because it gives a lot of attention and credit to the author's view. This was a difficult time period and a very controversial piece that was written from that deep place of experience. I agree with you that her expression wasn't meant to degrade women but rather she writes this to draw light to something very real that was happening.
Hi Patrick,
ReplyDeleteI like that you chose to do your close reading on Kushi Fusako’s defense of “Memoirs of a Declining Ryukyuan Woman.” I found it to be such a strong and important piece of writing because she not only brings up a lot of relevant points, but also shows that she can defend the beliefs she has. I think it’s great that you can understand where she was coming from in her writing despite others feeling that her story was insulting.