pleasuring oneself

it is always interesting to me to watch japonisme as waves, washing over the west over the decades, as this is highlighted in one year, and that in another. from its first faces in the haystacks and bridges of the impressionists, still painted with the hand of the west, through the blossom of the poster with its asymmetry, blocks of color, outlines, and more, and on through to the beginning of the art deco years.

it is in those years, the 20s and 30s, the jazz age with its flappers and charm, that we see some of the most clearly influenced images of all: the chic simplicity of the faces of women. in magazines (and on their covers), and on the covers too of sheet music, we see as nowhere else an almost perfect uh, mirroring of the faces of the bijin in the japanese prints.

throughout the west posters, magazines, illustrated sheet music proliferated for many of the same reasons, which continuously fed back into each other: the development of modern printing, modern communication and modern transportation technologies passed new styles and info around the world as quickly as they used to pass around town after a sunday morning in church.

this is the moment when the ideal woman's body became elongated and ultra-thin, just as utamaro had fantasized in his prints. everything now must be streamlined, swift, be it autos, trains, buildings, costumes, or, of course, women. the requirement of 'charm,' was forwarded by 'movie stars,' (in her book 'charm,' actress margery wilson insisted, among much else, that 'girls' must learn to walk on 'one line,' not 'two lines.' try it.)

as women's freedom grew, so grew the strictures by which she must present herself physically. the mirror of this in the sixties are the books 'fascinating womanhood,' by helen andelin and 'the feminine mystique,' by betty friedan as analyzed brilliantly by holly welker in bitch magazine. (note: at the time, i found myself in both consciousness-raising groups and fascinating womanhood classes. come to think of it, the second actually led me to the first.)

from bitch: '[where] In The Feminine Mystique, Betty Friedan complains that "the only passion, the only pursuit, the only goal a woman is permitted is the pursuit of a man," Andelin insists that a “fascinating woman” finds happiness precisely by assuming a secondary status and lacking an inner life. Being infantile, manic, pixie-ish, and dreamy [is] posited as an important ingredient in attracting a mate, which is the most important element of female happiness.'

in yet another iteration of several of my favorite themes i look at how malleable we as women are expected to be, even more so as we assume increased power. in any number of ways what is likely a majority of women still include a husband and children in their 'must haves.' and as long as that remains true, the girdles and facepaint will remain in the weekend bag. and it will always remain true.

sitting getting my taxes done last month in a small office surrounded by three other menopausal women, i was surprised that i was the only one to whom it had occurred that if 'mating' ceased to be a goal (and yes, that included getting laid), the need for so many other things fall away as well. we get to please ourselves, pretty much for the first time. it can be hard, but, ladies & gentlemen, it sure is sweet.

What Is So Rare As A Day in June

AND what is so rare
as a day in June?

Then, if ever, come perfect days;
Then Heaven tries earth
if it be in tune,
And over it softly
her warm ear lays;
Whether we look,
or whether we listen,
We hear life murmur,
or see it glisten;

Every clod feels a stir of might,
An instinct within it that
reaches and towers,
And, groping blindly above it for light,
Climbs to a soul in grass and flowers;
The flush of life may well be seen
Thrilling back over hills and valleys;

The cowslip startles in meadows green,
The buttercup catches
the sun in its chalice,
And there's never a leaf
nor a blade too mean
To be some happy creature's palace;
The little bird sits at his door in the sun,
Atilt like a blossom among the leaves,

And lets his illumined
being o'errun
With the deluge of
summer it receives;
His mate feels the eggs
beneath her wings,
And the heart in her dumb breast
flutters and sings;
He sings to the wide world,

and she to her nest,-
In the nice ear of Nature
which song is the best?

Now is the high-tide of the year,
And whatever of life hath ebbed away
Comes flooding back with a ripply cheer,
Into every bare inlet and creek and bay;
Now the heart is so full that a drop overfills it,
We are happy now because God wills it;

No matter how barren
the past may have been,
'Tis enough for us now
that the leaves are green;
We sit in the warm shade and feel right well
How the sap creeps up and
the blossoms swell;
We may shut our eyes but
we cannot help knowing
That skies are clear and grass is growing;

The breeze comes whispering in our ear,
That dandelions are blossoming near,
That maize has sprouted,
that streams are flowing,
That the river is bluer than the sky,
That the robin is plastering
his house hard by;
And if the breeze kept the good news back,

For our couriers

we should not lack;
We could guess it all
by yon heifer's lowing,-
And hark! How clear bold chanticleer,
Warmed with the new wine of the year,
Tells all in his lusty crowing!

Joy comes, grief goes, we know not how;
Everything is happy now,
Everything is upward striving;
'Tis as easy now for the heart to be true
As for grass to be green or skies to be blue,-
'Tis for the natural way of living:

Who knows whither the clouds have fled?
In the unscarred heaven they leave not wake,
And the eyes forget the tears they have shed,
The heart forgets its sorrow and ache;
The soul partakes the season's youth,
And the sulphurous rifts of passion and woe

Lie deep 'neath a silence pure and smooth,
Like burnt-out craters healed with snow.

James Russell Lowell

M O D E R N

SHARP-DRESSED MAN (Share otoko) 1924

(Adaptation of Gay Caballero)




In the village I am the one they call the
The number one mobo.
Vain, conceited, smug,
I came to Ginza in Tokyo.

To begin with, my style consists of
A blue shirt with crimson necktie,
A derby hat and horn-rimmed glasses (Lloyd-style)
And baggy sailor pants.

The woman that I have fallen in love with
Has jet black eyes and bobbed hair.
She's short and built,
And she is brazen down to her toes.

I first got to know her at the cafe',
Now it's your place, dear.
Shall we have cocktails
Or Whiskey, which should it be?
Politely hiding your feelings
You're being too reserved.

Doing as she said, I had two or three glasses
With a smile she said, have another.
The woman became slightly flushed (cherry color)
Hahaha, in all I had another drink

Do you know?
My father is the landlord, the head of the village.
The village head is a rich man and I,
his son,
Am single even now, a bachelor!

'Oh my, that's lovely'
If you've got the prestige and the money,
For example, even if a man has no looks'
[Women say,] 'I like you dear.'

Oh, my be- lov- ed one,
How my body trembles
If it's with you I'd go anywhere
I would leave you even if I die.

Is it a dream or is it a figment of my imagination?
Just then, the woman's husband comes rushing at me.
Without saying a word, I am engulfed by a flurry of fists.
Beaten to a pulp, I faint.

My wallet, my watch have been taken!
My precious woman is gone!

What a fearsome place Tokyo's Ginza is!
I am a mobo who cannot cry, even if I feel like it.

(popular song in 1924)

(click here to watch the video)

color

i am finding that colors that are common in the west in women's clothing are frequently quite uncommon in japan. perhaps the symbology of colors is more important in some cultures than in others.








in japan, for example, a guest must not wear purple or white to a wedding. purple is the color which fades the most quickly, and white, in most eastern countries, is associated with death.

black, also, is often associated with death and mourning, black with red might be acceptable, but not black with white as this is a funeral combination. interesting that death and purity are combined in so many cultures.

in japan, the spirits are usually dressed in white, signifying the white burial kimono used in edo period funeral rituals. in shinto, white is a color of ritual purity, traditionally reserved for priests and the dead.1

you will see very few black or white kimono on women. they are somewhat more common for men. colors in the purple and blue ranges are also less common than those of the red-yellow-orange.

other than a wedding guest not wearing white (or perhaps black?) i don't know of much credence lent to the colors we wear in the west. do you?

my yiddisha nightingale

1. Miss Minnie Rosenstein
Had such a voice so fine
Just like Tetrazzini
Any time that Minnie sang a song
You'd think of real estate seven blocks long
Some song!

Young Mister Abie Cohn used to call to her home
Just to hear her singing
Presents he was bringing
Full of bliss!
One night young Abie proposed to the Miss
Like this!

Yiddisha nightingale, sing me a song
Your voice has got such sweetness that it makes me strong
Yiddisha nightingale, sing me a song
I promise that I'll take you on a long honeymoon
I'd give a dollar to hear you, my queen

I wouldn't give a nickel to hear Tetrazzini
Just to hear your cultivated voice good and strong
I'd serve a year in jail
Yiddisha nightingale
Won't you sing me a song?

2. Then said young Abie Cohn
"I'm going to buy a home
One that's made of marble
Dear, where you can warble harmony
And I don't care for expenses you see
That's me!

I'll go and learn to play on the piano, say
You'll sing while I'm playing
People will be saying
As they pass
Some class!"

[song by irving berlin; toshikata mizuno; japanese fabric via florizel; charles louis verwee, a belgian, painted 'vanity.' the vase is by ando jubei, from the meiji era in japan; some considered it the golden age for cloisonne created for export, with the encouragement of the government.1 book design by carlos schwabe; george lepape did the artwork, but i don't know the designer....; lastly is flower viewing from shuntei miyagawa.]

the tune is here.

après le deluge

takehisa yumeji was a restless, flamboyant, and hopelessly romantic artist and poet. married three times, twice to the same woman, his search for a romantic ideal took him around the world, studying, observing, and probably falling in love all over again.

what his wanderings led to was this: he essentially revolutionized japanese art, bringing it into the 20th century.

shin hanga already existed: a transitional era with one foot still in the style of printing that hiroshige, hokusai, and utamaro did, and one foot in styles of the west. takehisa yumeji is credited for having initiated sosaku hanga, which combines traditional japanese iconology with some first steps towards integrating the modern art movements happening in the rest of the world.

be sure to note the shadows below the umbrellas; i like the guy in the cap drinking from a bottle! i don't have a specific date on this but it is from the taisho era (1912-1926).

rea irvin created the cover for the new yorker. many of his designs feature asian elments. this one is from 1947.

in 1912 george lepape did the illustration for a periodical called 'gazette du bon temps.' it is only one of many of his wonderful illustrations. like yumeji, he frequently chose beautiful women for his subjects. yumeji was called the utamaro of the taisho era.



do i think these were mimics? probably not, at least not specifically. but as another blogger just wrote me and said, 'japan is just a state of mind.' at that moment in history, it was. and that was it's best, and its worst, quality.