Strategies of postmodern feminism: Its possibilities in Japanese context

In this article feature, definition and possibilities of postmodern feminism is discussed. The article especially focuses on how postmodern feminism can be applied to contemporary Japanese feminist issues such as beauty contest and prostitution. Postmodern feminism here means discussions emerged in the 1990s in the U.S. influenced by postmodern philosophy, such as Derrida and Lyotard, criticizing naturalized dualism. Postmodern feminists claims anti-essentialism and the emphasis on differences among women. The analysis by Butler, Scott and Spivak provide good examples. Yet few Japanese feminists have used postmodern feminist framework. But the framework will be helpful to rethink contemporary Japanese feminist issues. Japanese feminism in the 1990s suffered from two criticism. One is criticism from minorities views and the other is from liberalist views. Consideration of differences among women of which importance postmodern feminism prove will provide a good basis of consideration to the both views. Examining especially the arguments on beauty contest and prostitution, I show that the framework of postmodern feminism can provide the good criticism toward Japanese liberalist division such as choice/coercion, private/public, and that the framework sheds light on some feminist issues in Japan.