Professor of Aichi Shukutoku University,Department of Literature/Director of Insititute of Gender and Women\u27s Studies(Women\u27s Studies)
Abstract
Organizations for women\u27s studies in Japan firstly formed in late 1970\u27s and the academic association was established in late 80\u27s. Before it was formed there was women\u27s liberation movement called "Women\u27s Lib."in early 70\u27s among grass roots women. Although it was not widely recognized, it formed the base of feminists\u27 studies in Japan. Since International Women\u27s Year of 1975 and next ten years of UN Decade for Women, the Japanese government took the action for gender equality, and ratified the Convention for Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women in 1985. Women\u27s studies have two dimensions in its framework. One is search for women\u27s subjectivity in gender biased society. This means to analyze societies from gender perspective. The other is to form the solidarity among women for the movement for gender equality. The conventional understanding of academic studies is that it has to be "objective" and "scientific", not to have relationship with social movement. Women\u27s studies have both aspects of search for objectivity, and of social movement. These two create tention in women\u27s studies, which is meaningful for gender analysis. Feminists recognize the society is male superior. The recognition is restricted by our existance in this society. The discrimination based on sexual division is regarded to be unjust in modern societies. The social system that includes distinction of people can include the discriminative distinction. The problem is in what way each society and culture demarcate between discriminative distinction and distinction without discrimination. The woman\u27s subjectivity is formed by creating her own demarcation between discrimination and distinction in the society based on her description of experiences
