Reconstructing female sexuality as social and culural constructs in Golden's memories of a Geisha

Abstract

The thesis, with the close observation of many negative images prevailing in the text, attempts to synthesize general issues pertaining to femininity and female sexuality usingrevolutionary texts contesting traditional, male dominated history and culture areFoucault’sHistory of Sexuality(1976)and Judith Butler’sGender Trouble: Feminism and the Subversion of Identity(1990).In the text,Golden’s claims to depict the entire Japanese geisha traditions isjust his illusion, rather, he presents Japanese geisha culture as irrational, inferior, dependent, erotic and ‘other’ whereas men are rational, superior, independent, modern and self. The reason for this partiality is none other than pleasing male readers who always tries to disdain and subordinate femalegender and sexuality as weak, exploitative, submissive and sensitive. So that male could feel proud, superior and independent over the female gender and sexuality.