The Institute for Research on Women and Gender presents the second in this year's Gender Forum series.
From common beliefs about Japanese culture and the place of old women, it might be expected that conversations among elderly Japanese women would include many instances of negative self representation, indications of (Confucian) good wife behavior toward their husbands, and gender neutral or asexual expressions, reflecting the speakers' being outside the (hetero)sexual market.
Collected actual verbal interactions of elderly Japanese women reveal that the reality goes beyond these stereotypes. Discursive practices of elderly Japanese women will be examined with particular attention to ways in which their age, gender, and individual personae are reflected and performed in their verbal interactions.