History 370: Paper #4

Due: Monday, May 1, 2000, 12 p.m.

No late papers will be accepted
Please place papers in my box in the history department

*Topic*

In present-day scholarly discourse, the term "gender" refers to a set of ideas which defines what it means to be a "man" or a "woman," as well as the proper behavior associated with each. While each society in a given historical era may have a dominant gender ideology, this ideology is never monolithic. Indeed, ideas about gender are fraught with ambiguity, contradiction, and room for individuals to reinterpret and challenge the dominant norms.

In this paper, compare and contrast the way in which people in contemporary Japan have defined what it means to be a "woman" and/or "man." What are the most important similarities and differences between different people's definitions? To what extent do the ideas and practices of the 1990s diverge from the traditional gender ideology, and to what extent do new gender norms perpetuate older values?

*Paper requirements*

1) You may write on any aspect of the above topic or select a topic of your choice. Regardless of the topic, however, the paper must include information from _Office Ladies and Salaried Men_ and at least two chapters from _Broken Silence_.

2) Papers should be 5 pages long (not including the bibliography), typed in a 12-point font, double-spaced, with all pages numbered and stapled together.

3) Please underline your thesis statement.

4) All material drawn from other sources must be properly attributed using a standard bibliographic format. The full bibliographic citation must be provided in either the footnotes or bibliography of your paper (depending on the citation format).

5) If your paper contains an excessive number of typographical, grammatical, or semantic errors, I will deduct up to 0.3 from your overall paper grade.