日本性别制度之由来与特点

The Origin and Characteristics of Japan’s Gender System

日本的性别制度具有鲜明的本土特征,在外来文明的冲击下始终保持特立独行的姿态,其节点和要点主要体现在女性的生存状态及其与“家”的内在关系。即使在社会生活中,日本女性也不只是如西蒙娜·德·波伏瓦(Simone de Beauvois)定义的“第二性”(the second sex),她们在民生领域始终发挥潜在的主导作用,引领日本文化走向至今不衰。性别制度像一面直观的民族镜像,将日本在制度文明建设过程中的欣喜、迷茫、矛盾和痛苦,以及脱胎自立后的自负、抗拒和企图超越的僭越心态曝露无余。考察日本性别制度的起源、演变以及它在顺应时势变迁中的转向,可见日本社会生存结构的地缘特征和日本女性走向现代性的特殊路径。

Under the impact of foreign civilizations, Japan’s gender system has always maintained a maverickposture and has distinct local characteristics. Its nodes and key points are mainly reflected in the survival ofwomen and its “ home” internal relationship. Contrary to the stereotypes, Japanese women are not just“second sex” as defined by Simone de Beauvoir in social life, they have been playing a potential leading role in the field of people’s livelihood, leading Japanese culture to the present day. The gender system, like an intuitive national mirror, exposes Japan’s joy, confusion, contradictions and pain in the process ofbuilding institutional civilization, as well as its self-reliance, resistance and attempt to transcend. This article examines the origin and evolution of Japan’s gender system and several turns in its adaptation to thechanging times, which shows the geographical characteristics of the survival structure of Japanese societyand the special path of Japanese women towards modernity.