From Life Of A Sensuous Women

In society, women are often recognized as being the weakest and dependent gender while men are the most powerful. In Ihara Saikaku’s novel From Life of a Sensuous Women, he challenged the views on women by society and represented women as strong and powerful individuals. The novel was made of short stories where women used their sexuality to their advantage and to gain power over men. The women also did not follow the responsibility that society believes they should adhere to, such as marrying a man, having kids, and being the housewife who cooks, cleans and takes care of her family while her husband goes about his job. Instead, they lived with a loosed sexuality and had several lovers, which was not considered as to what the traditional

There are activities such as playing a sport that society thinks that men are much better than women at it. In the novel, the narrator said, “I’d been quite surprised to see court ladies practicing indoor archery, but people at court said it was quite natural...still, I’d never heard of women in Japan playing football in all the centuries since it was first played…but the wife of a domain lord is free to do anything she wants” (“A Stylish Woman Who Brought Disaster”). Women no longer were the weak gender, but they were given the same right that men had, such as the right to have the opportunity of playing a sport just like a man. Not only were the women able to do the activities that men always had the opportunity to do, they also provided knowledge to men. Women gave knowledge to men about sexuality when in reality it was supposed to be the man who knew more than women as viewed in society. The man was the one who looked up at the sensuous women when she gave them advice on sexuality. The sensuous women told a man, “Why don’t you love me instead? We’d have to talk about it, of course, and we’d have to set looks aside. But I’m kindhearted, and with me, you can realize your love without even waiting. You’ve got a lot to gain with me right now” (“A Teacher of Calligraphy and Manners”). This switches the roles between women and men since men are the one who tell

Throughout the novel, the sensuous woman was able to overpower the man with her power in sexuality. When the women started having a relationship with a man they would ultimately become weak while the women would remain alive. This characterize women as being stronger than males which is not how society views them like. In society, women are reckoned as being very emotional and frail when it comes to every situation they are confronted with. Saikaku’s perceptions as women being greatly stronger than men was a very divergent conception that he made. In society, women are supposed to marry a man and become the housewife while he goes to work. This idea was changed in the novel since women had the freedom to do what they want with their own life. The sensuous women had relationships with thousands of men throughout her life and society viewed her in a negative way. Women also had the ability to play sports such as football and fencing and that was something that only man had the ability to do. Moreover the role of women was changed in the novels but in today’s society as well. Women today are working as police officers, flying planes, and even being elected as president of a country. The barrier that has entrap women is breaking and they can become and do things that men always had the ability to do. A new women has been developing who now has more freedom. The role of