love and capitalism

8/14/2019 love and capitalism

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Love and Colonialism in Takamure Itsue's Feminism: A Postcolonial CritiqueAuthor(s): Sonia RyangSource: Feminist Review, No. 60, Feminist Ethics and the Politics of Love (Autumn, 1998), pp.1-32Published by: Palgrave Macmillan JournalsStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/1395545Accessed: 17/12/2009 12:59

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L o v e a n d Colonialism i nTakamure I t s u e ' s Feminism:A Postcolonial CritiqueSonia Ryang

Abstract tionalityn theact of writingwithin he discursiveieldof womenwhosenation *>was colonizing thers,notablyKoreans. he combinationf positivisticraving xfor 'scientific'istory o substantiatehe uxorilocalradition f Japanesematri- .s,monyanduncriticalcceptancef'motherhood's asuperiorirtueedher o con- "sequentlymbraceapan'solonialism. w

s

Keywordsfeminist istory;apan; olonialism; oreaPerhapsmore hananyotherearly eminists f pre-war apan,who wroteaboutwomen'sdentity nd heirnew formsof life,Takamuretsuemadeexplicit nendorsementf loveas a political ction,notas a personal ffairthatcannotbe discussedn public.Perhapsmore hananyotherpost-warfeministof Japan,Takamuremadepowerful onnections etweenpasthistory ndpresent oliticswitha potentialo fundamentallyubverton-ventionalunderstandingsf gender elationsn Japan.This articles toexploreherideasof love andmarriage mbodiedn her majorpoliticalworkswrittenn the colonialperiod, roma specificallyostcolonialosi-tion of analysis.Reassessing ast scholarshipromtoday's eminist ointof view,or, forthatmatter, colonialpast rompostcolonial erspective,oesnot alwayshave to be condemning f shortcomingsf thepast in a mannerwhichassumesa linearhistorical rogress.Furthermore,o considerhow theinstance f thecolonialwasplacedwithin hestream f feminisms of con-temporaryignificance,ather han an anachronisticne. Thisis partly 1


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, becausewe arestillfacedwithongoing roblemshatpast emiIliststrug-gledwithandpartlybecause ur positions reofteneroded ndcompro-', misedby theexisting ocio-politicalnstitutionshatarebecomingmore.s, andmoredeceptilrelyccommodatingywayof privilegingertain roups of womenand llusorily resentingheirachievementsstheachievement3, of womenat large.uJss:

This s alsobecause hepostcolonialeconsiderationf colonialismndcolonial uleoften akes he nation-states itspointof departure,ham-pioninghenationalandpatriarchal,orthatmatter), nd,hence, rivial-izesnon-nationalnstancesncluding he sexualand the personal. uchtrendsbecome ll themorerelevanto the contextof today'seminismnJapan; ontemporaryapanese eminismhas long beenpredominantly'nation-focused'nd ethnocentric, oncernedmainlywith Japanesewomenn Japan ndnon-Japaneseomen, or exampleKorean ndTai-wanesewomenwho live n Japan s a resultof Japan's astcolonial ule,areplacedoutsidets vision.Even eading ommentatorshyawayfromcriticallyngaging ith herealityacedbynon-JapaneseomennJapan;therearethosewho areconcernedbout hewartime rostitutionorcedby the armyon women fromthe coloniesand about femalemigrantlabourersoday,butsuch ssuesarereservedorsome pecialistsnd herehas yetto arisean organic onnection etweenhistoricalssuesand thecurrent ituationorcedon womenof all ethnicbackgroundsn JapanincludingheJapanesehemselves.By not focusingproperly n discriminationsasedon 60thgenderandethnicityJapanese eminismhas effectively ondonedthe dominantJapanesedeologyof nationalhomogeneity.o, for example,whereaswomen's abourrights n business ectorsare hotly debated,KoreanwomeIl's ngoingmultipleufferingon thegroundof gender, thnicity,povertyandgerontocracy,s not a central ssue for feministsn Japan.This trendcontinueso be largely o even todaywhenthe term post-colonial's beginningo be heardamongwomenwriters nJapan;herestill remainsmuchto be desired o substantiatehis catchphrase,ysquarely ealingwithwomen's nd eminists'elation o thecolonialpastandpostcolonial resentnJapanand ts colonies.Aswe shallseein thisarticle, he return o Takamuretsue s not irrelevanto contemporarypolitical trugglesacedbyJapaneseeminists, otnecessarilyecausehewas 'progressive'r 'far-sighted',utbecause erunique ombinationfstrength ndweaknesss allusiveo strengthsndweaknesses f Japan-esefeminismoday, speciallyrom hepostcolonialositionality iththehopethatwe critically vercomeTakamure'simitationsn dealingwithcolonial elations.


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As a feminist,Takamuretsue's epertoires broad, preadingcross iter- ;arygenres ncluditlg oetry nd heatre, olitical omments f widerange 3and with seeming ontradictions,ncluding narchism nd nationalistic Itqemperorworship,and academicwork in pluraldisciplines,ncluding 'history ndanthropology.nJapaneseeminist irclesTakamures widely mregardeds a popular istorian; lthough erworkhascaused omecon- ztroversies, ne of whichwill be dealtwith later n the article, he never- ,=theless still occupiesa position of an importanthinker n Japanesewomen's istory.UnlikeYamakawa ikue nd chikawa usae, hedidnotwholeheartedlyoin he causeof socialism; nlike toNoe, shewas not ananarchistighter; nlikeHiratsuka aicho, hewasnot exactly bourgeoisfeminist; nlikeKanekoFumiko, hewas not a nihilist.1Herswas a self- lmade eminism, elebrated y her remarkableerseverances a scholar landraregift as a writer ndyet at the same imeplagued y political on-formismwhen he nationalnterestwas at stakeas we shallsee.In what is to follow,I shallconcentraten her politicsof love, sex andmarriage,ormulatedndpresentedn thepre-wareriod, oinciding iththe Japanese olonialempire.My focuswill be specificallyn her posi-tiotlalityn the act of writingwithin he discursiveieldof womenwhose |nationwas colonizing thers here,notablyKoreans; akamurempa-thetically ommented n Koreaand Koreanswho were placedunderJapanese ulefrom1910 to 1945. The mainsourceof inquiry or this ishermajor reatiseRenaisosei (Genesisof love).Thiswill be contrastedoherearlier oems n which he madean explicit eferenceo Koreans ndthe colonial ituation. shallraisea question s to why,as a poet,Taka-mure ould dentify erselfwiththe oppressedncludingKoreans, et as a'feminist'hecouldnot.

Life and workThetimespan his articledealswithregardingakamure'sork s abouthalfa centuryrom1894to 1945.Itwasa longperiod f turmoiln Japan'smodernhistory. n 1868 the two-and-a-halfentury ule of TokugawaShogunate as replaced y imperialule,headed y the emperor f Meiji.In the faceof western ncroachmentn EastAsia,Japan xplicitly doptedwesternmperialist ethods nd ookTaiwann the atenineteenthenturyandthenKorea n the early wentieth entury. efore he riseof the ultra-nationalistic ilitarismn the1930s,withwhich apanwent nto hesecondSino-Japanesear 1937onwards) nd hePacificWar 1941-5), herehadbeena briefperiod f social eniencywithregardo individuals'deasandformsof self-expression;his is usually eferredo as the Taishoperiod(1912-25)and t wasthen hatTakamuretsuemadeherdebut s a writer. 33


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> Born n 1894,theyear hefirstSino-Japanese ar tarted,TakamuretsueE grew up as a much adored daughterof a poor village teacher nKumamoto,outh-westernapan.Fromchildhoodonwards, he read,, widely n Chinese ndJapanese lassicsandwroteprolificallyncludingo l poetry, ovelsandessays.Althoughhehadhoped o have tudied t uni-, versity, ueto herfamily'sinancialituation, he hadto takean alterna-= tiverouteof learning notably hrough eachers'ollege, he practice fz teachingtselfand thenwritingas a journalist.nparticular,he total of- twenty-fourispatcheshewroteas a pilgrimnShikokuravellingn footl for six months n 1918 visiting acred itescaughtpopular eadership'simpassionedupport Takamure,965:139-59;Nishikawa, 990:ch. 2).

Afiercomplicated ersonal egotiationsnvolving eartbreak, isunder-standings ndmutual doration,he got marriedo HashimotoKenzo,substituteeacher nd then atereditorwho wasto playthe key role forTakamure'sreative ndtheoretical ritingbyactingbothas intellectualcompanion nd as project-makernd promotionmanager. arly n theirmarriage,n 1920, theyheaded o Tokyo romKumamoto. okyowas, nthe eyesof a rural ntellectual, monstrouspacewhereall sortsof temp-tations and corruptionmeltedtogether.Thereshe wrote an autobio-graphicalepic Nichigetsuno xe ni (Abovethe days and months)

I (Takamure,921a),a radical oemHarosha o uta (The ong of a trav-eller) Takamure,921b)and another pic Tokyowa netsubyo i kakat-teiru Tokyohas caughta kver)Takamure,925). Buildingon herexperience f Shikoku ilgrimage heresheshared he painful ourneywith travellersnd beggars,n her earlypoemsshe definedher voice asthat of the oppressed nd marginalized.heidentified erselfwith thehomeless, rostitutes,ndothers n the owest ocial trata. n herpoems,Koreans nd he urbanpoorgot expressivendcompassionatereatment,while eisure lassand bourgeoisntellectuals ereaccused nd scorned.In her 1921 poem,Thesong of a traveller, e find:

'I dedicate his song to my Koreancompatriots'. . . @

Humbly ove IYoursad cry for independenceAnd,all my compatriotsShouldbe feelingas IWorry or you IAboutthe name utei [malcontentment;politicalderogatory]And,all my compatriots

4 Shouldbe feelingas I


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My compatriots'oveforourcountry | i!Is as passionates burninglame lxAndyou lovealso XYourowncountryust ikeourflame e

SaddenedmI =ByyourdestructiveoveSaddenedmIBymycontradictoryoveBut,rememberLovecannotolerate ontradictionHence our ndignationAndourpainAndnowIf we were o be awakenedntothegreatoveYoucannotbe genuinelyngry INor canwebe in painYou,pleasedo not forceus to useourpainful ladeWithyoursorrowfulxeYou,pleasedo not forceus to suppressouWithyour orrowfulustice

* w w w

You,my belovedriends,Please o notconfuseYourwise ifeandhonourWithyourpast ifeandhonourHowever,f you areright,If you arewiseDo throwawayyour alse magesDo insistonyourcorrectights* I I I |Please o depart, ouButnever nvitemeaninglessestructionWithany ruitlessonstructionThatwill bemy genuine ain

(Takamure,966a:116-20)2AlthoughTakamure'self-positioningis-a-vis Koreans nd theircry forindependence,hichhad beenmanifestedn 1919 by the anti-Japanese )


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massrallies n the peninsula,s not too clear n the above,thesubjectmatter hechosehereshows o whomshewas preparedo dedicate erwords.3Ambiguously,hewarns hem orbeingoo passionatebout heirindependence,ut neverthelessoncludeshe poem by suggestinghatKoreans epart ora newfuture nd she wouldbe supportingt. In par-ticular heuse of futei s interesting, hich s a reminderf futeisenjin,malcontentKoreans,he namewith whichpoliticallyonsciousKoreanswereclassified ytheJapaneseoliceandauthorities.hisname mplied,in the eyesof thegeneral ublic, ideologicallynsound' nd subversive'and,hence, tigmatized. yplacing erselfn a compatrioticndcompas-sionatepositionwith Koreans,heidentifies erselfwith Korean ebelsand,here, he name uteibecomes ersas well.In the prefaceo her 1925 epic Tokyowa . . . TakamureoinsPakYeol,a Korean narchistater o be convictedoran attempto assassinateheemperor, y emphasizinghat: Aswe aimatthe constructionf commu-nisticsociety . . we musthave a legalsystem hatpunishes acialdis-criminationagainstKoreansand Japan'suntouchables]'Takamure,1966b:202). Herverse s powerfuln denunciationf the establishmentand sympathetico socialists nd otherpersecutedndividuals. ot onlyin its themesbut also in its artistic orm,the epic is highlyoriginal:consisting f twenty-five oems ncluding eadly atiredirected t bour-geois writers,denunciationf the purgeof communistsn academia,critique f socialists roman anarchist osition,criticism f ultra-rightnationalistsndreactionaryoliticians,elebrationf proletarianitera-ture,rldicule f bourgeoiseministsndconsolationorworkingwomenincluding rostitutes,t assaultshe readerwith vividwordsandbreath-takingexpressions, hichwereat thesame imethevoicesof the voice-less she tried o represent.n this monumentalpic,she refers o Koreansagain, this time more fragmentarilynd along with otheroppressedpeople:

A groupof women,'Wearethe victimof the familysystemWe areimprisonedn our red sleepWhenwe finallywake up, that colourred will be our bannerRise up!Hundredsand thousandsof Japan'spublicprostitutes.'The third-class ar of the trainboundfor Shimonoseki . .An old Koreanman.AX7indowsre shining;whilepeopleare senseless n theirdesperation.The Koreanmanis Pak Shi-gyong, loyal servantof the Yi royalty.His son Pak Sang-jins a leaderof the independence arty.


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But Sang-jinwas executedunder he false crimeof robberyand arson, The gcrimehe didnot commit. 3>Pak Shi-gyongs now a wanderer ravellingrom place to place. w

mOur heaven s clouded by the oppressiveauthorities -And our bloodfills the drain. EThe train runswith loud motion -While the liesare safe behind he brilliantdaylight.This is the noontimeof Tokyo,the Imperial apital.

(Takamure 966b: 217-18)Thefirstverse s the songof housewives ho are orcednto ovelessmar-riage,whichTakamurequateswith prostitution. hecolourred s usedto symbolize othprostitutionndproletarian ovement,lludingo thepossibility f theunityof the oppressedor the causeof liberationrom |sexualandeconomicxploitation. he aterverse efers o an old Koreanman n Tokyo'srainwho fell fromroyalattendanto wanderer ecauseof his son's nvolvement iththe independenceovement. hemetropo- |lis, whosemodernizationnd urbanizationre symbolizedy the move- lmentof thetrain, s beingbuiltwith alsehood, xploitationnd gnorance.The poem s suggestive f and amentshe popularndifferenceo Japan-eseruleof Korea; s thezeal ormodernizationookoff,colonization asnot onlyobliteratedut also in somesense ustified.Far rombeing atisfied ithher iterary ccomplishments,akamureon-tinued o moveon raisinghervoicemoredirectly gainsthe authoritiesandpower-holderss an anarchist-mindedocial ritic.Publishedn 1926,Genesisof loverepresentsucha move Takamure,926).(A comprehen-sivecritiqueollowsn thenextsection.)During heyears1930-1, shewas gthe editorof Woman's ront, an anarchistournalwiththe slogans: the lnegation f alltheoppressiveower',theexterminationf themasculine',and thebirth fthenewwoman' Takamure,1930a,1931b).erpenwasdirected gainstmultidimensionalowerrelations, ot just a one-to-onecorrespondencef the oppressed ndthe oppressor. ence,herrelentless gcriticism f socialist eminists or their overemphasisn class priority lwhicheffectivelynderminedheability o see the relations f power nthe area of genderrelations, nd her sympathywith anarchism s anexpressionopposingpatriarchy nd state interventionwith personalemancipationTakamure,930b,1930c,1931a).4Thejournalwas short-livedand it wasominous hattheyearof its termination,931, was the dawn of ultra-militarizationf Japan,highlighted y its Manchurian laggression.

In the sameyear,having ecured he financial ssistancef theirwealthyfriend, heandherhusbandwithdrewrompolitical rticulationnto the 77


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> house nthe forest', housebuilt n thesuburb f Tokyo or Takamure'sE research.5 fter hreeyearsof Manchurianonflicthewrote:

< Just ike heproletariatappenso be onthegoodsideof history,apan'snter- nationalposition.........appenso bear hemission o standon the sideof the3 world's ood.u,. In otherwords, apan'sationalpiritmust tandon lovefor othernationsn= theworldand he negationf theworld's vil . .vs= (Takamure934:4)LU I Duringhe PacificWar hewrote:

foragainsthosewhoblockour deal omake heworldntoonefamily. here-fore, hiswaris positivelyurJapanese omen'sask.Wewomen ncourageourson,ourhusband,urolderbrotherndouryounger rotherodefeattheenemies].n thisgreat acredwar,we haverisenup not'despite' ut because'* we are women.Letus rememberhatwe Japanesewomenhavealwayshadcourage longsideenderness.(NihonujinNovember944,quotednYamashita,988:277)

Bythis stage, t becomes lear o us thatTakamure'sfeminism's of anethnocentricort - a nativist eminismadvocatingeminineove for* motherland.hisappearso be a great hift rom he'love'shewrote orKoreansn her earlierpoems. s Takamure'sransformationeyondourcomprehension?r,is it predictableromthe way she got involvedn- feminist olitics?Washer sympathywiththe poorandoppressedalse?After all, how are we to understand er compassionateefenceofKoreans? hopeto considerhesequestions y reading ertextson theissuesof loveandgender,with thefocuson Genesisof love.

Love, marriage, women, menGenesisof love is a very ong extwithno sectional ivisions,onstitutinga hybridmixture f literary,hilosophicalndhistoricalritique.Taka-muremakes eferenceo genresncludingistory,iterature,iology, hil-osophy, olkloreand religionamongothers,andto authors ncluding| Aristotle,Bacon,Bergson,Dante,Darwin,Descartes,Flaubert,Freud,Hegel,Ibsen,EllenKey,Marx,J.S. Mill, WilliamMorris,Rousseau,Georges and,Schopenhauer,. Bernard haw,Spencer,Wollstonecraft,I to cite onlya few.While t is consistentn someways,Genesisis contra-l diction-ridden,rudelywrittenandveryrough n theorization.hewaymatricesf gender, lassandnation hift n Genesis s highlyndicativenunderstandinghe limitation f Takamure'shoughts her 'transform-ation' romanarchisto nativisticmperialistndherultimatendifference

-s to colonialssues.


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Shedelivers powerfulritiquen the areaof aestheticsnd,byextension, ;modernity.hecriticizeshe normativeeautyas acceptedncontempor- xaryJapaneseocietyasa maleandurbanprojectionhatgoesfundamen- ^tallyagainstnature ndwomen.Accordingo her: cvs

Beautygrows only in leisurelyenvironmentsncludingcities, holidayresorts, ZupperclassBeautyis maintained ntentionally.Once a woman throws away her will tobeauty, he will be fallen.Beautyandnature hus,are mutuallyopposed.(1967a: 20) I

Takamureharges he existentconception f femalebeautyas being Iderived roma particularieldof powerrelations,where therestof ordi-narywomen'are relegatedo the secondary ositiononly becauseheyrefuse o conform o the aesthetic orm,or simplybecausehey cannotafford imeor money ocomeupwith heexpectedevelof female eauty:

In existingromanceand art, the beautifulwomanis centrallyplacedand therest of women are leftwithout any interpretation.Just like a poor man or peasantplayinga supportiverole for aristocratsandheroes,the rest of womenalways playa pitifulclown or shamefulrole.Do theyhave to be treatedwith so much contempt?We have two eyes and anose. So what? Sometimest is all rightto have threeeyes. All rightto have atail likea cat. One can be black or yellow or short.So what? (1967a: 21)

Shedeclareshat 'aswe now know hatpoverty s a crime ommittedythe system,we knowalso the secretof beauty' 1967a:21-2).6Accordingo her,urbanbeauty s non-natural,enealogicallyerivingfrommalecontrolof beautywhere emalehumans reforcedo decoratethemselves, nlike he cases of so many otherspecies.Therefore,hisbeautydemanded f women n thecity is somethinghatwomen houldbe resisting,ather han aking t forthe norm o follow.However, aka-murepointsout, many itygirls odayarewillingly onforming,ictimiz-ing themselves, o urban vogue fashions,thereby tacitly offeringthemselveso malecontrolover femaleshroughhe conceptof beauty.Thus, heargues hatthe currentlyeldnotionof femalebeautys a cre-ationbythepowerfulncludingmenandupper lassesTakamure,930d).The anti-urban, nti-artificialityf Takamure'siew derives rom thebinary pposition f menandwomen,nsisting n distinctionnddiffer-encebetweenwomenandmenandnature ndartificiality.orTakamure,womenareby naturemade o give ove andaccept hosewholovethem.Sexualdesires men'sproperty nd ove is women's;t is women'sove-not men's exualdrive that s directlyonnectedo reproduction,hile s


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zJ, men'sgreed or sex andprivateproperty urtailshuman volution.She2 writes:< Women rethe mistressesf the relationshipetweenhesexes.Women aveO a mission o advancehe evolution f human ociety, yselectinghepartner3 and herebymprovinghe future uman ace., I Women'sexualdesire nd men'saredifferent.Women rethe willto repro-= duction,whilemen usthavesexual reed2 Menareoppressingomen, hemistress f nature,n ordero keep heir exualdrive ndgreed orprivate roperty.| Thisclearly oesagainst ature.This s blocking uman rogress.

(1967a: 21)Takamureomparesmaleand female ultures,he formerbeingartificialandthe latter, atural.

I Malecultures forcingwomen o have he intellect f thesamequality s thatof men[In thisculture]women's hilosophy, hichhas to consistof resistancendnegation,ets hrown wayor scorned.So, thosecompetent omenwhocan competenot struggle) ithmenfall inlovejust ikemendo,andnot as a woman. (1967a: 3)Sincewomenandmenareso fundamentallyifferent,heresistshe mas-culinizationf women.Accordingo her,womenshouldnot mimicmenin theirpoliticalparticipationnd division f labounTakamureuggestsagriculturendcattle armingorwomen'swork, aswomenareby nature. . . vaguecomparedo men,andtherefore,eryprimitiveworksuitsus'(1967a: 103). She suggestsdeskwork nd bureaucraticasksas men'slabour, ecausemalecultures theculturenwhichartificialityominates.

I Female ulture, n theotherhand, s basedon maternalove,nurturedythe loveof theearth 1967a:104).But,due o maledomination, omen'snature-orientedultures destroyedndwomennowsuffer romartificialarrangementsoverninghe society,ncludingmarriage.[Today] womandoesnot haveher own world,herown child,her ownhusband.Sheno longerikes hemaritalife,which s boundby impurelementsuchasmarriageystem, anityandobligation.She s hoping or a marital elationshiphatlastswithouthaving o rely onthese.From his,sheproposeshe abolition f the marriageystem. (1967a:108)

From he beliefthatwomen arethe mistresses f nature,referenceolo | animal exampleswherefemalescan have more than one male for


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copulations frequently adeas if thesearetheoriginalorm or human ;life (e.g.1967a:137,152).7 f marriage as artificial,o toowere hestate


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a of theirclosenesso nature e.g.1967a:121).Thus,womenwhoaretheX mistressesf nature reto take nitiatierenlove-making,utmustplaya:,1 passive olein louretself.Sympathetically,e couldreason hisas Taka-'D1 mure's uggestion f women'spassive, acitcontrol behind-the-sceneo control over oure-relatedatters.But,such s not speltout and, also,3U suchan approachannot eem o beradicallyiberatingor women.:z Similarly,he oscillates etween eproductions affirmativend oveforX reproductions negative.The formers biologically niversal, hilethe

latter s meaningless,ince t wouldrenderove feelingsnstrumentalorpurposes ther han pure ove'.Thus, n Takamure,iologicaleproduc-tionexistsas a naturalaw,whilemarriageor reproductiveurposessviolatinghe spiritof free ove.At thesame ime,she s against eproduc-tionwithoutmarriage,incethatwould be to providemen with more| opportunitieso satisffyheir exualgreed 1967a:106). Her ogic s cor-nered:f awomanwishes o havea child, hehasto marry man,butthemarriageystems artificialndhencebad, all thewhilereproductionssaid o be a beautiful eedof nature.The problem eems to derivefrom Takamure'sne-dimensionaliewabout reproduction':t is a biologicalruthof humankindandshe doesnot see it frommultiple ngles, ncluding hild-birth ndpregnancy,swomensbodilyexperience nd the mothershildcorporealbond andreproductionssocio-culturalxperience.nthepassagewhere hebrieflyrefers o childbirth,ll she doesis to emphasizehat 'civilized'women'schildbirths far more difficult han that of Cprimitives',espitetheadvanced ygienicystem ndtechnology,uggestinghat'natural' irthis superior Takamure,967a:106).In a way, despiteher insistence n'nature',becauseher conceptualizationf reproductions basicallyamentalexercise, atherhan a concrete,bodilydiscourse n femininity,she ronicallyomes losero the 'male ulture'heherself epicts,nthatshe prioritizesdeskworkand mentallabour(see Takamure, 967a:103-4)It is true hat nhertextTakamureries o restorewomen'segitimacynhistory ndsociety,by tracing owtheyhavecometo be excludedromman-madeocialnorms: he doesso by relyingon the 'naturalness'fwomen.But, hisis notsuccessful ueto heressentialismndher mma-terial onstruct f thefeminineubject.Women nature:hisequation fTakamure'ss nothistoricallynvisionedndremainsnthe realmof theabstract.Woman ere s thesgiven'withno socialpositionor embodiedhistory.And,assuch, hematernalnstincthat ssupposedlymbodiednwomenbynature is pre-linguisticrextra-linguistic.o subject, owever,

12 canexistprior o societyandsociality uchas discourse ndlanguage.


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Sincehe feminine ubject lsocomes o existence y wayof socialization, |;women'sprimordial aturalness, hich is extra-sociallyonceivedby lKTakamure,an neverbe realizednsociety.

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love and capitalism

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