일본 헤이안 문학에 보이는 늙음과 여성

Abstract

Aging is inevitable to human beings. People recognize and accept their aging in two ways –with more general and abstract concept or with physical, bodily experience. In case of bodily recognition, it seems that it had been related to the sense of beauty or ugliness and resulted in the preception “Old is ugly.” This had only been strengthened throughout the Heian period, whose aristocratic society known for its keen sense of beauty. Especially, women under the polygamous marital structure tended to see themselves to be an object of men’s desire and their existence valued with it. In reflection of this, in numbers of monogataries women, regardless of their age or how others see them, experience aging with their bodies, which equals the loss of femininity. This contrasts how men’s aging is described almost exclusively in abstract, with rare mentioning of their bodily changes. This gender gap can also be seen in medieval Japanese literature. Aged women are often portrayed as turning into a monster and then killed. This category of legends seems to result from layers of different perceptions: general belief of the ancient and medieval times that what is old can turn into a monster; the hatred against the ugliness of body and mind which accompanies aging; the perception that women who are not either fertile or sexually objectified are unwanted. Also, it can be interpreted as a reflection of desire to ostracize the unwanted, ugly old women by portraying them as monsters against the rule of the community.