The Takarazuka Revue has been performing various Western musicals and dramas as well as adaptations of Japanese shoujo manga since it started doing performances back in 1914. The Takarazuka has since been an important symbol of women’s strength as the traditional gender roles are challenged and draws a majority female audience. The performance I watched “Me and My Girl”, is a story of young man inheriting the title of Earl from his deceased father but, was illegitimate son and had to learn how to become a “proper” gentleman. Engaging general aspects of the theater, the atmosphere presented is grand and very elegant to those attending the performance. It’s decorated in ways that are not unlike a fairytale ballroom, where although I have visited
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Through this contrast of voice pitch, as well as other factors, a gendered world is created within the play as it sets a new standard of what a “man” is and what woman is by setting sharp contrasts. The men are portrayed as highly masculine in behavior, typically through speech patterns and physical standoffish poses, and the women behave in highly feminine, often highly sexualized, ways. For example, within the performance, Bill, the main male actor, has very rough speech and is portrayed as a man by the way he sits, speaks to others and behaves in a very childish way where he would often touch women for fun. On the other hand one of the female characters, Jaquelin, is shown to be highly feminine in speech, speaking in soft, higher tones and within a particular scene she attempts to seduce Bill using a revealing dress, exemplifying the highly sexual portrayal of women. I find that this reframing or creation of a new gender standards to be the most interesting aspect of the Takarazuka performances as it makes it very clear which characters are male and female. As the performance goes on and I become entranced and engaged with the story I tend to “forget” that performers are all women, this I feel, accurately represents the challenging of gender roles of Japan as it shows that these roles are created and can be taken on by
Through this contrast of voice pitch, as well as other factors, a gendered world is created within the play as it sets a new standard of what a “man” is and what woman is by setting sharp contrasts. The men are portrayed as highly masculine in behavior, typically through speech patterns and physical standoffish poses, and the women behave in highly feminine, often highly sexualized, ways. For example, within the performance, Bill, the main male actor, has very rough speech and is portrayed as a man by the way he sits, speaks to others and behaves in a very childish way where he would often touch women for fun. On the other hand one of the female characters, Jaquelin, is shown to be highly feminine in speech, speaking in soft, higher tones and within a particular scene she attempts to seduce Bill using a revealing dress, exemplifying the highly sexual portrayal of women. I find that this reframing or creation of a new gender standards to be the most interesting aspect of the Takarazuka performances as it makes it very clear which characters are male and female. As the performance goes on and I become entranced and engaged with the story I tend to “forget” that performers are all women, this I feel, accurately represents the challenging of gender roles of Japan as it shows that these roles are created and can be taken on by