A constant theme that ran through our segment on Japan was the lack of female performers. I know that in feudal Japan, when the arts of Noh, Bunraku, and Kabuki were developed, women were essentially second class citizens born to live for the men in her life. Women were to be seen and not heard and always obey her father, her husband after marriage, and then her sons after the death of her husband without question.
Because of the inferiority of women in society, they weren't allowed to participate in the theatre arts. The closest women could get to being a performer was to become a geisha or a courtesan. An ironic point of history is that kabuki theatre was actually founded by a woman in the late 1500s but the government banned women from the stage in 1629.
Today, there are no bans restricting women to the study and performance of these ancient theatre arts; however, there are still no women acting in Noh plays and the onnagata (female impersonator) still performs in kabuki plays. Why is it that women aren't performing in these arts? Is there an unspoken rule that women aren't welcome in the noh and kabuki theatres? Traditional kabuki theatres discourage women performers in the name of preserving history. But what is the value of preserving the remnants of an extremely sexist culture?
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