Blog Post #5 - Sexuality and Women in Murakami

 I think I will continuously find problem with Murakami's depiction of women, especially after reading the "Chance Traveler" and "Ghosts of Lexington", since it felt like Murakami treats gay characters, a marginalized group which he also stereotypes, better than his female protagonists/characters. Even though he often uses the same mold to depict gay men - well-dressed, neat, polite - these are fairly positive attributes compared to the fact that the women are usually mentally unwell, overly sexual, or sometimes their characters just aren't developed enough to give the reader an idea of their personalities. For one, Murakami's depictions of gay men lack the same sexualization as he includes for women. Taki Kano is repeatedly raped, "abused every way imaginable", Kuro has a "well-developed bust by the time she was sixteen", and also the numerous sex scenes in Norwegian Wood. By contrast, the pianist in "Chance Traveler" gets a nice reconciliation with his sister, and even when the story's about him, the two women end up suffering by way of developing cancer. The gay male body remains intact while the female body undergoes "mutilation" through breast surgery. In "Ghosts of Lexington", it could be argued that Casey experiences bodily degradation, with the theory that HIV/AIDs has taken a toll on him, but his ending/potential demise is much less clear than in "Sleep" or "Creta Kano", leaving the option open that he survives, whereas the women are graphically killed. Another point is that Murakami's gay relationships are fairly stable, long-term, and monogamous, while the women often find themselves in more tumultuous or unhappy relationships. I think my main issue is that Murakami seems to use rape/murder/suicide of women as a plot point, and it feels unnecessary or cruel, since the male characters don't go through the same level of trauma or suffering. Even if they're gay and outside the "norm" of his usual characters, it's like their being male still saves them from enduring the same things that the women go through. One other thing I wanted to bring up was Murakami's sparse use of lesbian characters. There was Reiko in Norwegian Wood, but there was a brief line in "Chance Traveler", "she was popular (more with other girls than with boys, perhaps)", that I thought was interesting if read as the woman being lesbian or bisexual. The line seems unnecessary otherwise, just a brief parenthetical, but I think in the context of how it's brought up, "her twelve years of marriage hadn't exactly been all roses, but she had no particular complaints", and the story being about sexuality, it's a possible theory.

- Alice Liao