This presentation, based on an extensive research, was an attempt to illuminate the gender of “beauty” in Meiji Japan by juxtaposing the western-influenced discourse of “architectural beauty” and the “housewife’s beauty” in the discourse of household economy.
Teasley pointed out at the masculinity, inherent in the very neutrality and universality of the gender of “beauty” in the aesthetic discourse on architecture by Ito Chuta and Murooka Soshichi within the broader spatial framework of “architectural” discourse. Journals like Shufu-no Tomo [Housewife’s Friend] and the writings on housekeeping by Kondo Koichi and Shimoda Utako demonstrate how the femininity of “beauty” was internalized as discipline and visualized in the material environment, thus emphasizing the asymmetry of the masculinized and feminized discourses.
After the talk, several topics were discussed, including the blurring of the specific political aspects of the public and domestic space; however, the spatial gap in the argument was evaluated as productive in analyzing a variety of other issues, such as the houses of the architects or gardens. (Report by Hagiwara Naoto, Excerpted translation: Dennitza Gabrakova)