Gender Stereotypes In Noh Theater

The art of theatre has always been a fundamental part of Japanese culture, and Noh (能, abbreviation for Nogaku) is one of the most ancient forms of theatre acting in Japan (Lee, 2008). Sub-genre Kichiku-mono, often emphasizes the theme of madness of a woman (Schoenberg & Trudeau, 2004), most definitely picked my interest with its seemingly archetypal portrayal of women. Taking the play Dojoji as a case study of Kichiku-mono, I shall argue that Noh theatre can be mistakenly condemned as disparaging towards women, while in fact it subverts gender stereotypes.
At its greatest height, Noh performances consisted exclusively of male performers (Wetmore, 2008). “During the Tokugawa Period, women performers were not allowed to train as professional Noh actresses or to act on stage in the traditional theaters.” (Patrik, 2008) Not only Noh theatre excludes female performers, it also often portrays women as “the root of all evil” (Zarilli et al., 2010). The main actor in Dojoji, or the Shite, at the beginning of the play is an elegant and beautiful young woman. She appears at a temple as shirabyōshi dancer and insists to perform as a tribute for the God. Soon after she is let in and performs at the dedication, her dance steps become increasingly chaotic and animalistic. She eventually reveals her
He dresses as a woman, who shows up at the temple and perform in men’s attire for the gods, then eventually reveals “her” true form as a female demon. The constant changes in gender deny the existence of a natural male or female essence. There is no fixed gender for the actor to adhere to thus he has to rely on the ability to carry out gender-specific external gestures that are understood and readable by the audience. As opposed to Western belief of natural predetermined gender, the Shite is an example how gender is constructed by the repetition of accepted social