Strong Mama! Or…WTF Japan?!?!?
G4 has us addicted to the show Ninja Warrior, which I’ve talked about before, so when they started showing Unbeatable Banzuke, we had to check it out.
Now, an example of a few of the different courses people compete on are Like a Pierrot, an obstacle course where competitors ride a unicycle, and Neko de Drive, an obstacle course involving a man transporting a woman on a wheelbarrow that looks like a cat. There’s a whole big list of different contests, and with those being just two examples, you can see why we tune in.
Anyway, that’s not the focus of this post…more of background info. This is about one specific course, dubbed “Strong Mama”.
It’s designed specifically for women, with special challenges. What makes it “for women”? It starts out generic enough, like the other courses, with some obstacles to maneuver around. But then it gets…well…”the ladies” grab a shopping cart and hold onto it while it goes down a very steep hill. Then they must walk across a very narrow beam with a purse in one hand and a very heavy shopping bag in another, while water is coming down to simulate rain. Then it’s time to hop onto a bike and peddle as fast as you can, since the bike has been altered to only travel inches at a time on a conveyor belt. (That part isn’t too bad though, since most people travel by bike around town.) After that, it’s back to the generic obstacles. But the sexist stereotypes don’t stop though! For the final test, they have to climb a large tower. A layered tower. That tower is named a “wedding cake”.
Let’s let that all sink in. The contest called Strong Mama uses sexist stereotypes like pushing a shopping cart and carrying a purse and groceries, only to have the final test and winner declared after she climbs on top of a giant wedding cake. Hello, Japan? Yeah, I just wanted you to know that your show Strong Mama is NOT COOL!
(I really wanted to point you to a video of it to show how bad it looks, but my Google-fu wasn’t strong. If anyone does find one, please give a shout out in the comments.)
Guess they must have gotten some complaints though, as the very next competition changed the shopping cart and changed the purse and groceries into weights. It still looked like there was a huge wedding cake, but no one made it past the other obstacles for us to find out.
When I saw the show I was just speechless. It was so terribly sexist I couldn’t even comprehend. I’m still a bit stunned, really. Although after I finished watching it the first time I did say that why didn’t they just make the contestants wear a pregnancy suit, carry an infant, and drag a toddler along while doing the course. All while barefoot of course. Unless that’s their follow up course, for after “the ladies” win and climb atop the wedding cake, hence showing they qualify to be a “strong mama”. Ugh…
Technorati tags: strong mama, unbeatable banzuke, japanese, sexist
Posted in Main Punk Blog, Feminism |
September 29th, 2008 at 2:53 pm
What saddens me most is that I bet your could design a really awesome obstacle course that pokes fun at, rather than endorses, sexist stereotypes. Something that highlights the special burdens women are expected to take without complaint, to show how strong mamas really are.
Alas, it seems this is not that show. Too bad.
September 29th, 2008 at 3:29 pm
I actual find this hilarious and I am going to tell you why. The divorce rate in Japan is climbing daily in all age groups but it is the largest amongst retirees who suddenly discover that they don’t know their husbands who dedicated so many hours to the workforce and none to them. They further resent the fact that now that the husband is home during the day they are expected to play nursemaid to a grown man. Young Japanese women are also waiting until later to get marries or forgoing the grand institution all together. This pathetic little game is an attempt to encourage women to perform their gender. Seems like a very stupid plan because if you pour fuel on a fire it explodes. These tactics are going to have the exact opposite result that they are going for and will probably piss even more women off.
September 29th, 2008 at 6:37 pm
@Renee I remember hearing that about divorce statistics in Japan before, and putting that into this context, it makes a little more sense. But I do agree…it’s kind of backwards and insulting. Makes me think that since there were changes to the obviously sexist stereotype parts to the game, there were quite a few women pissed off.