Humanities: Miyasaka, Natsumi [CGS NewsLetter 001]
TV drama is an interesting research material, especially for those scholars of gender expression in fiction like myself. Stating this as an excuse, I habitually watch popular TV dramas, both Japanese and foreign, and I cannot help noticing the huge difference that lies between Japanese and English (or American) dramas. The latter, reflecting social maturity perhaps, seldom contains the old gender-stereotype. For instance, they do not differentiate any occupation by sex. We see male and female lawyers fighting evenly in a courtroom. There are as many female doctors as male ones, and male nurses as female ones. We see a couple with a wife as an office worker and a husband as a homemaker. Whether or not these images sincerely mirror the actual situation in society is another issue. At least, these dramas do not impose on women negative images as their role models through such a public and influential media as TV.