`The Gossamer Years` (The Diary of a Noblewoman of Heian Japan`)

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The Gossamer Years : A Reaction

The main character in The Gossamer Years ' is known as Mother of Michitsuna . Through her diary , she provides a view of how Japanese society was organized during the Heian period , with important implications on the role of women and the way they were treated by the society in general

It is a little difficult to comment on the nature of aristocratic marriages and families during this period because the social norms and rules then are vastly different from what

they are today . theless , I am thankful that I did not live in such a period . Women were treated a little better than property during that time and they did not have much voice in regards to matters that directly affect their lives such as their marriages . The way that marriages were structured then seems weird with present-day marriages . When a man and a woman decide to get married , they would live together unlike in Japan during the Heian period where the husband and the wife lived separately . The woman continues to reside at her parents ' house

The danger in this arrangement , however is that when a man decides that he no longer wants the woman , the regular visit to her residence falters and then fails altogether . The woman will then understand that her husband is no longer interested in her . That is so unfair . This particular custom appears to have been instituted in favor of the men of the society who can abandon their marriages when they desire to do so Women also might feel less important when the visits are not very frequent

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