http://web.archive.org/web/20050328023705/blog.simon-cozens.org/shonagon/
Husbands and wives
Sometimes I try and imagine what it would be like for one of those women who live at home. They serve their husbands faithfully. They don't actually have one single exciting goal or ambition in life but they think that they're happy doing what they're doing. Stupid women. I just feel sorry for them, really.
Those kinds of women are often from pretty good families, but they've had no chance to have any experience of the world. I wish they could live inside our community for a while, although they'd have to start at the bottom of the pile as Attendants; but at least they might see the world a bit, you know?
I really can't stand guys who think that Palace women are shallow, but I guess I can understand where they're coming from. The court women don't hide behind fans and screens like most girls, but they show their faces out in the open. And it's not just the ladies-in-waiting, but we even get to see Their Imperial Majesties, and nobles in the court, and courtiers, and other high-ranking officials. All the women in the Palace get to see these guys - the ladies-in-waiting, their relatives, the housekeepers and even the toilet cleaners, the most common women around. I guess it's no wonder those guys think we're immodest.
But, you know, are they any better? When they come to the Palace, they stare at the famous people around here just the same. I guess we're as bad as each other.
The funny thing is that the women who used to work at the Palace but who've now gone home and got married are called "Madam" and get treated amazingly well. Some people seem to think that these women aren't really that femme, after showing their faces at the Palace for all those years, but when they get impressive titles, or get called back to the Palace for some function, or have to work for the Court at the Kamo Festival, they're still pretty impressive.
And to be honest, even if they just stay at home they really gain from their time at the Palace. They do really well as wives when they get married.
There was one girl who got married to a local governor, and they had a daughter; the daughter got called up to the capital to dance in the Gosechi, and her parents could go up to the capital and not feel like idiots, having to ask everyone else what the correct protocol was. They knew exactly what they were supposed to do; I think that's absolutely how it should be, to be honest.
Posted by sei on May 11, 987 | # | G | 26 Comments
