Meet Risa Tsuda, a junior at Kobe University of Foreign Studies. Risa has always been aware of gender related issues and is motivated than ever to learn more about them, eventually come up with solutions to these issues.
"Our topic is “The Feminist Perspective on Wars and Conflicts”. Through the discussions and assignments which we’ve done so far, I found that current gender issues are profoundly rooted to what happened in wartime. In other words, even in the post-war situation, gender roles which were created in wartime remains. "
Q１. Please tell us what are the reasons/motivations that made you apply for ISC65?
The reasons why I decided to participate in ISC65 are the opportunity to improve my English skill and the comprehension of single international topic in depth. After intensive English program in the U.S., Indiana, I was looking for an opportunity to practice what I learned in using English in academic area. ISC65 is not only about using English like just in daily conversation or talk, but also improve the discussion ability in English. (I already feel like all the members are so high level that I may struggle to catch up the discussion haha.) The second reason is understanding single international issue in depth, with member from around the world. It will be first time for me to work on one topic for long-term. Therefore, I am sure that I can make my understandings about the table topic deeply through knowing and discussing.
Q２.What do you think about your table’s topic?
Our topic is “The Feminist Perspective on Wars and Conflicts”. Through the discussions and assignments which we’ve done so far, I found that current gender issues are profoundly rooted to what happened in wartime. In other words, even in the post-war situation, gender roles which were created in wartime remains. It is important to know how the value and culture about gender are created and what was the intention. I think implicit expectation to each sex and values of each gender can disturb individuals’ the right to make a choice freely. (e.g. I heard of one of the members telling; when she was making decision of which academic area she should go on, her teacher advised her to avoid one of those areas because women usually cannot make high carrier in that fields.) However, we are often unconscious of these inequality senses because they are created by many factors in our life and difficult to remove such as a mindset. Therefore, through working on this topic, I want to be aware of these senses of gender gap for myself first, in order to make confident decisions.
Q3. You had a small meeting with your table-mates at the Advanced Conference, right? How was it?
I met some of the table2 members in Advanced Conference at May 11thand 12th!! We made a discussion for the first time and I felt they were so nice and had various of academic interests and experiences, so we gonna be a great table!!
In the discussion in Advanced Conference, we talked about how the words “gender”, “sex” and “gender division of labor” differ in their meanings. It was informative for me because I had no idea about the difference of the meaning of “sex” and “gender”. Also it was new information for me that the word “sexuality” has relevantly different idea from those two words, although they are closely related each other. In the discussion of gender division of labor, we got the ideas that “the sense of gender division of labor is unconsciously but profoundly exist in our mind.” Also, we agreed that education system is one of the most powerful factors of it. For example, the rate of girls who wants to be a doctor or president (those are the occupations which are thought to be male-job) drops down as they become upper grade. Finally, we discussed the situation in wartime and post-war in South Korea, as an example of the gender division of labor.
Q4. Can you tell us a little bit about your hometown?
I’m from Nara, Japan. Nara is placed western Japan, next to Osaka and Kyoto. Technically, I’m from a local area where there are various of delicious Ramen restaurants which are loved by from local fans to long-way visitors, but let me introduce famous areas as sightseeing in Nara.
Nara is where the capital was over 1,300 years ago. Therefore, there are a lot of old temples and shrines which are so important in history and as a culture that many of them are World Heritage Sites. Also we have the largest Buddhist statue in Japan, Daibutsu. When you visit the center of Nara, you can see a lot of deer wandering everywhere. In a park, on roads or even between cars. They live there! It is because they are deemed as messengers of god of Kasuga Taisha, one of the most prestigious shrines in Japan. Surely, you can touch and feed them. It’s kind of scary at the first time, but I’m sure you’ll be fun!! (They may become aggressive if you try to mock them or hide food. Be kind to them.)
