Bunshu Shinsho Feminizumutte nandesuka? (What is Feminism?)

This book is intended to provide an introduction to “feminism”. Now, anyone who has had even the slightest exposure to anything feminist, whether through academia, social movements, or cultural activities, will most likely raise an eyebrow and ask, "What do you mean, ‘an introduction to feminism'?" After all, can there be such a thing as “introductory,” or for that matter, “elementary” or “advanced” feminism? In any case, who is this “introduction” meant for and what kind of “feminism” does it introduce? Who decides what parts of feminism are “introductory” and what parts can be absorbed and understood in greater depth later?
 
Anyone who reacts with these kinds of questions to an “introduction to feminism" must be ready to move beyond this book to further readings on the subject. They know that feminism covers a diverse and broad range of lives and movements, has rich histories of creativity in literature and art, and is concerned with a wide range of scholarship from philosophy to natural sciences. They know that the word “feminism” encompasses such diverse and fertile activities, and that there can never be a single “introduction” to feminism; that indeed feminism is inevitably heterogenous.
 
This person senses as well how impossibly difficult it is to give a single answer to the question, “What is feminism?”: the question itself has little meaning on its own. And paradoxically, this almost intuitive awareness is absolutely necessary if one ever wants to answer the question, “What is feminism?”
 
This book, therefore, does not offer a conclusive answer to the said question. It is of course possible to try and define feminism as, for example, efforts to broaden the possibilities of women’s lives. And yet, who are the “women” being referred to here? What exactly do the “possibilities of their lives” consist of? What, moreover, do you have to do to help broaden those possibilities, and whose lives benefit when you do so? And conversely, what actions will limit or completely close off the possibilities of whose lives?
 
Rather than attempting to come up with a single answer to the titular question, this book attempts to show “what feminism has done/ is doing” by demonstrating feminist discussions on various political, social, or cultural subjects. Tracing feminist debates and undertakings, with all the serious internal conflicts and contradictions, it hopes to help readers develop an initial understanding of “what feminism is”, and “what it has been trying to do”. The book, in other words, is meant to be a preliminary introduction giving the reader a feel for the subject. 
 
As the author, I can only hope the readers, with the initial “feel” for the diversity and heterogeneity of “feminism”, will go on to read other feminist books to further explore the subjects that most interest them.
 

(Written by SHIMIZU Akiko, Professor, Graduate School of Arts and Sciences / 2023)