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Selfie, February 10, 2024, by Livvie Suh
Writing (Sho)
Writing (Sho)
by Livvie Suh
Underestimated. I always knew that as a woman and a person of color, I would consistently be considered lesser than. At the mere age of 18, the thought of entering the corporate business industry with this set social structure was a daunting prospect. I will walk in automatically earning 84 cents to a man’s dollar and face gender discrimination to some extent (Haan). That is the expectation and impression I had growing up, so being hyper-aware of my disadvantages rather than my strengths was all I have ever known. I would only focus on what I was doing wrong and how people would perceive that failure rather than realizing that failing is a part of the process in any activity I partake in. That is until I saw Utagawa Toyoharu’s Japanese woodblock color painting, Writing (Sho), at the University of Michigan Museum of Art (“Writing (Sho)”).
After entering the UMMA’s Japanese art exhibit, Utagawa Toyoharu’s beautiful, pale-toned woodblock painting of three women caught my attention. This peaceful scene centralizes one woman attentively writing with a calligraphy brush. The painting depicts a calm scene with flowing streams and flowers in a presumed residence. The two other women intently observe this as a regular glimpse of daily life. Utagawa contradicted my expectations of how people viewed women in education, which I needed that day. I felt particularly uninspired after receiving a subpar grade on a class assignment I worked hard on. I assumed that women showing power through writing were abysmal and unnormalized. However, most of the famous authors in Japan were women like Murasaki Shikibu and Sei Shonagon (UMMA). Unlike many Western countries, Japan normalized women's writing and power of influence through education (UMMA).
Writing (Sho), February 10, 2024, by Livvie Suh
UMMA selfie, February 10, 2024, by Livvie Suh
Upon a deeper dive, I learned that women utilized, created, and contributed to the Kana writing system in the Heian period. In particular, noblewomen who were untrained in standard Chinese character writing developed kana as a means of personal communication and literature. By the 10th century, Kana became the “backbone of a female-dominated literary culture” (The Guardian).
Utagawa pioneered the ukyiuo-e (floating world) woodblock print art tradition (The Met). In this genre, women are portrayed as Bijin-ga, also known as beautiful women who serve the ideal female image. Creating woodblock prints involves a deliberate process. The artist designs on paper and then pastes their work onto a cherrywood block for the carver to carve out the negative space. Then, the printer and publisher work to produce the final image, which is mass-produced. In the Edo period, many woodblock prints frequently depicted courtesans and Kabuki actors in the entertainment district (Romanowicz). Utagawa, who founded the well-known Utagawa School of Art, made intentional choices in his subjects. His artworks were typically known for his symmetrical uki-e pictures that exude a sense of depth (The Met). Utagawa’s decision to show a scene of women empowerment and a casual showcase of creativity in intelligence inspired me. I, too, should view my strengths as parts of what makes me who I am - a woman.
Observing the artwork gives me the courage to create and the confidence to lean into academics with less fear of being underestimated due to gender-based stereotypes. Utagawa’s choice of subjects makes me look more inward, having me focus on my strengths and strong qualities as natural parts of who I am. I should be proud to have the ability to understand my skills and carry my confidence. Women in 10th-century Japan could create entire systems of writing despite expectations. In that case, I too, can proudly express my passion for learning and education through time, just like the women in Utagawa’s woodblock art.
Works Cited
Dearnley, Elizabeth. “Saving ‘Woman Hand’: The Artist Rescuing Female-Only Writing.” The Guardian, Guardian News and Media, 26 June 2019, www.theguardian.com/books/2019/jun/26/saving-woman-hand-the-artist-rescuing-female-only-writing.
Department of Asian Art. “Woodblock Prints in the Ukiyo-e Style.” In Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2000–. http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/ukiy/hd_ukiy.htm (October 2003)
Haan, Katherine. “Gender Pay Gap Statistics in 2024.” Forbes, Forbes Magazine, 1 Mar. 2024, www.forbes.com/advisor/business/gender-pay-gap-statistics/#:~:text=Women%20earn%20an%20average%20of,for%20every%20dollar%20men%20earn.
Suh, Livvie. Writing (Sho). 10 Feb. 2024. Author's personal collection.
Suh, Livvie. Selfie. 10 Feb. 2024. Author's personal collection.
Suh, Livvie. UMMA selfie. 10 Feb. 2024. Author's personal collection.
Romanowicz, Beata. “Manifestation of the Kabuki Actors’ Gender in Woodblock Prints of the Edo Period.” Argument: Biannual Philosophical Journal., vol. 5, no. 1, 1 June 2015, pp. 127–134. EBSCOhost Central & Eastern European Academic Source, web.p.ebscohost.com/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?vid=0&sid=143a90f6-4410-4b04-85a2-31811cc34eba%40redis. Accessed 24 Mar. 2024.
Toyoharu, Utagawa. “Writing (Sho).” Late 18th century - Early 19th century. Color woodblock print on paper. University of Michigan Museum of Art, Ann Arbor.
“Writing (Sho).” UMMA, Ann Arbor,
https://umma.umich.edu/objects/writing-sho-1948-1-172/. Accessed 24 Mar. 2024.
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