Image of Woman in Japanese Popular Culture in the 2nd half of the 20th century

This thesis follows my previous studies of modern Japanese society and popular culture. I will especially focus on gender stereotypes, particularly negative stereotypes concerning women who refuse to bow to a substantial pressure from society endowed with a strong Confucian tradition. It was this very tradition - together with a foreign concept akin to the Western domesticity cult - what gave rise to the ideal of "good wife, wise mother" (rjósai kenbo), which at least in some form remains quite tangible even in contemporary Japanese society. One of the tasks this thesis wants to undertake is to describe how the negative stereotyping of women who stood in either conscious or natural opposition towards this ideal affected portrayal of women in Japanese popular culture (especially comics), which can be a very good perpetuator of all kinds of stereotypes. At the same time, I would like to find out whether it managed to partially subvert at least some of the negative images of women who refused to be good wives and wise mothers. Key words: gender stereotypes, Japan, popular culture, comics, rjósai kenbo, mang