Satchi

[Julie Turnock]

I'm glad this has been brought up, because the intense interest in the whole 
Satchi affair has mystified me.  I hope that others have insight on this.

Since I have been in Japan, I've been intersted in the love/hate fascination 
Japanese women have for "pushy women," both in the workplace (including 
mine) and in the media.  While men often dismiss (or worse) this outspoken 
kind of woman, many women I know are at the same time provoked by and 
envious of pushy womens' willingness to speak their minds strongly and 
without equivocation.  Since most TV media coverage of Satchi I've seen is 
on afternoon shows, it seems that the story plays most strongly to the 
middle-aged and older, non-working woman.  Perhaps the most interested 
people in this affair are those who don't feel able to exercise such 
strong-willed behavior, and are deeply interested in those who do and the 
consequences visited upon them.

Also what to think about the Satchi merchandising that goes along with this? 
  She's appearing as mobile phone mascots and stickers, along with other 
totems of high school girl life.  In what way are people buying these things 
identifying with her?

What has also surprised me, since I can't read Japanese well enough to 
follow it very well in Japanese papers myself, is how absent the issue has 
been in the English-language press.  From TV and Japanese friends, I 
understand how prevalent Japanese media coverage has been, but I've seen 
almost nothing in English about it.  Granted, I primarily read the Yomiuri, 
but why is it assumed that English-language readers will have NO interest in 
this issue?

Any other thoughts?

Julie Turnock
Hamamatsu, Japan


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