Actor Segawa Kikunojō in a Female Role c. 1784 - 1801

Editor: This is Katsukawa Shun'ei's "Actor Segawa Kikunojō in a Female Role," a woodblock print made sometime between 1784 and 1801. The figure is elegant and demure. What’s your take on this Ukiyo-e piece? Curator: It's fascinating to view this work through the lens of performativity and gender. Ukiyo-e prints, particularly those depicting actors, were essentially celebrity endorsements. But here, we see an actor, a male, embodying a female role. It begs the question: what does it mean to represent a representation? Editor: So, you're saying the image itself is layered? Curator: Exactly. Think about the social constraints of the Edo period. The Kabuki theatre, a popular form of entertainment, paradoxically prohibited women from performing. This led to "onna-gata," male actors who specialized in female roles. This print immortalizes not just a celebrity, but also this cultural performance of gender. Editor: I never thought about it like that. Is it subversive in any way? Curator: Perhaps subtly so. It normalizes, to some extent, the idea of gender as performance, even while operating within a highly structured and patriarchal society. By celebrating this specific actor renowned for his skill in playing female roles, Shun'ei highlights the artifice inherent in gender constructs. What do you make of the composition itself? The figure's downward glance and closed posture. Editor: Maybe it expresses the limits put upon women within that society. Curator: It’s an intriguing possibility. By prompting us to analyze these gendered portrayals and societal expectations within their historical and cultural contexts, artworks like this foster a more profound understanding of how identity is constructed and negotiated. Editor: I see this print in a completely different light now. Curator: As do I, thanks to your astute observations.