Quoted: Holly on Interpretation of Culture

What I understand it really means in Japan, in my limited half-breed way: You should not emphasize your own individual excellence or difference over group harmony (wa, 和) to avoid resentment and dissension. Think about a sports team with a star player, one whose talent and skills stands out over everyone else. If that player were always trying to be the one to take the shot at basket, to score the goal, even if they statistically have the greatest likelihood of success, teamwork and the group dynamic suffers. The individual may be outstanding, but the group suffers. This is what’s trying to be expressed.

In some ways it’s similar to the concept of “hubris,” but without the divine element. There’s actually a pretty good discussion here, with examples from different cultures. The “tall poppy” of New Zealand, the “high trees catch much wind” or “sticking your head above the mowing field” in Dutch, or “if you move you won’t be in the picture” in Spanish.

All of these are a little different, of course. But I feel like none has been called out as an “essential descriptor” of a culture, at least in the US, as the Japanese example. And I believe that’s because of the “weird mirror” dynamic.

Some of these carry more of a “warning” dynamic ― hey be careful, you’re a target! And it can be used in Japanese that way too, which is maybe more popular now that the “prioritize the group above trumpeting your own merit” which is sort of an old fuddy-duddy thing. However, my mother wants me to say that in order to really understand what it means and the importance of this saying, you also need to grasp what wa (和, harmony) means in Japan (white guy tries to explain here) and also ’sekken’ (sp?) a word I don’t know. She claims that some article she wrote about this might be online some time soon, but doesn’t know how to find it, because she gets irritated with Google.

Atlasien and little mixed girl also commented on the dynamics around this proverb recently over at Racialicious on a post about the trans community in Japan, and the stereotypes of conformity.

If you read this long comment about hammering, thank you. It’s a bit of a tangent, but since it’s the metaphor of the post and important to me, I thought I should write it. It’s also really related ― for me at least ― to the kinds of white/POC/mixed-race dynamics that bint talks about. The simple “conformist” interpretation of the saying was taught to me by hegemonic American (i.e. white-centric) culture and white relatives as what the OTHER culture I was part of would do to me for being different. Because I was always different, the white side of my family positions itself as being very “different” and me more than the rest of them for being queer and trans, even when I was tiny. The idea was that although “oh no we wouldn’t want to say Japan is BAD per se,” special people would be taken care of properly in this country. (Yeah, right.) This really influenced my own relationship to Japanese culture when I went to live there at the age of 11, which is when I was feeling at a new peak of intense difference around race and gender especially, and like nobody could understand me. (Oh, adolescence.) So it’s taken me a long time to learn more nuanced lessons about it.

—”The Hammering,” Feministe

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