Transforming Identities of Mature Japanese Women Studying in Higher Education Overseas : A Theoretical Framework Revisited

摘要

This article revisits the existing theoretical framework underpinning the study of transforming identities and perceptions of femininity of mature Japanese women studying in higher education overseas. A feminist, postmodern position on identity and concepts of self is taken, arguing that the self is socially, culturally and historically (re)constructed, unfixed and multidimensional. By looking at the seven key themes of the study's operational concepts, the theoretical framework attempts to link globalisation, higher education and re-creation of women's femininity and identity. The seven key themes are : i) globalisation, ii) higher education and the emergence of a new Japanese cosmopolitan woman, hi) postmodern identity, iv) empowerment and identities, v) femininity as 'performance', vi) 'performed selfVexpressed self, and vii) cultural hybridities and intentional unfixity of self. This article also provides a review of the relevant literature on the global mobility of Japanese women and the status of contemporary Japanese women in order to show the links between these seven operational concepts and the wider body of knowledge encompassed within literature dealing with identities and femininity of Japanese women. By revisiting the existing framework, I attempt to reapply it to a follow-up research focussing on reconstruction of identity and gender perceptions of young Japanese female exchange students overseas.