Beyond Modern - Insights Into "The Modern Girl as Militant"

Beyond Modern

Miriam Silverberg’s “The Modern Girl as Militant” looks at the development of the Modern Girl in Japanese society and attempts to identify reasons for the transgressions taken by these young women. The rise of the Modern Girl as a successor to the New Woman marked a transition of Japanese societal and political culture. Silverberg uses an assortment of anecdotal evidence to demonstrate the difficulty and ambiguity involved in not only defining the Modern Girl but also trying to uncover the Modern Girl’s motives.

The essay is split primarily into two sections: 1) identifying the Modern Girl; and 2) what did the Modern Girl do and why did she do it? In order to understand the actions and the reasons behind them, it is essential to recognize who the Modern Girl was, and what made her such. Silverberg begins her discussion by detailing the origins of the concept in media, but quickly the essay delves into various traits of the Modern Girl starting with the body and fashion. Identifying a key characteristic as the Modern Girl’s “short hair and long, straight legs”, this observation conveys a more objective sense to how the Modern Girl can be defined (242). However, any hope of quantitatively defining the Modern Girl quickly is discarded when more ambiguous qualities are examined. From her actions to her upbringing, the Modern Girl distinguished herself in society. Silverberg discusses how writers of the time perceived these unique attributes and the discourse between male and female writers regarding their individual takes on what each new identifying feature represented. Male writers focused more on the body, sexuality, and thereby promiscuity of the Modern Girl, attacking her while female writers rushed to defend their newfound heroine from double standards and other remnants of the old customs. Silverberg quickly frames the identity of the Modern Girl in questioning the gender norms of the time, sweeping it under a definitive yet...