Intimate disconnections : divorce and the romance of independence in contemporary Japan / Allison Alexy.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Alexy, Allison, author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Marriage--Japan.

Marriage.

Divorce--Japan.

Divorce.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (248 p.) : 6 halftones, 2 tables

Place of Publication:

Chicago, Illinois : University of Chicago Press, 2020.

Language Note:

In English.

Summary:

"For centuries, women have been expected to endure bad marriages. When divorce did happen, it was most often on the husband's initiative. Now, not only in the West but around the world, people who never thought seriously about divorce are fantasizing about it. Others are newly anxious that their spouses might leave them. Intimate Disconnections tells the fascinating story of what happens when a society that conceives of itself as being grounded in heterosexual marriages comes under sudden stress. Japan is one such society in profound transition-these days one of three marriages will end in divorce, a stunning rise from just a few decades ago. As men and women consider divorce, or work to avoid it, they face questions about the risks and possibilities intimate relationships bring: How can people be intimate without becoming suffocatingly close? How should couples build meaningful, loving, or supportive relationships when older models for behavior no longer feel feasible? What styles of intimacy most benefit society? What do you do, legally and socially, when you just can't take it anymore? Relating the intensely private stories from people experiencing different stages of divorce, this book provides a rich ethnography of Japan that also speaks more broadly to contemporary visions of love and marriage as neoliberal values are prompting wide-ranging transformations in bedrooms across the globe"-- Provided by publisher.

Contents:

Introduction: Freedom and Anxiety

The Beginning of the End

Japan's Intimate Political Economy

Tips to Avoid Divorce

Legal Dissolutions

Constructing Mutuality

Families Together and Apart

Living as an X

The Costs of Divorce

Bonds of Disconnection

Conclusion: Endings and New Beginnings.

Notes:

Description based on print version record.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

This eBook is made available Open Access under a CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 license: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0 https://www.degruyter.com/dg/page/open-access-policy

ISBN:

0-226-70100-X

OCLC:

1163878902