The Daily JSTOR
Looks matter. Hairstyles, clothes, even movements and body language construct our identities, mark our social class, give hints about our group membership. Perhaps most obviously, our hair and clothes are often an expression of our gender.
What holds true today was also the case in pre-modern Japan. As the historian Gregory Pflugfelder observes, Edo Japan (1603-1867) was governed by strict rules on what hairstyles, clothes, and weapons could be worn by which gender, age, and social group. More than social conventions, some of these regulations were even enshrined in law. Clothes and hair expressed their wearer’s gender, with specific styles worn exclusively by men or women. However, gender roles in Edo Japan went beyond the dichotomy of male and female to include what is often referred to as a “third gender:” the Wakashu.