Two weeks ago, Japanese Princess Sayako gave up her title and all its priviledges to marry a commoner. In a fast tabloid media of misbehaving celebrities without merit, this story has stood out and intrigued me.
In a move reminiscent of Paris Hilton in "The Simple Life", Sayako has decided to leave a life of priviledge to join the common schmuck. She'll be shopping at a grocery store and washing clothes for the first time in her life, at the age of 36.
But unlike Paris, Sayako has made a commitment to commonality for life. From the looks of Sayako, she doesn't seem to hold divorce as a backup.
A crass American journalist has expressed amazement that Sayako would give up being waited hand and foot to serve a Tokyo bureaucrat. In contrast, I am amazed that Sayako has lived quietly for so long within the tight confines of the Imperial family. Weaker willed royals like Princess Stephanie of Monaco have broken out like cold sores, enjoying their money without feeling the responsibility. Sayako's sister-in-law, Crown Princess Masako, a former commoner, was so stressed by the pressures of royal duty that she took a year off from public appearances.
In a time when wealthy American princesses like Paris Hilton can do whatever they feel like without consequence (make a porno video? make a mockery of the working poor? why not?) it is perplexing that similarly wealthy Masako has not rebelled in any obvious way.
Masako has given up her part-time job as an ornithology researcher to become a housewife. Her submissiveness is nothing to aspire to, though it is probably a sensible decision on Masako's part to dedicate herself full-time to the coming culture shock. It is endearing to think of the former princess learning to wield a toilet brush in the privacy of her new one bedroom apartment, and not in the freak show arena of prime time television.
1 comment:
Not that it negates anything you've said really, but it's important to point out that Sayako is required by law to give up her nobility when she marries. Once she marries outside the family (say no to incest!) she has to give up her title.
It's still an interesting contrast - Sayako v. Paris is a nice way of putting it - but too many people are treating this like she really had a choice. She didn't.
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