The father is an absolute ruler. There is in Old
Japan hardly any such thing as "parents," for practically there is only
one parent, as the woman counts for little. The wife is honored if she
becomes a mother, but if childless she is very probably neglected. Our
idea of fatherhood implies that the child has rights and that he should
love as well as be loved. Our customs excite not only the merriment but
even the contempt of the old-school Japanese. The kiss and the embrace,
the linking of the child's arm around its father's neck, the address on
letters "My dear Wife" or "My beloved Mother" seem to them like
caricatures of propriety. On the other hand, it is undoubtedly true that
in reverence toward parents--or at least toward one of the parents--a
Japanese child is apt to excel the one born even in a Christian home.
This so-called filial "piety" becomes in practice, however, a horrible
outrage upon humanity and especially upon womanhood. During centuries
the despotic power of the father enabled him to put an end to the life
of his child, whether boy or girl.
Under this abominable despotism there is no protection for the daughter,
who is bound to sell her body, while youth or beauty last or perhaps for
life, to help pay her father's debts, to support an aged parent or even
to gratify his mere caprice.
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