Marriage and ‘singleness’ in modern society panel discussion

One of the main topics discussed by the panel was the judgement women feel from society when they aren’t married by a certain age. Photo by KALI HOFFMAN, Photo Editor

The panel featured a screening of “Arafo’s Challenge,” which focuses on a 37-year-old Japanese woman’s struggles

Megumi Matsushita came to the United States to study English. As she was going to school in Irvine, her friend and teacher thought they should make a documentary. “Arafo’s Challenge,” a documentary about Matsushita features her struggles on marriage and career life as a 37-year-old Japanese woman. 

“Originally, it started as a film about me going abroad, but as I started talking about myself to everyone, it became about women’s struggles,” Matsushita said. 

The Department of World Languages and Culture at Wilkinson College of Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences hosted a viewing of the documentary “Arafo’s Challenge,” in which 40 students, faculty and staff attended. In addition to the viewing of the documentary, the actresses involved and some female language professors from Chapman held a Q&A. Roxane Teboul, Laura Loustaua, and I-Ting Chao were among the professors at the panel. Yukari Aoi, Sharon Greenspan, and Megumi Matsushita were the panelists featured in the documentary.

The expectation in Japan is that a woman be married before 25 and with children before age 30, according to Matsushita. 

Matsushita struggled with the desire to have a career as an actress and the expectation as a Japanese woman that she should be married with children by her current age. Matsushita described how not only do her parents still impose this pressure on her, but friends and neighbors do as well.

In one particular interview with Greenspan, Matsushita became emotional as she confessed her desire for a family. Greenspan encouraged her and told her she still has time in her life for these things.

During the panel discussion, the women encouraged her for focusing on herself, travel and her patience for love. 

“No one—no man —will make you happy. You have to be happy in yourself first,” was a phrase repeated by several panelists throughout the event. 

The documentary is focused on Matsushita, but includes interviews with other men and women. She asks each of them about their experiences in the single life, marriage, divorce and motherhood. 

The different professors involved on the panel each share their varying experiences with relationships. Some are married, single or divorced. One main topic discussed by the panel was the judgement women feel from family members or others regarding marriage at a certain age. 

“I want to be in a good marriage, not just a marriage,” said Professor Polly Hodge, a Spanish professor at Chapman and panelist.

Recent generations of females and those coming after are experiencing greater degrees of independence, which is one reason the panel posited marriage rates as lower in recent years. 

Matsushita wants students and women everywhere “to be aware that Japanese women and women in other countries are suffering from this pressure.”