1. Female Spirit Possession and Sexuality in Genji monogatari
Nolan Miller

2. Heian Court Background (794-1185)
Gender Inequality
“Marriage Politics”
Polygamist Society
Outlets of Frustration
Nikki
Monogatari
Fig. 2. The Rokujō Woman. (Hokusai)

3. Murasaki Shikibu (973?-1014?) Genji monogatari (1008)
Murasaki Shikibu’s interpretation of Heian court life
Protagonist Hikaru Genji
Genji monogatari as Social Commentary
Male sexual privilege through marriage politics
Women undermining male sexual power
Spirit Possession
Methods of Undermining Male Sexuality
Collective consciousness
Performativity
Fig. 3. Murasaki Shikibu. (Mitsuoki)

4. Collective Consciousness
Aoi and the Rokujō Lady
The Carriage Quarrel
Waka recitation
Newly found feminism
Fig. 4. The Rokujō Woman and Aoi no Ue. (Yumemishi)

5. Performativity Murasaki Akashi’s daughter’s adoption
Ideal image of a woman
Monogatari as means of escape
Fig. 5. Young Murasaki and Genji (link)

6. Spirit Possession Effectiveness
Does spirit possession outside of monogatari undermine male sexual privilege?
Fig. 5. Genji holding one of his consorts (link)

7. Works Cited
Bargen, Doris G. A Woman's Weapon: Spirit Possession in the Tale of Genji. University of Hawai’i Press, 1997.
Murasaki Shikibu, The Tale of Genji. Trans. Royall Tyler. Penguin Group, 2001.
Nickerson, Peter. “The Meaning of Matrilocality. Kinship, Property, and Politics in Mid-Heian.” Monumenta Nipponica, vol. 48, no. 4, 1993, pp. 429–467., Accessed 20 February 2017.

8. Thank You for Listening