Readers in Council,
The Japan Times,
5-4, Shibaura 4-chome,
Minato-ku, Tokyo 108-0023
It seems to me that Sarah Mulvey (“Disheartening stereotyped role,” April 22) has completely mis-judged Tom Dillon’s column, writing style and even his personality when she complains about his April 7 East Marries West column “Texting in the proper context.” It’s quite possible, since she admits not to reading his column, in which case one might suggest that she cultivate a better acquaintance with what she critiques. At the very least she needs a better sense of humor. Dillon’s reflections on his international marriage and family, his and other foreigners experiences in Japan and his experience with Japanese people and foreigners simultaneously are habitually quite funny - both because of the familiarity that many of us longer-term residents recognize as well as the humble and usually self-deprecating way he describes them. There is more of Anpan Man about Tom Dillon than Charisma Man. In fact, I suspect he might even vie for Ultraman recognition, but settle for Anpan Man.
Published on Thursday, April 26, 2012 as “Columnist was misunderstood.”
As titles go, “Columnist was misunderstood” isn’t very exciting. I don’t choose the titles. The paper’s editor or editorial staff does that. In her April 22ndletter Sarah Mulvey sounded like a feminist who was just primed to go off at any provocation. I think Tom Dillon’s column and personality are not anti-feminist provocative and Mulvey’s reaction was unwarranted. If I was a misogynist myself I might accuse Mulvey of being hysterical about Dillon and his April 7thcolumn, “Texting in the proper context.”
The Sunday, April 29, 2012 letter “Dogma gets in the way of joke” by Donald Feeney of Fujisawa, Kanagawa Prefecture, agrees with my criticism of Mulvey and defense of Dillon. About Ms. Mulvey he wrote,“Mulvey’s gender-empowering dogma apparently prevents her from getting the joke,” and about Dillon’s column he said, “it was self-deprecating social satire.” Yeah.