More crucially, this way of writing (and thinking) blinds people to where Okuni was coming from. If you think she invented popular culture, the roots of Edo period popular culture will go unexamined and unappreciated. That represents the loss of a learning opportunity, so no matter how rich Kabuki was/ is in culture, we’re still losing the context of it. That just won’t fly with me.

I got the feeling the article was putting down the way of the masses as “rude” and “bawdy”. The way most aristocracies treat the masses qualifies as “rude” and “bawdy” too. So I guess that low wasn’t too low for the “upper class” back then either.