The thing about Japan is that they pride themselve on their so-called equality. They're proud to say, "we do not have any racism." Um, right. No racism. Right. They point out all the laws they have that 'protect' Japanese women, failing to realize that a law barring a woman from assuming the crown is kind of a BIG signal that women are not exactly equal to their male counterparts.
Think the US is bad about allowing female executives? Check out Japan. The glass ceiling in Japan is so thick, it's virtually bulletproof.
One terrible thing is the opposite side of the coin with the low birthrate. Sure, in a few decades, there will be a lot more women in the workforce (maybe) because they just don't have enough people but right now, the media calls it Japan's crisis and the reasons given are that WOMEN DON'T WANT TO MARRY. And that's it. They don't dissect why many women don't/won't marry anymore. They don't dissect the institutionalized sexism inherent in Japan's still-rigid social heirarchy that lead more and more women to singledom rather than marriage. They also don't discuss how single women are still ridiculed for being single and how they're being selfish for not contributing to the population. Right now, there is much subtle (and not-so subtle) encouragement for women to work, marry, and then retire so they can have kids. Many women don't make it up the corporate ladder because companies expect them to marry and expect them to have kids and naturally, they'll retire because no, a woman couldn't possibly have children AND a career.
The biggest crisis in the Imperial Family is (was) the lack of a male heir and they had Masako, a brilliant diplomat who'd studied at Harvard and Tokyo University. She could have really brought the Japan Imperial Family into the world spotlight as both forward-thinking and traditional. But they didn't. She's cloistered away, practically broken down by stress and worry and even Naruhito has criticised the Imperial Household Agency for their less-than-kind tactics to get her pregnant.
... =( rant-mode was still on, I see. Sorry about that!
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timeasmymeasure
no subject
Date: 2006-09-08 02:13 am (UTC)Think the US is bad about allowing female executives? Check out Japan. The glass ceiling in Japan is so thick, it's virtually bulletproof.
One terrible thing is the opposite side of the coin with the low birthrate. Sure, in a few decades, there will be a lot more women in the workforce (maybe) because they just don't have enough people but right now, the media calls it Japan's crisis and the reasons given are that WOMEN DON'T WANT TO MARRY. And that's it. They don't dissect why many women don't/won't marry anymore. They don't dissect the institutionalized sexism inherent in Japan's still-rigid social heirarchy that lead more and more women to singledom rather than marriage. They also don't discuss how single women are still ridiculed for being single and how they're being selfish for not contributing to the population. Right now, there is much subtle (and not-so subtle) encouragement for women to work, marry, and then retire so they can have kids. Many women don't make it up the corporate ladder because companies expect them to marry and expect them to have kids and naturally, they'll retire because no, a woman couldn't possibly have children AND a career.
The biggest crisis in the Imperial Family is (was) the lack of a male heir and they had Masako, a brilliant diplomat who'd studied at Harvard and Tokyo University. She could have really brought the Japan Imperial Family into the world spotlight as both forward-thinking and traditional. But they didn't. She's cloistered away, practically broken down by stress and worry and even Naruhito has criticised the Imperial Household Agency for their less-than-kind tactics to get her pregnant.
... =( rant-mode was still on, I see. Sorry about that!