Japan's Working Women: Tradition versus Equality
Faculty Information
Robert Andolina | Course: INST 4960 | Project-in-progress
Presentation Type
Individual
Presentation Format
Oral presentation
Start Date
10-5-2024 2:00 PM
End Date
10-5-2024 3:00 PM
Abstract or artist statement
For decades, women in Japan have advocated for increased women's rights and increased support in entering the work force in Japan. However, due to cultural restraints such as Confucian values, Uchi-Soto, and gendered spheres of labor, it has been difficult to increase women's rights without compromising traditional ideals. As more women needed to enter the workforce in the 1990s due to economic circumstances, women's rights in the workplace have become increasingly called into question. By examining workplace environments and state policies such as the Equal Employment Opportunities Law (EEOL), the Basic Law for Gender Equality, and Womenomics, this paper explains why Japanese women's labor is viewed primarily as disposable. These policies superficially promote women's rights and gender equality, but regard women mainly as resources for economic development or as bedrocks of marriage and family. The failure of traditional government and popular approaches to women's work needs to be addressed because it inhibits the crossing of gender spheres and maintains wide disparity between men and women.
Keywords: Japanese women, gendered sphere, gendered division of spheres, women's rights, state intervention, gender equality, office lady/ladies (OL), temporary workers
Japan's Working Women: Tradition versus Equality
For decades, women in Japan have advocated for increased women's rights and increased support in entering the work force in Japan. However, due to cultural restraints such as Confucian values, Uchi-Soto, and gendered spheres of labor, it has been difficult to increase women's rights without compromising traditional ideals. As more women needed to enter the workforce in the 1990s due to economic circumstances, women's rights in the workplace have become increasingly called into question. By examining workplace environments and state policies such as the Equal Employment Opportunities Law (EEOL), the Basic Law for Gender Equality, and Womenomics, this paper explains why Japanese women's labor is viewed primarily as disposable. These policies superficially promote women's rights and gender equality, but regard women mainly as resources for economic development or as bedrocks of marriage and family. The failure of traditional government and popular approaches to women's work needs to be addressed because it inhibits the crossing of gender spheres and maintains wide disparity between men and women.
Keywords: Japanese women, gendered sphere, gendered division of spheres, women's rights, state intervention, gender equality, office lady/ladies (OL), temporary workers