| NOTA |
(★)(As a Japanese woman studying in the United States, I was often asked about the status of women in Japan : Is women´s role still primarily at home? What opportunities are there for working women in Japan? How do women office workers who serve tea and do simple assignments view their work? Have things changed in the last ten years? I was delighted to have the chance to talk about my native country, yet I wanted to give as accurate an account as possible. Initially I spoke of the intense sex discrimination in Japan. I described the severe obstacles women faced in establishing a professional career in a male-dominated society and how many women who had graduated from top universities ended up typing documents and serving tea in the office. Most Americans I talked to in university circles had heard of the male-biased career structure in Japan, and they did not seem surprised by my story. They might, however, ask : ´Is it really still like that?´ When I replied with an emphatic yes, my American friends responded with sympathy for Japanese women and wondered how these women can stand it. One person even wondered why more Japanese women did not emigrate to the United States. Many people I talked to had a preconception of Japanese women as gentle, shy, and obedient. My account seemed to tally with this image and confirm that Japanese women, submissive and deferential, were the victims of society. I began to feel uneasy and to state my argument less vigorously. Are Japanese women miserable' I wondered. Do they feel that they are victims of society? Are they really submissive and deferential to men? I was not sure. I was not even convinced that these women feel oppressed or are unhappy with their lot. I realized that I had given my American friends an impression of Japanese women that I myself did not believe to be entirely true. I changed the emphasis of my account. I mentioned that, despite being discriminated against, Japanese women have considerable say both at home and in the office. In addition to pointing out that among Japanese couples it is the wife who usually controls the family budget, I gave as an example the case of a married acquaintance of one of my Japanese friends. The husband rented a lovely condominium in a popular Hawaiian resort for his wife and eight-year-old son during their summer vacation, although he knew that he himself could not join them there. He had a promising career in one of the leading trading companies and was too busy to take time off. Summer in Tokyo happened to be especially hot and humid that year, and the husband had to sweat in the urban concrete jungle, while his wife relaxed by the sea. How are we to interpret the seemingly contradictory depiction of women´s status in Japanese society? How can the two conflicting views be reconciled? What makes it possible for women to enjoy autonomy despite their limited roles in the economy? What is the nature of their influence on men? Is it only at home that women exercise control? What about women´s voice in the public sphere? These questions are central to this book. [from ´Introduction´]) |
BASE de DATOS, Biblioteca del Centro Cultural de la Embajada de Japon
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