Gender Roles in Japan
In Japan, women and men have very different culture between the two of each other, just like any other country in the world. Though, as the years go on you can see changes in how the men and the women of Japan are looked at by other citizens there.
In about the 12th century women were allowed to inherit and own property of their own, but that right was later taken away in the 1603-1868 A.D. and made it to the men of the family were the only ones to obtain property(Kumar,2011). It seemed like back then in those days the families and women with the higher social rank were more restricted to these were as opposed to the peasants which the women were more independent and didn’t necessarily have to abide to those rules. Men were in charge of the household and what he says goes. They were looked up to from the family as superior.
In the early 18th century women started being placed in the workforce because of the turn to industrialization Japan took(Gurtov,1998). Though since they began to have the opportunity to work, the conditions that they had to face were very unhealthy and not safe for them, they were paid unfairly with the men getting higher wages than the women and their independence within the community was still very limited.
In the 1920’s-30’s women were looked at just “baby makers” you could say. There was a rise in Japanese nationalism, which meant they needed more soldiers for the country so the slogan "UMEYO! FUYASEYO!", which means “give birth and multiply” was brought around(Kumar,2011). The government was happy that the women can do this more them and applauded them for it. While this baby boom was going on women were still looking for more ways they can obtain more rights for themselves by campaigning.
After the war Japan wrote a new constitutuion, which gave the men and women equal rights on property and voting. They also got the right to divorce their spouse and be able to take the custody of their children, which they weren’t allowed to until then. Though, these women were allowed to be apart of the workforce they were still had the responsibility of taking care of all the housework and taking care of the children so many of the women stopped working until all their children was in school and taken care of when they had the chance to work(Gurtov, 2011).
In today’s society men are looked at as he is the bread winner of the family, working all day and performing approx. 30 minutes of house work and the women are expected to take care of the children and the housework that needs to be done(Smith, 2008). Though, now men and women have equal rights, its still how it was 60 years ago, with a little alteration. You can see more women today in politics and in universities getting their degree of their dreams. Also more women are working in companies and factories. It’s not uncommon to see these Japanese women succeeding in their country which is a great thing!
Citations:
Gurtov, D. (4, April 2011). Transformation of female gender roles in japan. Retrieved from http://davegurtov.hubpages.com/hub/JapaneseFemaleGenderRoles
KUMAR , V. (26, June 2011). Japanese views on gender. Retrieved from http://expertscolumn.com/content/japanese-views-gender-roles
Smith, J. (2008, April 21). Japanese views on gender 2. Retrieved from http://www.helium.com/items/1009837-japanese-views-on-gender-roles
Friedman , S. (1992, December). The changing roles of women in japan. Retrieved from http://www2.gol.com/users/friedman/writings/p1.html
In Japan, women and men have very different culture between the two of each other, just like any other country in the world. Though, as the years go on you can see changes in how the men and the women of Japan are looked at by other citizens there.
In about the 12th century women were allowed to inherit and own property of their own, but that right was later taken away in the 1603-1868 A.D. and made it to the men of the family were the only ones to obtain property(Kumar,2011). It seemed like back then in those days the families and women with the higher social rank were more restricted to these were as opposed to the peasants which the women were more independent and didn’t necessarily have to abide to those rules. Men were in charge of the household and what he says goes. They were looked up to from the family as superior.
In the early 18th century women started being placed in the workforce because of the turn to industrialization Japan took(Gurtov,1998). Though since they began to have the opportunity to work, the conditions that they had to face were very unhealthy and not safe for them, they were paid unfairly with the men getting higher wages than the women and their independence within the community was still very limited.
In the 1920’s-30’s women were looked at just “baby makers” you could say. There was a rise in Japanese nationalism, which meant they needed more soldiers for the country so the slogan "UMEYO! FUYASEYO!", which means “give birth and multiply” was brought around(Kumar,2011). The government was happy that the women can do this more them and applauded them for it. While this baby boom was going on women were still looking for more ways they can obtain more rights for themselves by campaigning.
After the war Japan wrote a new constitutuion, which gave the men and women equal rights on property and voting. They also got the right to divorce their spouse and be able to take the custody of their children, which they weren’t allowed to until then. Though, these women were allowed to be apart of the workforce they were still had the responsibility of taking care of all the housework and taking care of the children so many of the women stopped working until all their children was in school and taken care of when they had the chance to work(Gurtov, 2011).
In today’s society men are looked at as he is the bread winner of the family, working all day and performing approx. 30 minutes of house work and the women are expected to take care of the children and the housework that needs to be done(Smith, 2008). Though, now men and women have equal rights, its still how it was 60 years ago, with a little alteration. You can see more women today in politics and in universities getting their degree of their dreams. Also more women are working in companies and factories. It’s not uncommon to see these Japanese women succeeding in their country which is a great thing!
Citations:
Gurtov, D. (4, April 2011). Transformation of female gender roles in japan. Retrieved from http://davegurtov.hubpages.com/hub/JapaneseFemaleGenderRoles
KUMAR , V. (26, June 2011). Japanese views on gender. Retrieved from http://expertscolumn.com/content/japanese-views-gender-roles
Smith, J. (2008, April 21). Japanese views on gender 2. Retrieved from http://www.helium.com/items/1009837-japanese-views-on-gender-roles
Friedman , S. (1992, December). The changing roles of women in japan. Retrieved from http://www2.gol.com/users/friedman/writings/p1.html
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