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男女は平等か
「日本で結婚して子どもを産み、家庭と仕事の両立を図るのはほとんど不可能だ」——大学で博士号まで取った筆者の知人女性はこう嘆く。
1985年に雇用機会均等法が成立したにもかかわらず、職場で女性に向けられる視線は、相変わらず古い社会規範に基づいているのではないだろうか?
Gender equality
One disturbing feature of Japanese society is the under-representation of women in the workplace. Although Japan has become a modern nation, the old social norm which stresses women should learn to self-cultivate the Confucian ideal of ryosai kenbo (good wife, wise mother) still has some validity.
Attitudes of male chauvinism still exist in some companies. Women employees are generally referred to as "office flowers" because of the emphasis many employers place on their physical appearance. As opposed to those duties designated for their male counterparts, "female" duties include copying, mailing, answering the phone, and serving tea.
The educated career woman does exist in Japan, but in lesser numbers than in other industrialized nations. There are some women executives in small businesses, but they are almost invisible in big corporations.
Pressured by the United Nations to eliminate all forms of discrimination against women, Japan passed the Equal Employment Opportunity Law in 1985. Japanese women have made some gains in the workplace ever since, however, they still lag far behind men in terms of job retention and career advancement.
Mariko, an acquaintance in her early forties, joined a big financial corporation in 1992, after graduating from a national university with a master's degree in labor relations. She hoped the law would fully protect her from inequity, but she was very disappointed. Like many other Japanese women, her promising career ended in 1999, when she got married and had a child. She was passed over for promotion after she started leaving work before 5 p.m. to take care of her son. Then, she was pushed into a dead-end clerical job. She got frustrated and finally quit.
"Japanese customs make it almost impossible for women to have both a family and a career," said Mariko, "Most Japanese still believe the priority for married women should be the home and family. Even though I was working full time, my husband and mother-in-law expected me to do all the housework." Indeed, this traditional mindset results in an M-curve of women participation in the Japanese workforce. Most Japanese women experience their peak participation in the workforce as full-time workers before marriage and then as part-timers after their children enter junior high school. In effect, this phenomenon prevents women from attaining equal opportunity in the workplace.
Acknowledging that there are differences between women and men, they do not determine the superiority of one group over the other. However, these differences have been, in most societies, not just in Japan, excuses for placing women in an inferior position. It would seem that a woman's biological capacity to give birth has relegated her, until fairly recently, almost exclusively to the home. Only when gender equality becomes a goal in the minds of the majority of Japanese citizens will gender discrimination more swiftly meet its demise. Without a new perspective on old social norms, the Equal Employment Opportunity Law will remain powerless against ingrained stereotypes.
- Gender
- 性
- disturbing
- 憂慮すべき
- under-representation
- 低く見られること
- norm
- 規範
- self-cultivate
- 自ら〜を深めようと努力する
- Confucian
- 儒教的な
- validity
- 正当性
- male chauvinism
- 男性優越主義
- As opposed to 〜
- 〜とは対照的に
- designated for 〜
- 〜に割り当てられた
- male counterparts
- 同僚の男性
- eliminate
- 〜をなくす
- Equal Employment Opportunity Law
- 雇用機会均等法
- have made some gains
- いくらか状況がよくなった
- lag
- 後れを取る
- job retention
- 仕事への定着度
- career advancement
- 昇進
- master's degree
- 修士号
- labor relations
- 労働関係
- inequity
- 不公平
- promising
- 前途有望な
- was passed over for promotion
- 昇進の機会を見送られた
- dead-end
- 将来性のない
- clerical job
- 事務職
- mindset
- 考え方
- M-curve
- M字カーブ(女性の年齢階級別労働力率の推移を表す)
- In effect
- 実質的に
- Acknowledging that 〜
- 〜は認めても
- has relegated
- 〜を格下げした
- demise
- 終焉
- perspective
- 考え方
- ingrained
- 染み付いた