Opinion A broader perspective By Caroline Pover	フレームで見る  英文をプリントする  脚注をプリントする
化粧や洋服選びに時間をかけますか？ 「容姿より中身で勝負を」という文化の中で育てられる欧米の女性。 容姿を磨くためには 時間と金と努力を惜しまない日本の女性。 魅力的になりたいという気持ちは同じだが、 それぞれ反対のプレッシャーが働いている。

One of the differences between Western and Japanese culture is the attitude towards image and appearance, especially regarding women. This is something that foreign women can find difficult to deal with when they first come here.

A lot of foreign women have grown up in a culture where they are not encouraged to spend too much time thinking about their appearance, worrying about their clothes, or wearing too much makeup. This kind of attitude was considered to be one of the obstacles for women in the workforce and also in their private lives, as it was thought that it encouraged others to judge women by their appearance and not by their ability or personality. In Japan, however, women seem to spend a lot of time, energy, and money in taking care of their appearance, and people don't seem to think there is anything wrong with that.

So for a lot of foreign women, it is quite difficult for them when they first come to Japan, as they naturally want to feel feminine, but have found ways to feel and express their femininity that are not connected with their appearance. Of course, everybody likes to feel attractive, so foreign women often feel a bit confused about how they can feel attractive in a country that seems to encourage women to pay so much attention to their appearance.

When I first came to Japan I had my own period of confusion about this issue, and after a year or so, I found my own balance with this issue. I felt confident enough in myself that I knew I didn't need to be spending time thinking about my appearance, and I knew that the most important thing was what was on the inside. But I also found a certain freedom about appearance in Japan. As a foreign woman I felt less pressure than anyone to look a certain way! If I didn't wear any makeup or pay attention to my appearance it didn't matter, because everyone expected me to be different anyway! And if I spent lots of time on my appearance then nobody would judge me to be superficial like they would in my own country. I could do what I wanted without the pressure!

And it is fun to talk about this with your girlfriends. And because so many foreign women face the same challenges here, it is a popular topic for them to talk about. We can also learn a lot by talking to our Japanese girlfriends - many of my friends talk about the pressure they feel by having to pay so much attention to their appearance in Japan. Just as foreign women feel that they cannot pay too much attention to their appearance in their home countries, so many Japanese women feel they have to pay attention to their appearance in Japan!

We do a lot of events and workshops to help foreign and Japanese women in their professional and personal lives. Recently we'ｖe been starting to pay attention to their appearance too! And we have organized a series of makeup workshops and image consulting services for both Japanese and foreign women, which are very popular!

Like I said before, these things can be fun ways to bond with other women, and also a good opportunity to make friends with women from all over the world in a very realistic environment.

Shukan ST: July 30, 2004

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