Races and genders throughout the world have continued to fight for equality in the workforce however, in Japan; this may now prove to be bleak for Japan’s future. As Ivanka Trump is giving a speech about equality and harassment, Tulip Mazumdar is discussing how the Japanese are falling out of love with love and more so with their independence and individual success. While Mazumdar focuses on both genders in the discussion, one has to wonder if the focus is actually towards women more so than men.
While there have been multiple studies on how individuals, specifically women, can balance their work and family lives, many focus on the challenges that are faced. With the lingering belief that women should be home all the time taking care of the children and home, it is hard for them to continue in their career path to prove themselves and their worth within a company or organization. With the ever growing and rapid pace of more women in the workforce and focused on their personal future and success you have to wonder what will happen to what is supposed to be the next generation.
“Traditionally, the working husband and the stay-at-home housewife defined a Japanese family” (Mazumdar, 2017). With times continuing to change and more women going into the workforce than ever, this traditional culture is changing and the population is what may suffer. Nowadays, “the younger generation seeks more control over their lives” (Moran, Abramson, & Moran, 2014, p.438) and they would rather have their independence than some mediocre relationship. So what does all of this have to do with Japan’s population? Well, everything. As Muzumdar noted, they are a “generation almost refusing to procreate” (Muzumdar, 2017).
Ivanka Trump was recently in Japan giving a speech prior to her father, President Trump’s Asia tour, and specifically spoke with regards to “boosting equal participation in ‘traditionally male-dominated sectors of our economy’” (CITE). One would not necessarily think that Japan is one of those countries simply due to how eccentric and futuristic they are. Well, that is where you and your assumption are wrong. “Japan’s gender gap remains wide. The country ranked 114 out of 144 in the World Economic Forum’s 2017 Global Gender Gap report” (CITE).
So is the gender gap still an issue in Japan on purpose? Could it be that the gender gap still exists because of a drop in population? Japan thrives off of their population and so decreasing it tremendously could hurt them economically. One has to wonder what the government is thinking at this point and how they may handle the situation.
Resources
BBC News. (3 November 2017). Ivanka Trump discusses harassment in Japan. Retrieved from http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-41855443
Mazumdar, T. (13 Mar 2017). Shrinking Population: How Japan Fell Out of Love with Love. Retrieved from http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b07vndh1
Moran, R. T., Abramson, N. R., & Moran, S. V. (2014). Managing Cultural Differences (9th ed.). Oxford: Routledge.
As a person that daily works within the Japanese culture, I was intrigued with the quote “Traditionally, the working husband and the stay-at-home housewife defined a Japanese family” (Mazumdar, 2017).
Japanese men are offended and take deep disrespect for women bosses. As a stereotype, that I have run into, the men feel they know more and that their work should be valued higher than any women’s. I have been told my place is to go to the grocery store to fetch items for such employees. In meetings they present their information in curt, ” I am done” manners and do not fee that they have to relay to their female boss what was done.
However, I have seen that if the Japanese men are raised in a third generation this tactic is less used. As the world is more intwined the roles of male dominance are less important and the willingness to work as people and not male above female is less evident.