Geography Reference
In-Depth Information
job in the eyes of society, but exactly because of that, the lecturer speculated,
'
they are freer from the need to seek social recognition as a way to ful
lment
'
.
He thought that while women who care for others bene
t from being socially
recognised and praised as
women, men are not credited for the same
caring activities and therefore have a tendency to see
'
good
'
as an
expedient to achieve something else. Moreover, as men are usually dependent
on their job to
'
caring for others
'
financially support their family, and emotionally for a sense of
self-worth, they are less likely to do anything that might a
ect their job
security. People who are less concerned with losing their job may be bolder.
For most of these female politicians, the lecturer speculated, if they lose their
seat in the next election, they simply go back to doing what they were doing
before, caring for their family, friends and the community.
Such gender patterns, this view that men, while status-superior, may be less
bold, echoed a concern that had been expressed to me by a female staff
member about male employees in Soka Gakkai. While herself a professional,
she said that some men are not particular experts in any
field and would
nd
it di
fired by Soka Gakkai. Men in
their role as breadwinners may be less willing to try anything new that could
potentially a
cult to
nd another job were they to be
ect their job; they easily grow conservative in outlook. On the
other hand, women tend not to stay long enough to become
'
bold
'
as most of
them
'
quit
'
their job upon marriage. This may a
ect a rather conservative
layer of employees. While this female staff
flux of
new women as a good thing for the organisation, as it brought in new opi-
nions, she was scathing about some of her male counterparts who continued
to work for the organisation despite having made some serious blunders. This
was at least partly because unless they were experts in some particular area
they would have found it di
member saw the continuous
ect on
the organisation cannot be denied even as such patterns are maintained out of
concern for their welfare; it cements a status quo attitude about how things
are done that at times makes the organisation, the core that is employed,
seemingly engaged in a bureaucratic work culture.
cult to
find another job. Yet the sti
ing e
Fathers, work and women
s roles 1
The above picture of men and women and what their jobs either as politicians
or otherwise mean to them re
'
ects an unsurprising perception of reality when
we consider typical gender-de
ned employment practices in Japan (Uno 1993;
Buckley 1997; Roberts 1994; Hunter 1993; Kelsky 2001). Women and men
tend to divide and gather (katamaru) according to gendered roles that play
out in many areas of social life
women are generally responsible for the
domestic realm, caring for children and relatives, and men for bringing in the
main income in the societal and public front of paid work.
-
'
Experiencing
'
and
'
c ways are of course not
unique to Japan. Feminist theorists such as Young (1990) have emphasised
how liberalism assumes homogeneity in its idea of universal citizenship, but
acting out
'
citizenship and politics in gender-speci
 
 
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