Japanese Femininities by Justin Charlebois

Author:Justin Charlebois [Charlebois, Justin]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Social Science, Ethnic Studies, General, Women's Studies, Gender Studies, Regional Studies
ISBN: 9781135098308
Google: 7VptAAAAQBAJ
Publisher: Routledge
Published: 2013-08-15T05:21:39+00:00

Extract 5.3

48 Justin: So are you saying that some of your friends will continue to work after

49 marriage?

50 Ai: Yes they will. I'll also keep working if my work is rewarding.

51 Ayaka: As you'd expect, I get the feeling that it looks bad if you don't get married.

52 Ai: Recently, it seems that some people remain single because of their jobs. But

53 society doesn't accept the excuse that a woman's devotion to her work is the reason

54 why she's single.

55 Ayaka: People expect that a woman should at least marry.

56 Ai: On the other hand, once a woman gets married her colleagues start to think,

57 “aren't you going to resign?”

58 Ayaka: I would guess that's the environment of many workplaces because most

59 women resign after marriage rather than continue to pursue a career.

Due to the hegemonic influence of the male breadwinner and female caregiver discourses, working women are positioned as temporary employees who eventually resign and prioritize a domestic role. Ai draws on the “women as workers” discourse by claiming that she will continue to work after marriage (l. 50). However, her comment that she will continue working granted the job is rewarding, and the previous comment that she may not work for her entire life suggest that she will eventually embrace the full-time homemaker subject position (l. 23). Ayaka and Ai next collectively discuss society's negative view of permanently single women (ll. 51–4). The semantic implication of kekkon gurai ha ne (a woman should at least marry) is that marriage is a necessary, non-negotiable component of any woman's life course (l. 55). Their comments reflect the research finding that marriage and motherhood are considered necessary milestones in a woman's life and consequently the sine qua non of emphasized femininity (Borovoy 2005: 146; Kurotani, 2005: 16; Nemoto 2008: 223).

The dominance of the aforementioned discourses is further reflected in their discussion of the purported pressure that working women face to exit the workforce after marriage (ll. 56–9). Ai's use of intertextual voicing presents her claim as authentic and consequently increases its veracity (l. 57) (Holt 1996; Holt and Clift 2007). Ayaka not only supports but also extends Ai's claim to encompass most workplaces (ll. 58–9).

As discussed in Chapter 1, research has demonstrated that many workplaces are fundamentally opposed to employing women for the long-term, so working women are often victims of indirect pressure to resign after marriage or first pregnancy (Gottfried 2003: 265; Hidaka 2010: 117; Ogasawara 1998: 64). In addition to the practice of kata tataki (shoulder-tapping), many companies expect women to enman taisha (harmoniously separate) from the workplace once they become engaged (Holloway 2010: 187).

Extract 5.4 illustrates how social opinions can also impact the construction of one's gender identity:

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