Potential

One of the things that I have found to be the most worrisome in the culture of Japan, and especially with the younger children, is that society treats women as second-class citizens. However, there have been some strides currently- a few female principals and some female politicians, and very few if almost negligible female CEO's- females are far from having a sense of equality with men.

              One glaring example in my experience in this is just how kids in classes act and respond to questions. When I ask a question, I usually only get a few students raising their hands, and they are usually male. In elementary schools, during songs in a large class, the girls almost seem a little marginalized by the large personalities of the male students. When we sometimes split the chants or songs up into male and female parts, the boys are enthusiastically saying it; however, when it is the girls’ turn, you can barely get a peep out of then. Though I will admit my experiences are very small, and in the smaller schools and classes with less than 40 students or so in the entire school, the females and males respond for the most part equally. This does not go without saying that there is a certain feeling that only males can lead and dominate things here in Japan.

              There are usually males in the leading roles of most companies and public establishments. There is usually without fail in an office setting a female secretary, and a so-called “tea lady.” Japan is a tea culture, and as expected when any office would have a visitor, the “tea lady” serves drinks to them right away.

             

I feel profoundly sad that some girls will never think about the things that they could do because the careers they might aspire to do are male dominated. I am very concerned for all the extremely quiet and melancholy girls- and a couple boys- that I encounter and I worry about their emotional well-being. If there is one thing that I could do, I would like to inspire some confidence and pride in themselves. Many students will barely utter responses above a whisper when I call on them -I call upon them because I cannot always wait for the same two or three individuals to answer the questions in class all the time- because they have little to no self-confidence. This happens in both sexes, but it is painfully so in females. However, I will admit that this stems from a cultural norm never to stick out and to never put yourself above your peers.

              Some people-mostly conservatives and the religious types- would argue against the dissolution of “gender” and against “gender equality.” They say that men and women are fundamentally so different that their roles in society have been decided upon, and as such, must stay the same under threat of the downfall of civilization all together. Now, beyond this proposition being merely laughable at first glance, I wonder whether this statement has any validity. I am personally for the dissolution of some gender norms and gender stereotyping. The only time that gender should really come up is with regard to procreative coitus, it is not concerned with the matter of non-procreative coitus-which many more people I would say engage in that strict procreative coitus. Otherwise, gender, I feel, has not strong bearing on the abilities of an individual. I ask what the real danger in treating everyone- male, female, and all the other possibilities- the same and only judging them based on their potential and skills. If a woman is able to repair cars than another man around her can, then why not let her. If a man is a better skilled nurse then the women around him, then what harm is there in allowing them to do so? There is masculinity and femininity in all things, and it does not merely rely upon the gender of the individual as to whether or not they possess either feature.

              No one group or people should be treated as a second-class anything in this day and age. Judging based on race gave humanity slavery, judging based on religion gave humanity in a broad sense war. Why must we judge people based on what they are, and not on what they can do?