Why Japanese women are forbidden to appear at work wearing glasses
'14.11.2019'
Source: Air force
The hashtag “no glasses” (# メ ガ ネ 着 用 禁止) has become one of the most popular hashtags this week on social media in Japan. We are talking about the de facto ban on wearing glasses, which applies to employees in a number of companies.
The discussion about the prevailing practice in Japan unfolded in social networks after the broadcast of the Nippon TV storyline. It says that in many Japanese companies, employers force employees to abandon glasses in favor of contact lenses, even if there are medical contraindications to wearing the latter. According to employers, female employees with glasses seem less feminine and friendly. Air force.
Users of Japanese social networks were outraged by such discriminatory practices.
“It's pretty weird for men to be allowed to wear glasses, but not for women,” says Banri Yanagi, 40, a sales assistant at an insurance company in Tokyo.
“If wearing glasses at work is a real problem, then wearing glasses should be banned for everyone - both women and men,” writes actress Yumi Ishikawa, who authored a petition against requiring women to come to work in high heels. ... The petition was published on the Change.org platform, and by Friday evening more than 31 thousand people signed it.
“The problem with glasses is exactly the same as with high heels. This requirement applies only to women, ”says Yumi Ishikawa.
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Kumiko Nemoto, a professor of sociology at Kyoto University for International Studies, says the Japanese are against outdated rules.
“The reasons women are supposed not to wear glasses really don't make any sense. It's all about gender. This [not wearing glasses] is a rather discriminatory requirement, ”says Kumiko Nemoto.
The requirement to appear at work in heels but without glasses is a reflection of “old, traditional Japanese thinking,” she said.
“This requirement has nothing to do with the quality of work. The company wants female employees to look feminine. In their understanding, this is not consistent with the image of those who wear glasses, ”- emphasizes Kumiko Nemoto.
Supporters of maintaining an informal ban on glasses say glasses do not combine with traditional Japanese clothing.
Twitter user @wine_kimono works in a restaurant where she should wear a kimono. The employer told her that she should give up glasses and wear contact lenses, since glasses with a kimono look strange.
“What happens if your glasses fall on the food?”, “It's disrespectful to the visitor to look at him through glasses,” were the arguments of employer @wine_kimono in favor of not wearing glasses.
In March of this year, a campaign was launched in Japanese social networks against the requirement for employees to be in the office with makeup. At the beginning of the year, users of social networks were outraged by the fact that employees were required to come to work in high heels. With the filing of Yumi Ishikawa, the hashtag #KuToo, formed from the words kutsu (shoes) and kutsuu (pain), became similar to #MeToo.
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In June this year, a group of activists submitted a petition to the government demanding that employers be prohibited from forcing employees to come to work in high heels. Takumi Nemoto, then Minister of Health, Labor and Social Security of Japan, said in response that he did not see a problem.
According to him, this practice is fully supported by society.
“There is an understanding in society that [wearing high-heeled shoes] is a necessary and justified requirement at work,” said Takumi Nemoto, quoted by Kyodo Tsushin.
Ministry spokesman Ryutaro Yamagishi told Bloomberg news agency that the agency has not considered any changes to the rules regarding the dress code at work. He also said that he knew nothing about the hashtag "ban on glasses."
