From: ritz@ritz.mordor.com (Christopher Mauritz)
Newsgroups: soc.culture.japan
Subject: Re: SEXISM IN JAPANESE WORKPLACE!!!!
Date: 21 Dec 92 01:59:47 GMT
Organization: Ritz International, Inc. -- Import/Export Consultants
X-Newsreader: TIN [version 1.1 PL6]

Kentaro Nakamichi (k3amichi@student.business.uwo.ca) wrote:
: cheung@CAM.ORG (Shirley Cheung) writes:
: 
: > I recently have read an article regarding to the Japanese work force. I
: > found out that SEXISM has become less of a tradition but rather has become
: > a serious social disease. Japaneses have greatly underestimated the power
: > of the other half of the population and it is very stupid that they hold a
: > sexist prejudice against this very powerful work force.
: > 
: > LESS THAN 3 % OF THE CORPORATE PROFESSIONAL JOBS ARE HELD BY WOMEN!!!!
: > What kind of society is that? We are in 1992, aren't we? If the Japanese
: > businessmen think that this is a tradition, then I should say "it is a
: > tradition of Japanese to deprive womens' right!!!!<--------haha, what kind
: > of traditon is that????
: > 
: Prejudice will not end soon.  3% actually sounds like a high figure to 
: me.  At Shiseido, which is supposed to be one of the friendliest firms 
: for women, 70% of the workplace is female, yet only 2% of the upper 
: managerial ranks are occupied by women.

I agree that 3% seems overly generous.  In my company, a bank, we have
4000 employees worldwide and represent one of the top 10 banks (in asset
size) in the world.  As far as I know, there is only *1* woman involved
in management and at a very low level (vice president in a foreign branch).

We often hear complaints about how unfairly Japanese treat foreigners, but
just be thankful you are not a Japanese woman.  They have at best a bleak
prospect of gaining any measure of financial/social independence.  It is
no wonder that record numbers of educated Japanese women are coming to
the US to study and work.  There are always a few who start out in my
company (in New York), realize that the conditions are the same as in
Tokyo, and then go to an American firm.

: There are distinct career paths for men and women, and a prevalent notion 
: that a women who is too educated is to be avoided.  For men, the ideal 
: career path is 4 years at university followed by lifetime work at a big 
: name company.  For women, it is expected that they will go to college 
: (tandai) for 2 years, start working as an OL and quit after 5 years by 
: getting married with a man within the firm.  In some cases, women are 
: used as a means to attract men into the firm.  Try to get a copy of 
: Dentsu's recruitment ad "The Working Girl".  It has a picture of a woman 
: with various references like:
:         "her hair is beautiful"
:         "beautiful legs are muscular from meeting sponsors and directors"
:         "has enough brains to give the appearance of intelligence"
: Needless to say, it gets a lot worse than this.

Yes, it is shameful.  I have heard more than one manager at my company
complain to the director of personnel that they should hire more
"American looking" women...i.e. bigger boobs and blonder hair.

: Some changes are occurring as foreign firms are capitalizing on the 
: situation by hiring lots of well-qualified women, but change will be 
: slow.  

Yep, I hired a very talented Japanese woman who was studying for her
MBA in the US.  I recommended *twice* that she be promoted to an 
officer position, but each time I was approached by a group of Japanese
Deputy General Managers (what exactly that title means is a mystery to
me...my guess is "he's over 35") and told that it would "set a bad
precedent and that the "girl" wasn't qualified.  I eventually ended
up recommending her to a friend of mine at Goldman Sachs and she
now probably earns 2-3 times the salary of those DGM's.

: The above is the situation for Japanese women.  Foreign women are treated 
: as foreigners, not as women.

True, but they will almost always prefer to DEAL with a foreign male.
Foreign females in authority are tolerated, but when it comes to negotiating
they will ask for a male.

: If anyone is interested in the Dentsu ad as well as some other facts 
: about the situation, try digging up copies of Newsweek around June or 
: July.  There was one article that dealt with these issues.

I would be interested in seeing the Dentsu ad.  Kindly contact me
so that we can arrange mail/fax/something. :)

Cheers,

Chris

--
Christopher Mauritz                 | My views reflect those of my
ritz@ritz.mordor.com                | company since I own the company.
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