Gender Issues from an Outsider Psychologistʼ
s Perspective
Rhoda Unger

ローダ・ケスラー・アンガー教授は、1966年にハーバード大学（米国）より実証
心理学で Ph.D.を取得後、モントクレア大学などで長年教鞭を取り、現在はブランダイス大学女性学研究センター研究員（Resident Scholar, Womenʼ
s Studies）を務めている。アンガー教授は、1
970
Research Center, Brandeis University
年代初期のフェミニズム興隆に積極的に関わり、心理学の分野へのジェンダー概念の導入の重要性を訴え、社会的に構築される性差という社会学的視座を実証心理学に積極的に採り入れた。
アンガー教授の主な著書には Representations: Social Constructions of Gender (1989年)、 Women and Gender:A Feminist Psychology（1992年）、In Our
Own Words: Readings on Women and Gender (1997年）、フェミニスト心理学の展開の歴史を自己内省的に分析した Resisting Gender: Twenty‑Five Years of、また編著として A Handbook on the Psychology
Feminist Psychology (1998年）
of Women and Gender (2001年、邦訳『女性とジェンダーの心理学ハンドブッ
ク』2004年）等がある。
本稿は、外国人客員教授としてジェンダー研究センターに赴任された際（2004年６月）のご経験をもとにご寄稿頂いた。
Before I traveled to Japan as a visiting professor at the Institute for Gender Studies ofOchanomizu University, I studied some of the statistics about the relative position of women andmen in Japan. These statistics are easily available in English on the web and are quite disturbing
from a feminist perspective (see, for example, http://www.gender.go.jp/women2001/s1.html;
http://www.sg.emb‑japan.go.jp/JapanAccess/women.html;
http://www.gender.go.jp/english‑contents/women2004/statistics/s‑index.html). I found that:
Salaries for Japanese women are on average about 65 percent ofthat oftheir male co‑workers.
This is one of the largest gender gaps in the industrial world.
The gender discrepancy is most prominent among wage earners in the 7 million yen per year
bracket, which is considered the benchmark for guaranteeing an independent lifestyle.
Only 3% of women, compared to 24.4% of men, earned this recommended salary.
Japan ranks 41 on the Gender Equality M easure (GEM ),a measure developed by the United
Nations that assesses womenʼs participation in society. The index uses four criteria ‑the ratioof seats women hold in parliament,the ratio of female administrators and managers,the ratioof female professionals and technical workers and the income women earn.
Women hold only about 9% of managerial positions (compared to about 45% in the U. S.).
Female candidates in the House of Representatives accounted for 14.4% of all candidates and19

Rhoda Unger Gender Issues from an Outsider Psychologistʼ
s Perspective

7.3% of those elected in the June 2000 general elections.
Women comprise 6.8 percent of the membership of local assemblies and 6.4 percent of those inlocal prefecture government.
These are economic and political indicators of womenʼ
s lower status in society as compared
to men. As a psychologist, I was more interested in data on social relationships and realities.
The data that most interested me were those on the relationship between the family and work
roles of women and men. Some of the facts I found in this area were also disturbing (see, forexample, Curtin, 2002;Survey on Time Use and Leisure Activities. 2001):
A report by the prime ministerʼs office noted that Japanese men spend less than half an houra day on child‑rearing and household chores,even when their wives work. In contrast,womenin full‑time employment spent 3 hours and 18 minutes per day on household chores.
While Japanese women account for only35 percent ofpaid working hours,the report said,theyshoulder more than half of the total work of society when unpaid housework is included.
Japanese women are largely responsible for the care of elderly parents in a society where theaverage lifespan for women is almost 85 years and that of men is more than 79 years.
However, the most serious problem related to gender confronting Japan today is the sharp
decline in its birth rate. This problem was frequently discussed by both the media and mycolleagues during my stay. In 2004,the average number of births per woman was 1.29. This figure
is lower than those of any other country in the developed world (Head,2003). This low birth rate
is produced in part by womenʼ
s postponement of marriage and child birth. The divorce rate has
also risen sharply and many more women are choosing to remain single. Conservative estimatessuggest that more than one woman in four over age thirty is single (Curtin,2003). However,somenewspapers report a much larger figure: “The percentage of women in their late twenties who
have not married has risen from 30 to about 50 in the last 15 years”(Tolbert, 2000).
These statistical data only tell us what women do,but not why they do it. As a feminist social
psychologist, I am interested in the question of how social, economic, and political inequalities
influence individual choice and behavior. I know, however, that people are not always aware of
the situational context that influences their behaviors. Indeed, people often deny situational
influences when explaining their own behavior although they may recognize such factors when
explaining the identical behavior in others. This is known by social psychologists as the “fundamental attribution error.”
When I returned to the United States, I found myself wondering whether as an outsider inJapan, I might be in a good position to understand the way situational variables have influenced
young womenʼ
s choice to remain single and childless. What have Western feminist researchers
learned that may help understand these behaviors? One important factor is the great inequality
between women and menʼs work and family roles. But, I have also identified a number of othersocial psychological phenomena that I believe are related to the decline in childbearing. These
include sex segregation at many levels of Japanese society;attitudes about intensive mothering;20

ジェンダー研究 第８号

2005

attitudes about the integration of work and family roles,and the problems of individualism within
a communal society.
Unfortunately,there is not a linear relationship between these psychological and socio‑structural phenomena. Instead, attitudes and behaviors both reflect and construct gender inequities.
Neither society nor psychology can be changed in isolation from each other.
The presence of a large number of single and childless young women in Japan represents a
fascinating psychological puzzle in terms of both antecedents and consequences. In the rest of thispaper I will identify some of the psychological factors that appear to influence womenʼ
s choices todelay marriage and childbearing and discuss the consequences of such decisions on womenʼsattitudes and behaviors. I will also discuss the implications of their choices for society as a whole.
And,finally,I will discuss briefly whether these psychological factors are unique to Japan or may
be predictive of social trends in other developed countries.

Sex segregation in all aspects of society
One of the aspects of Japanese society that is most noticeable to a Western observer is theextent to which it is sex segregated. Males and females seem to exist in two different spheres.
Some of this separation is due to the definition of appropriate gender roles. Although gender roles
were also dichotomized in the United States before the so‑called feminist revolution of the 1970s,
the definition of work and family roles as male and female domains is much sharper in Japan today
than it is in the United States and other developed countries. This is due, in part, to the cultureof its work world. Traditional Japanese employment patterns mandate long hours,unpredictabletransfers to other cities, and the expectation of social activities after work with oneʼs fellow
workers which exclude spouses or partners.
Most of these fellow workers are male because changes in the sex distribution of positions inbusiness have been slow. Few women are on career tracks because of norms involving seniority
and life time employment, the lingering impact of protective legislation that “protected”womenfrom night shifts and overtime, and stereotypes about the roles of women in the work force.
Women are still frequently employed as “office ladies”who do clerical work,serve tea,and have
limited chances of promotion. Thus,women and men have little opportunity to develop informal
relationships at work or to become friends with each other.
This pattern of sex segregation begins early. Even when they attend mixed sex schools,
children tend to remain in same sex groups for sports and leisure activities. Even when myhusband and I saw teenagers together in groups during visits to cultural sites,they did not appear
to interact with members of the other sex. Throughout our stayin Japan,most groups we observedin restaurants were single sex. Even on weekends, when we saw family groups with children, it
was often grandparents and not parents who were accompanying the youngsters.
It was also rare to see couples of any age in professional contexts. During the period that I

21

Rhoda Unger Gender Issues from an Outsider Psychologistʼ
s Perspective

was a visiting professor at the Institute for Gender Studies at Ochanomizu University, two other
scholars from outside of Japan visited the institute−one from India and the other from Israel.
Although each of us was accompanied by her husband, I never met a husband of any of myJapanese colleagues during the time I was in Japan.
Even academic contacts appear to be sex segregated. During my time at Ochanomizu, I met
only one male psychologist interested in gender issues and he was concerned about the problemsof feminized males. At the one meeting of the board of the Institute for Gender Studies that I
attended,the men sat on one side of the table and the women on the other (although I was told thiswas not always true).
Stereotypes about the characteristics of women and men justify and maintain patterns of sex
segregation. For example, when the Nissan plant opened in 1961 several dozen women were
hired−but only to sew seat covers using old‑fashioned sewing machines. As sewing became more
automated, the job was shifted to men. Nissan has added a few women to its assembly line
recently, but gender stereotypes about women and work persist. For example, a Japanesenewspaper quoted a male personnel manager at the Nissan plant, who stated that women add“vitality”to the assembly line. ”The workplace becomes more cheerful,”he added, saying thatmen behave better and the factory has become cleaner (French, 2003).”

The content of gender stereotypes and attitudes about womenʼ
s family roles
In general,gender stereotypes in Japan and the United States do not differ in content or kind.
However,gender stereotypes in Japan appear to be more intense,focus more on motherhood,and
there is greater agreement between women and men about the acceptability of gender‑biased
beliefs. For example, a 2002 poll found 47% supporting and 47% opposing the statement, “Husbands should work outside the home and wives should take care of their families (Curtin,2003).”
There was no significant difference between women and men in these attitudes. Similarly,
although a cross‑national study found that Japanese respondents were about in the middle of thesample in terms of sexist attitudes,the attitudes of women and men in their acceptance of hostileand benevolent sexism was more similar than in the other societies studied (Glick & Fiske,2001).
Men and women in Japan are also strongly supportive of the need of infants for intensive
mothering. In a 2001 poll, 57% of women and 55% of men in the surveyʼ
s child‑rearing groupagreed with the statement “When children are small it is best women devote themselves to child‑rearing and wait until the child is older before returning to work.” Some views were even moreconservative. 36.6% of the individuals sampled thought women should only return to work once
their children have grown up;9.9% stated that they should only work until pregnancy;and 6.2%
said they should quit when they marry. There is intense social pressure for mothers to be involvedin every aspect of their childrenʼs lives (particularly in their schooling). And,mothers are blamed
if anything goes wrong.

22ジェンダー研究 第８号

2005

Women are caught in a double bind between the demands of childcare and the demands for
total loyalty to oneʼs job or company. One newspaper recounted the story of a woman who
abandoned a career in marketing after similar experiences in two companies. She took leave forthree days to look after a sick child. “After that I was not included in new projects,”said thewoman,who spoke on condition that she not be identified,“and after that I felt they saw me as an
unreliable person. I finally decided that if I work in a company,I must understand the companyʼ
sspirit, which means I couldnʼ
t feel comfortable taking maternal benefits (French, 2004).”
It is difficult for women to resist conflicting social demands. A saying that was told to me‑theʼnail that sticks out
several times and applied to independent women is “deru kugi wa utareru ʻwill get hammered.” This phrase was used in a recent newspaper story about Princess Masako
who has been caught up in a double bind involving motherhood and the desire for a model of astrong modern woman (Head, 2004). In comments made on his 44th birthday, the heir to theJapanese throne said his wife was suffering from the accumulated burdens of motherhood, her
official duties and the relentless pressure to produce a second, male heir to the throne. She has
been widely publicized as becoming psychologically depressed and physically ill from stress.
Princess M asako gave up a promising diplomatic career to marry the crown prince... ManyJapanese feminists had hoped for change at the highest levels because Princess Masako wasregarded as a role model of a strong woman who “stuck out.”Instead she has become a cautionary
tale for women who wish to maintain individuality and independence as well as marry and havechildren.
Although close to 70% of women say they want to be able to work and have a family,female
employment continues to follow the traditional pattern ofwomen giving up their jobs between theirlate twenties and mid‑thirties in order to raise children. Partly because of rigid gender roles,
women with higher levels of education and income are less likely to marry than similar women in
the U. S. or Sweden (Ono, 2003).

The single woman in Japanese society
As noted earlier,the choice not to marry has become a popular alternative for many Japanesewomen. This choice is influenced by economic as well as psychological considerations. Psychologically, it is difficult for most women to resist the stress involved in dealing with socially defined
double binds. And, if mothers are willing to accept some level of societal disapproval and workpart time,state supported child care is scarce and baby sitters are expensive. Because of the highcost of housing and the small size of apartments available in cities, three‑generation families inwhich grandmothers provided support with childcare have also become less common.
Many Japanese women expect a drop in their standard of living when they marry and havechildren. On the other hand,most (more than 70%)single women live at home with their parents,
pay relatively little rent, and their disposable income has helped to ameliorate the stagnant

23

Rhoda Unger Gender Issues from an Outsider Psychologistʼ
s Perspective

Japanese economy. Some media accounts suggest that their opinions and lifestyle define a kind ofTokyo yuppie devoted to leisure and luxury (Tolbert,2000). Their lifestyle is also sex segregated.
These single women tend to socialize primarily with female friends.
Womenʼ
s decision to remain single is often viewed negatively. Single women in their twenties
and thirties are often targeted as selfish. In one extreme example,theyhave been labeled “parasite
singles”by one sociologist because their relatively affluent life style is supported by remaining at
home with few domestic responsibilities and paying relatively low rent to parents. He noted thatmany more single men than women are living on their own and stated that:“Guys want to getmarried so they donʼt have to do the housework theyʼ
ve been doing all along (Tolbert,2000).” Ifsuch views are common it is understandable why women are not eager to marry.
Women are also particularly likely to be blamed for the falling birthrate. Former Prime
M inister Yoshiro M ori, a member of a government commission charged with finding solutions to
the population crisis,was widelyquoted as saying the main reason for Japanʼ
s falling birthrate was
the over‑education of its women. And,a top aide of Prime Minister Koizumiʼ
s was recentlyquoted
as saying that often women who are raped deserve it,while a legislator from the governing party
said, approvingly, that the men who carried out such acts were virile and “good specimens.”The
latter comment came at a seminar about the falling birthrate (French, 2004)...
These remarks and labels are ways of blaming women for the ills of society. But individual
choices are constrained by society. As long as women remain economically and socially unequal
to men, it will be almost impossible for women to combine a career and children. Few societal
mechanisms exist to help them do so,they receive little help from husbands with whom they rarelyinteract, and are condemned as poor wives and mothers when they attempt to maintain theircareers. It is not surprising,therefore,that few of my colleagues at Ochanomizu were married andeven fewer had children.
On the other hand,there are positive rewards for remaining single. Although their salaries are
not as high as those of men,women who remain at home have a considerable amount of disposable
income which they use to buy name brand clothing,eat out in restaurants,and travel at home andabroad. The sex segregated nature of Japanese society makes it easy for them to find femalecompanions to share these activities so they see little reason to marry. Unlike the United States,
they will not be subject to a declining pool of eligible men if they decide to marry in their thirties.
And,since few Japanese marriages are companionate and sexual relations outside of marriage aresocially acceptable,there seems little reason for Japanese women to marry at all unless they wish
to have children. Moreover, as the number of women in their late twenties and early thirties
continues to grow,those who choose marriage and childbearing will deviate more and more fromthe normative behaviors of their female peers.

24

ジェンダー研究 第８号

2005

Individualism and nonconformity in a communal society
Single women in Japan appear to be pioneering a model for individualism and nonconformity
within a communal society. They appear to form groups that deviate from past cultural norms but
which conform to norms within their peer group. M any single women appear to be conforming intheir nonconformity. For example, Japanese women sometimes dye their hair, but the reddish‑blonde color seen most frequently seems to differ little from one woman to another. Concerns
about appearance and a growing problem with eating disorders also seem to be widespread (Ito,
2001;Tanaka,2001). And,finally,shopping for designer clothing and other aspects of a materialistic life style may have helped the Japanese economy but may not be predictive of psychologicalhealth.
The portrayal of Japanese women on television appears to encourage psychologically unhealthy behaviors. This is, of course, not simply a Japanese problem as media images of women
have been found to be remarkably similar across cultures (Crawford & Unger,2004). Like ads in
the U. S., women in Japanese TV ads are more likely than men to be portrayed as youthful andbeautiful (Anima,2003). And,although some studies indicate that an equal number of women andmen now appear in prime time commercials,gender stereotypes in setting,product type,and voice‑overs remain (Bresnahan et al., 2001). Clinical psychologists are troubled by womenʼ
s greaterconcern with weight and the increasing numbers of young women with eating disorders (Kawano,personal communication). Theypoint to the pernicious role played bythe mass media in constructing an unrealistically thin body image in young women.
The images of women found in Japanese pop culture are more disturbing. Cuteness,eroticism,and violence are the cornerstones of anime and manga. These forms of pop culture also encourage
women to be both childlike and sexual. “Lolicom”(Lolita complex) themes are a staple of theJapanese pop culture consumed at home and abroad (McNicol, 2004). Many anime and manga
products feature sexy school‑girl heroines. Some extreme varieties of lolicom manga are clearlypedophilic pornography. Such images are considered sexually attractive by many Japanese men.
Japanese society as a whole shows “little recognition of the abuse involved,let alone exploitation.”
Commentators point out that media reports fret about immoral and out of control young girls,butbarely consider the issue of why older men are paying for sex with schoolgirls in the first place.
Sexual relationships between adult men and women have become more difficult in recent
years. Clinical psychologists report lack of libido even in recently married couples and a rise inaffairs between affluent single Japanese women and men from Southeast Asia who they meet on
trips abroad (Kawano,personal communication). The women claim that such men are less sexist
than men in Japan,but other psychological issues need to be explored. Are these women reachingout for companionate relationships which are denied to them by a gender segregated society? Or,
are they attempting to reverse the power dimension in their relationships with men? Given thehomogeneous nature of Japanese society, it seems unlikely that these relationships will develop

25Rhoda Unger Gender Issues from an Outsider Psychologistʼ
s Perspective

into successful long‑term partnerships.

Adolescence and psychological disorders
Because of their lack of financial and familial responsibilities, peer groups of single womenappear to manifest some aspects of adolescence−including a need for sexual exploration. But,
adolescence is also a period of vulnerability to many kinds of psychological distress. Sources of
distress that have been identified in Western societies include coming to terms with oneʼs adult
body;uncertainty about the transition into adult roles,and peer pressure to conform to the normsof oneʼs group (Crawford & Unger,2004). In Japan,cultural demands for communal responsibility
also intensify during this period. One may ask,therefore,whether some of the psychological issuesof unmarried young women are similar to those found in adolescent girls?
At first glance,problems of the two cohorts seem to be quite different. Nonconformity−andoutright rebellion−take more extreme forms in younger girls (and boys) in their attempts toescape cultural demands for communal responsibility. Some of these acts of rebellion among
adolescents were extensively covered by the news media while we were in Japan. Many of these
problematic behaviors took place in middle and high school.
Schools are important sites for the socialization of cultural norms about communal responsibility. But they have also become sites of alienation and violence. Incidents of violence on school
grounds have increased fivefold in Japan over the past decade. Violence by children under 14 hasrisen particularly rapidly. One study by a childrenʼ
s research institute found that as many as 30
percent of high school and middle school students had experienced sudden acts ofrage at least oncea month (Faiola, 2004).
Unlike the situation in the United States,youth violence is not related to poverty and female‑female incidents of violence are not uncommon in Japan. Aggression is more often initiated byhigh status children and directed against atypical or nonconforming peers. The smaller genderdifferences in physical aggression in Japan than in the U. S. is surprising. Unlike the U. S.,
however,media aimed at girls can have a great deal of violence. For example,children can view
popular anime, such as “Gunslinger Girl,”a tale about murderous cyborg schoolgirls in plaid
miniskirts (Faiola, 2004).
One killing that shocked the country occurred while we were in Japan. It involved an 11‑year‑old girl who killed a close girl friend with a box‑cutter. The girl was an avid fan of “BattleRoyale,”a popular teen movie turned Internet game in which students kill one another throughblood sport. Although the girl is still undergoing psychological evaluation,she is believed to havebeen set off by a seemingly minor offense. The victim had called her “overweight”and “prissy”
on a website (Faiola, 2004)
However,some indicators of rebellion and alienation do take different forms for teenage girls
and boys. For example, an estimated hundreds of thousands of Japanese students are suffering

26

ジェンダー研究 第８号

2005

from a behavioral disorder known as hikikomori−sometimes called “school refusal.” They refuse
to go to school and some are unable to leave their homes or cope with daily life, according to
specialists and sociologists who have studied the phenomenon. There are gender differences in theways such students (mostly in middle‑ or high‑school) spend their time. Boys are more likely tospend their time at home playing computer games whereas girls tend to spend time in groups at
shopping malls. Although the phenomenon has not been studied systematically,authorities claimthat thousands of teenagers,mostly girls in Japanʼ
s large cities,have entered into what authorities
describe as voluntary prostitution, marketing themselves to adults through Internet sites to earnmoney for designer handbags and brand‑name clothing (Faiola,2004). We do not know whether
these latter behaviors are an attempt to model older women or a manifestation of a similar desire
for a materialistic lifestyle which they cannot yet afford.

Tying this all together
Do all of these social, structural, and psychological processes relate to each other? They
appear to interact in a complex fashion. At the structural level,more men than women have been
negatively affected by the struggling Japanese economy. At the same time, more women haveentered the work force and despite the fact that they earn less than men,they have more income
and greater educational and career opportunities than preceding generations of Japanese women.
The increasing overlap ofmale and female roles conflicts with traditional views ofmale power andthe social order. These trends may contribute to the greater separation of the sexes although
Japanese society has always been more sex segregated than Western cultures.
Gender segregation in Japanese society has made companionate male‑female relationships
difficult to develop and maintain. Both women and men socialize in single sex peer groups.
Because they are more likely to remain at home if they are unmarried, young women have moredisposable income than comparable men even though their salaries are, on average, lower thanthose of their male peers. In Western societies, single women are stigmatized and often havedifficulty finding friends with whom to socialize (Crawford & Unger, 2004). In Japan, single
women do not encounter such social difficulties and may also have more money with which tofinance a comfortable and independent life‑style. Therefore, they feel free to postpone marriage
and childbearing longer than women in Western societies do. The lifestyle of many single womenhas some of the characteristics of an idealized adolescence−free from familial and financial
responsibilities. The completion of schooling also frees them from overt demands to conform tocommunal needs as well.
However, this protracted period of remaining single also makes women vulnerable to anumber of psychological risks. Media images present a young woman who is both childlike andsexually enticing (McNicol, 2004). Such images may explain the increasing rate of eating
disorders and depression found in this cohort. They may also fuel the growing anger and27

Rhoda Unger Gender Issues from an Outsider Psychologistʼ
s Perspective

aggression found among teenage girls.
Young women are the major targets of blame for the precipitous drop in the birth rate which
has accompanied their choices about marriage and childbearing. Perhaps reactively, there havebeen numerous attempts recently to distinguish men from women. Some of the comments maderecently by male public figures (mentioned earlier in this paper)appear to confuse aggressive malesexuality with masculinity. The sexualization and dichotomization of male and female bodies aswell as their gender roles are also evident in the representations in anime and manga as well asother forms of popular culture.
There has been little attempt to understand the societal forces that underlie apparent individual choice. Some of these issues could be clarified by more research on the psychology of womenand gender,but Japanese psychiatryappears to follow a medical model and few male psychologists
appear to be interested in gender issues. Instead the government has opted for an individualistic
approach which advocates greater communication between men and women, but seems unclear
about how to facilitate this process. Some of my colleagues at Ochanomizu humorously recounted
attempts by the Japanese government to sponsor courses designed to teach men how to relate to
women. Of course,any attempts to increase dialogue is laudable,but given the complex and often
unconscious dynamics involved, it is likely that little will be accomplished with such policies.
Nevertheless, there are some reasons for optimism. First, Japan has relatively little classinequality. This means that those who seek change can focus on gender inequality more than insocieties where a great deal of poverty exists and poor people lack access to many social services.
Second,there has been an increase in gender egalitarian attitudes in both sexes. However,womenand men have more similar sexist views than do men and women in most other countries studied(Glick & Fiske, 2001). Third, there has been a growth of individualism among women and moretoleration of nonconforming lifestyles. However,this is a double‑edged sword because it is driven
by materialism and is partially responsible for a dramatic decrease in the birthrate and future
economic and social upheaval. Finally,interest in feminism is strong and growing. A number ofwomen and gender programs have been inaugurated by Japanese universities and many feminist
texts have been translated into Japanese (c.f., Unger, 2004). The four lectures I gave on thepsychology of women at the Institute for Gender Studies of Ochanomizu University were wellattended and the audience appeared to be stimulated by them.
It is also important to acknowledge that ideas can flow in both directions. M y brief encounter
with gender issues in Japan has taught me much about gender issues in the United States. It has
reminded me that women (and men) do not exist in a societal vacuum. Visions of change inwomenʼ
s lives must take into account the societal impact of the ways individuals choose to live
their lives. Personal freedom without social responsibility is not a viable feminist choice!
I have also learned that similar outcomes do not necessarily have similar causes. The birthrate has also dropped precipitously in the United States as well as in many European countries.
But in these Western societies it has not been accompanied by a major decline in pair bonding.

28

ジェンダー研究 第８号

2005

Women postpone marriage and childbearing, but tend to leave their parental home and live withmale partners. It is important to explain what accounts for such cultural differences although I
suspect they are related to the relatively better economic situation of Western women and thegreater social stigma associated with remaining single as well as the lower rate of sex segregationin comparison to Japanese society.
Finally,I have learned that comparisons across cultures are important because they enable us
to avoid biological explanations for so‑called gender differences. Physical aggression amongfemales appears more common in Japan than it is in the West. But,violence in the media directed
toward girls and female adolescents is also more common in Japan. What is the role ofthe popular
media in creating gender differences? This question can be phrased in another way too. What is
the role of the popular media in creating similar negative psychological symptoms among womenin many cultures? A focus on womenʼs attractive bodies is remarkably similar across cultures
while masculinity remains more culturally specific. The growing incidence of eating disorders andother symptoms of depression in Japanese women is a wake up call for studies of these phenomena
in other societies. In short, feminist collaboration among and across cultures may help us all to
avoid future problems involving the interface between the individual and social aspects of gender.

References
Anima, A.N. (2003). Gender stereotypes in Japanese television advertisements. Sex Roles, 49, 81‑90.
Bresnahan,M.J.,Inoue,Y.,Liu,W.Y.,& Nebashi,T. (2001).Changing gender roles in prime‑time commercials in
M alaysia, Japan, Taiwan, and the United States. Sex Roles, 45, 117‑131.
Crawford, M . & Unger, R.K. (2004). Women and gender: A feminist perspective, 4 edition. New York:M cGraw
Hill.
Curtin,J.S. (September 24,2002).Changing attitudes toward gender roles in Japan:2002 snapshot. Social Trends#8.
Curtin, J.S. (July 11, 2003). Family trends in 2002:Part two−Population data shows declining birthrates, fewer
marriages and more divorces. Social Trends #41.
Faiola, A. (August 5, 2004). Japanese youthsʼrage fuels wave of violent crime. Popular culture seen as factor.
Washington Post.
French, H.W. (July 25, 2003). Japanʼ
s neglected resource:Female workers. New York Times.
Glick,P.& Fiske,S.T. (2001). An ambivalent alliance:Hostile and benevolent sexism as complementary justifications for gender inequality. American Psychologist, 56. 109 ‑118.
Head, J. (December 3, 2004). Japan sounds alarm on birth rate. BBC News.
Head, J. ( February 23, 2004) Japanese princess “
exhausted.”BBC News.
Ito, Y (2001). Development of gender identity in female adolescents:Self‑esteem and degree of satisfaction with
their physique. Japanese Journal of Educational Psychology, 49, 458‑468.
M cNicol, T. (April 27, 2004). Does comic relief hurt kids? Is the eroticization of children in Japanese anime a
serious social problem or just a form of rebellion? Japan Times.
Ono, H. (2003). Womenʼs economic standing, marriage timing, and cross‑national contexts of gender. Journal of
Marriage and the Family, 65, 275‑286.

29

Rhoda Unger Gender Issues from an Outsider Psychologistʼ
s Perspective

Survey on Time Use and Leisure Activities (2001). M inistry of Public M anagement, Home Affairs, Posts andTelecommunications.
Tanaka, Y. (2001). A study of eating behavior and the drive for thinness among senior high school students inTokyo. Japanese Journal of Counseling Science, 34, 300‑310.
Tolbert, K. (February 10, 2000). Japanʼ
s new material girls: “Parasite singles”put off marriage for good life.
Washington Post.
Unger, R.K. (2004). Editor. Handbook of the psychology of women and gender. Japanese edition, Kyoto:Kitaohji
Shobo.

30