yaschan
2006-02-15 20:08:13 UTC
read full story at:
http://hanami.ath.cx/unisex.html
--
It was late thursday evening when I wandered into one of those corner
restaurants just next to Ueno railwaystation. I was about to meet my
female associate. Once I went to the restroom and sat down in my thoughts,
it struck me to hear womens voices in the washroom. "Gosh", I thought,
I must have mistaken this to womens restroom. But no, I was in the right
place. The toilet they had, was a unisex toilet. Just like in planes. The
room where you can wash your hands, was shared, while women and men had
their separate toilet rooms. The women cheerfully fixed their makeups and
brushed their hair, when men checked their ties. Nothing strange there,
as if it had been all natural for centuries!
In Japan you sometimes feel that there is invisible plexiglass between our
genders. When men sleep casually in the railwaystations after missing
their last trains, women tiptoe to hail a cab in their glittering
evening dresses. It seems as if through history, men and women are
locked in their own cabins. Now, there are clear signs that this is
finally changing.
Male-female relationships began to change already in Edo period. Some
say that it was Confucianism that suggested the idea "women inside,
men outside". Men were supposed to go out for work and get income for
family and women were supposed to stay inside their homes and take care
of the kids and the house. Those women who wanted to hang out with their
friends or were generally too active, were considered "loose women".
On the surface men have had a power to control women. Expressing
the term of husband, Japanese wives often use the word shujin, which
literally means "the main person". But at the same time, when wives talk
about their home, they say "my house" instead of "our house". Afterall,
wives have been the ones that literally run the family, and take care
of family's economy as well.
But the change that started in Edo period has took a new course now. Young
women are also interested about having a career and independent finance -
which also has a nasty little effect for birthrates, the fact about which
even Koizumi is worried about. The baby boom generation is getting old
too, while the stage is free for younger generation to take over. Now
its interesting to see what happens.
Otoko-masari has a meaning of woman who is superior to men both physically
and intellectually. Although the term has nothing negative literally,
it is considered as a negative term for Japanese, because it suggest
that such women lack femininity. Otenba instead, means healthy and
active young girl, but is also used in negative meaning as "reckless
daughter" or daughter out of control. Daughters in Japan are expected
to behave modestly from the time they become adult. This has only made
the plexiglass stronger, since men's model is very different.
Throughout the years women have had hard time being treated equally in
work and career life, but during recent decades there have been large
changes even in level of constitution. Old feodal idea that "women
gives and man takes" has finally collapsed. But it has not been easy
road for women.
Sadly, however, the feminists act which has helped women to reach their
equality has sometimes only made the separating plexiglass stronger. It
appears that most feminists are against of such unisex toilets I
encountered in Ueno. They claim that such toilets are dangerous for women
and such restaurants are breaking the law since they don't provide women
their necessary facilities. But in airplanes men and women use the same
uncomfortable toilets, talk together while waiting their turn in same
narrow spaces and nobody has complained.
But perhaps, most men and women eventually wish the same, more open
and free communication between our genders, where both men and women
could wander together in the paradise of harmony, like Adam and Eve
did. Afterall we must accept that we are no longer living Edo-era. Women
and men are doing same jobs.
But sexual discrimination is still not entirely uncommon in Japan even
nowadays. And there are occasional scandals by company executives who
buy sexy underwear for their women subordinates in valentines day. Almost
every women in Japan has experienced something similar to this.
We are worried that these individuals may slow down the trend of allowing
more open discussion between genders. We want to foresee the unisex
toilets getting more popular in the future in Japan, as the the iron
curtain crumbles down between our sexes
http://hanami.ath.cx/unisex.html
--
It was late thursday evening when I wandered into one of those corner
restaurants just next to Ueno railwaystation. I was about to meet my
female associate. Once I went to the restroom and sat down in my thoughts,
it struck me to hear womens voices in the washroom. "Gosh", I thought,
I must have mistaken this to womens restroom. But no, I was in the right
place. The toilet they had, was a unisex toilet. Just like in planes. The
room where you can wash your hands, was shared, while women and men had
their separate toilet rooms. The women cheerfully fixed their makeups and
brushed their hair, when men checked their ties. Nothing strange there,
as if it had been all natural for centuries!
In Japan you sometimes feel that there is invisible plexiglass between our
genders. When men sleep casually in the railwaystations after missing
their last trains, women tiptoe to hail a cab in their glittering
evening dresses. It seems as if through history, men and women are
locked in their own cabins. Now, there are clear signs that this is
finally changing.
Male-female relationships began to change already in Edo period. Some
say that it was Confucianism that suggested the idea "women inside,
men outside". Men were supposed to go out for work and get income for
family and women were supposed to stay inside their homes and take care
of the kids and the house. Those women who wanted to hang out with their
friends or were generally too active, were considered "loose women".
On the surface men have had a power to control women. Expressing
the term of husband, Japanese wives often use the word shujin, which
literally means "the main person". But at the same time, when wives talk
about their home, they say "my house" instead of "our house". Afterall,
wives have been the ones that literally run the family, and take care
of family's economy as well.
But the change that started in Edo period has took a new course now. Young
women are also interested about having a career and independent finance -
which also has a nasty little effect for birthrates, the fact about which
even Koizumi is worried about. The baby boom generation is getting old
too, while the stage is free for younger generation to take over. Now
its interesting to see what happens.
Otoko-masari has a meaning of woman who is superior to men both physically
and intellectually. Although the term has nothing negative literally,
it is considered as a negative term for Japanese, because it suggest
that such women lack femininity. Otenba instead, means healthy and
active young girl, but is also used in negative meaning as "reckless
daughter" or daughter out of control. Daughters in Japan are expected
to behave modestly from the time they become adult. This has only made
the plexiglass stronger, since men's model is very different.
Throughout the years women have had hard time being treated equally in
work and career life, but during recent decades there have been large
changes even in level of constitution. Old feodal idea that "women
gives and man takes" has finally collapsed. But it has not been easy
road for women.
Sadly, however, the feminists act which has helped women to reach their
equality has sometimes only made the separating plexiglass stronger. It
appears that most feminists are against of such unisex toilets I
encountered in Ueno. They claim that such toilets are dangerous for women
and such restaurants are breaking the law since they don't provide women
their necessary facilities. But in airplanes men and women use the same
uncomfortable toilets, talk together while waiting their turn in same
narrow spaces and nobody has complained.
But perhaps, most men and women eventually wish the same, more open
and free communication between our genders, where both men and women
could wander together in the paradise of harmony, like Adam and Eve
did. Afterall we must accept that we are no longer living Edo-era. Women
and men are doing same jobs.
But sexual discrimination is still not entirely uncommon in Japan even
nowadays. And there are occasional scandals by company executives who
buy sexy underwear for their women subordinates in valentines day. Almost
every women in Japan has experienced something similar to this.
We are worried that these individuals may slow down the trend of allowing
more open discussion between genders. We want to foresee the unisex
toilets getting more popular in the future in Japan, as the the iron
curtain crumbles down between our sexes