The Japanese Woman: Changing in the workplace before and after WWII

Running head : The Japanese Women : Changing in the workplace

The Japanese Women : Changing in the workplace before and after WWII

Gender and class have historically contributed to stratification within Japanese society . With the development of agricultural communities women 's work revolved more around the home . They prepared food , made clothing , and cared for children , while also helping to plow fields harvest crops , and tend animals . In the 12th century women inherited and managed property . As cities developed , some women sold or traded goods in the marketplace . Under later feudal governments , women 's

status declined . Peasant women could make decisions and move freely , but upper class women were subject to patriarchal government 'rules ' that controlled society of those days . Taking care of others was the primary role of Japanese women . Traditionally , Japanese women have tended the home and hearth . It was their duty , honor , and obligation to devote themselves to the young , the sick , and the elderly . Women were raised to be "good wives and wise mothers " However , some major changes are now occurring in industrial nations , including the steadily increasing proportion of women in the labor force decreasing family responsibilities (due to both smaller family size and technological innovation in the home higher levels of education for women and more middle- and upper-income women working for pay . Though Japan is the most industrialized nation in the Far East , nevertheless , traditional attitudes toward workingwomen are undergoing slower change than in such industrialized countries as U .S . and Western Europe (O 'Farrell , 2001 para . 2 . However , the status of the working Japanese woman has changed remarkably during the years since the end of World War II

With industrialization women appeared to be the most unprotected class As the result of unfair advantage , which was taken of women 's inability to exercise their sovereignty and absence of legal rights , women who exercised will to work were mainly employed in unhealthy factory jobs The few other women who worked outside the home in the prewar period were employed in a very limited number of positions , they worked almost exclusively as teachers or nurses , or in other professions considered appropriate for women . Though , during the Meiji period , male authority declined , nevertheless , women who still possessed no legal rights were highly controlled by their husbands ' wills . Before the war , the position if Japanese woman was firmly fixed in a patriarchal system , taught to obey first her father , then her husband , and later her sons (Shinotsuka 1989 , pp . 19-22 . In the prewar period , the government encouraged high birth rates , making motherhood a patriotic duty of each Japanese woman Thus before World War II women not only possessed almost no ability to occupy jobs of their interest as a result of their duties as mothers and wives , but also once they succeeded at occupying any kind of job women couldn 't legally claim their rights for descent working environment

However , after World War II , women 's legal position was subjected to radical changes due to the Occupation authorities...