Stereotypes
Women have a mysterious power, despite not being used to their full capacity, due to their desire of marriage over lifetime employment. They do, however, often work as message carriers, or in secretarial positions that allow them to act as emotional propagandists for the company, hearing secrets of workers and internal affairs.
This stereotype was still prevalent, even in the 1980s. To many, women were only ephemeral creatures, working briefly before settling down for marriage, where their only real use was as window dressings or as a company's emotional propagandists. In a predominantly patriarchal society, women largely went unnoticed in the workforce, due to unfair stereotypes of their positions. Ethnographers also noticed this, stating that women have a great well of power, equal or greater to that of Japanese men, in terms of will, bravery, and psychological strength, despite being undervalued as members of the work force. Several stereotypes are prevalent in media and are often what Japanese working women are associated with.
Read more about this topic: Career Woman
Famous quotes containing the word stereotypes:
“There are certain stereotypes that are offensive. Some of them don’t worry me, though. For instance, I have always thought that Mammy character in Gone with the Wind was mighty funny. And I just loved “Amos ‘n’ Andy” on the radio. So you see, I have enough confidence in myself that those things did not bother me. I could laugh.”
—Annie Elizabeth Delany (b. 1891)
“All stereotypes turn out to be true. This is a horrifying thing about life. All those things you fought against as a youth: you begin to realize they’re stereotypes because they’re true.”
—David Cronenberg (b. 1943)
“There is a striking dichotomy between the behavior of many women in their lives at work and in their lives as mothers. Many of the same women who are battling stereotypes on the job, who are up against unspoken assumptions about the roles of men and women, seem to accept—and in their acceptance seem to reinforce—these roles at home with both their sons and their daughters.”
—Ellen Lewis (20th century)