Graduate Thesis Or Dissertation
 

Mothers and Work: Women's Perceptions in Contemporary Japanese Society

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https://ir.library.oregonstate.edu/concern/graduate_thesis_or_dissertations/dz010s67m

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  • This paper investigates certain women's problems in contemporary Japan. Historically, Japanese believed ideal women fit in the stereotype of "Good wife, Wise mother." Japanese women's main roles were regarded as wife and mother. Especially, motherhood was the main responsibility of women. However, the advance of industry, technology, and methods of communication brought more possibilities to women, strongly encouraging them to work outside the home. Although the trend is towards women's involvement in the paid labor force, there are still controversial issues about mothers working. The stereotypes that underlie these problems cause others to be working mothers and some women to be stay-at-home mothers. I focused on two groups of women, working mothers and stay-at- home mothers. I started with three major questions in order to investigate contemporary women's perceptions. Firstly, what caused mothers to decide to either stay home or work outside the home? Types of jobs women have before childbirth, company policies, and ideas their husbands have are key factors. Lack of governmental support for childcare hinders women from working. Stereotypical ideas toward motherhood make contemporary women's situations difficult. Secondly, are there stereotypical Japanese social perceptions that are significant influences on conditions that women face? Especially in the work situation, in terms of motherhood, women do face gender discrimination. Thirdly, how do these women cope with the consequences of choices they make? Both working mothers and stay-at-home mothers find social connections a key factor in getting rid of stress from childrearing. The amount of time husbands spend with families greatly influences their wives' stress. Based on traditional gender based role division, women still have unequal domestic responsibilities, especially in childrearing. However, domestic responsibilities should be both men's and women's tasks. Men and women should cooperate with each other because contemporary Japan is not in a time of "men at work, women at home." Results obtained through this research, indicate that the traditional idea of "Good wile, Wise mother" has become outdated. Contemporary mothers value "self" equally with roles of mother and wife. The traditional idea of "sacrifice self" does not seem to be attractive or ideal for today's mothers.
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