While last year Japan came under fire for its abysmal position in global gender rankings, today it was discovered that Japan had fallen a further four positions in the World Economic Gender Gap Report for 2013. Of the 136 countries that were included in the survey, Japan came 105th, by far the lowest of the more economically developed countries (MEDCs).
Japan has long had a problem with gender inequality, and as the birthrate continues to fall, marriage numbers decline, and increasing numbers of women opt to enter the workforce, putting women on an equal social footing with their male counterparts ought to be a pressing concern for the Abe administration.
Netizen responses to the news include the usual position that the WEF’s criteria for gender equality are too Euro-centric, and that women in Japan get an easy ride, but surprisingly there were a few ardent feminists among the 2ch commenters…
From 47 News.jp:
Japan Ranks 105th In Gender Equality, Position As Lowest Level Among Developed Nations Continues
On October 25, the World Economic Forum, a Swiss think-tank known for its annual Davos Meeting, announced the 2013 edition of its “Gender Gap Report”. Of the 136 countries that were the object of the survey, Japan ranked 105th, four positions lower than last year. This is the third consecutive year that Japan’s position has moved down the rankings.
The reason for Japan’s relegation was due to the fact that the number of female Diet members has declined further, meaning that of all the economically developed nations, Japan’s position at the lowest level continues.
The top spot was held for the fifth consecutive year by Iceland. While, as in previous years the Scandinavian countries took the top positions, with Finland 2nd, and Norway 3rd, at number 5 was The Philippines. America was at number 23, China at number 69, and Korea in a lower position than Japan at number 111.
Comments from Twitter:
Mayuko Maruyama:
Japan’s position has fallen again.
スィゲ_BPN ルイラド餡:
Iceland is the best when it comes to gender equality.
みっちゑる（即時、脱原発の煌めき！）:
“The top spot was held for the fifth consecutive year by Iceland. While, as in previous years the Scandinavian countries took the top positions, with Finland 2nd, and Norway 3rd, at number 5 was The Philippines. America was at number 23, China at number 69, and Korea in a lower position than Japan at number 111.”
“Mr. Abe!” Isn’t this what you should be doing rather than that trivial constitutional revision stuff?
吉川 幸男:
Then the number of female Diet members goes down, this is how we get criticised.
darkside_of_the_moon:
So obvious. There is no other country on earth where men get discriminated against as Japan.
高田 修三:
This is an awful story…Japan’s business leaders and politicians should take a good look at the reality!
ｊeda:
What kind of situation are they looking for in these countries? Are the women in the no.1 country happy?
7TZtopic:
Can’t rely on this..
earlybird:
When you think of the weirdness of Japanese female politicians, Japan probably doesn’t need female politicians.
Comments from 2ch.net:
名無しさん＠１３周年:
This means that women are unfairly given favourable treatment while men are unfairly discriminated against, right?
名無しさん＠１３周年:
This is weird.
In my house, my mother is definitely a god…?
名無しさん＠１３周年:
Even though we had the basic plan for gender equality, it just hasn’t improved at all.
Doesn’t this mean that Japan’s policies are mistaken in principle?
名無しさん＠１３周年:
Women-only carriages, women-only discounts, women-only cafes,
The media is always going on about “Women are amazing, men are bad”
I bet there’s no other country that discriminates against men like Japan does.
名無しさん＠１３周年: [in response to above]
The reason they have women-only discounts is because they found that “Men’s Day” had no connection to an increase in profits.
Even if you have complaints about a business’s sales strategy, that doesn’t make it discrimination against men. That just makes it your own jealousy.
名無しさん＠１３周年:
Wonder how many guys there are outside of Japan who hand over their entire pay packet to their wives?
名無しさん＠１３周年:
Japan is gradually going to get left behind.
I guess that for the loser netouyo that’s fine, but Japan’s future is being ruined.
名無しさん＠１３周年:
In spite of the fact that everyone’s complaining about gender inequality, it’s pretty unfair that no one complains how unequal things are between fugly people and the beautiful people.
名無しさん＠１３周年:
Aren’t the criteria for this a bit strange?
I reckon women get a pretty good deal, actually w
名無しさん＠１３周年: [in response to above]
Women get paid less, and they get fewer wage increases.
I’m in a field of work where there are a lot of women, but even in the upper echelons, they get paid less than the manager (a man). What the hell is that?
名無しさん＠１３周年:
But aren’t there a lot of foreigners who are in love with these Japanese women?
名無しさん＠１３周年: [in response to above]
Who the hell would be in love with a country where the moment women get married, give birth, and are away from the workplace, they are only good for punching cash registers part-time, even when they’ve graduated from top-rate universities?
