It’s quite common in Japan for acquaintances and business associates to exchange meishi (business cards), but a recent trend has housewives handing out their own meishi to advertise their status as stay-at-home moms.
A new article out this week indicates that these “mom business cards” have become something of a status symbol, as some wealthy moms have begun creating expensive cards with the names of their husbands’ companies included. Netizens were largely disgusted by this trend, with some taking it as an opportunity to air their misogynist viewpoints.
From News Post Seven:
“Mom Business Cards” List Husband’s Name and Even The Name of His First-Rate Company
Four years ago the fashion magazine “VERY” (published by Kobunsha) took the trend of stay-at-home moms creating their own business cards and started a website to sell them, which is one reason behind the recent boom in “mom business cards.” The cards have typically included information such as the mom’s name and her child’s name, her phone number, e-mail address and other contact information, and a bit about her hobbies, but recently more and more women have been including their social networking information as well.
Hearing about these cards, it may seem like a very useful tool, but they also carry the potential for unexpected trouble. Ms. A (42), a housewife from Aichi Prefecture, was warned about swapping business cards by her child’s dance studio.
“My daughter, who is in grade school, started learning ballet, so I passed out my business card to the other moms in the classroom. There was one mom that couldn’t make it to pick up her child, so I wasn’t able to give it to her. We weren’t really close because I never really got a chance to talk to her, so I never gave her the card afterwards. Apparently later someone showed that woman’s daughter the card, and she got really down, thinking ‘My mom didn’t get one…. We must be getting snubbed,’ and she completely stopped coming to the class. I was warned by the ballet teacher to ‘please stop with the business cards.’”
While some make these business cards at home, others order them from a vendor. The design and the information included on the cards also vary based on the person. If you get them from a vendor, you can have them made for about 2,000 yen for 50 cards. It is precisely because you are completely in control of the design that certain “disparities” arise.
“When I compare with the business cards made by other moms, I get so embarrassed about my cards…” Ms. B (38), a Tokyo housewife, said sadly. “This April, my daughter entered her third year of elementary school, so she changed classes. Since there were new moms I hadn’t met before, I went to hand out my business card, but some of the moms had cards made from high quality washi, with their husbands’ names and even their husbands’ companies written on them. They were first-rate companies that anyone would recognize. I didn’t bother to write my husband’s boring old third-rate company on my cards, which I made on my own home printer using thin, cheap paper. I was so embarrassed that I couldn’t even give mine out… Somehow I was last out of the gate when it came to making business cards.”
※From the April 30, 2015 issue of Josei Seven.
Comments from 2ch.net:
張り手(東京都)＠＼(^o^)／:
Disgusting.
張り手(禿)＠＼(^o^)／:
Women are so vulgar.
キングコングニードロップ(空)＠＼(^o^)／:
Are titles really that important to married couples?
フルネルソンスープレックス(公衆電話)＠＼(^o^)／:
How is your husband’s job relevant to your social status?
ボマイェ(大阪府)＠＼(^o^)／:
This type of person who swaggers around under borrowed authority and not their own social standing is the absolute worst.
腕ひしぎ十字固め(庭)＠＼(^o^)／:
Creating disparity based on their apartment level, creating disparity based on the quality of their business cards and their husband’s salary, aren’t they all just idiots worrying over totally unnecessary stuff?
キャプチュード(埼玉県)＠＼(^o^)／:
I’m glad I was born a man.
中年’sリフト(WiMAX)＠＼(^o^)／:
I’m sure they’re completely embarrassing their husbands who are working hard at those first-rate companies.
頭突き(SB-iPhone)＠＼(^o^)／:
What kind of world is this? I have acquaintances that I know through stuff with my kid, but I don’t know what their jobs are and I don’t care either.
フェイスクラッシャー(SB-iPhone)＠＼(^o^)／:
Is there really a hierarchy among housewives who don’t do anything during the day? w
フライングニールキック(愛知県)＠＼(^o^)／:
Working women who read this article will probably scoff at this. LMAO at how childish the housewives in this article are.
アンクルホールド(WiMAX)＠＼(^o^)／:
This must be a joke, right?
ラダームーンサルト(大阪府)＠＼(^o^)／:
Women are such troublesome creatures.
レッドインク(神奈川県)＠＼(^o^)／:
It is precisely because you are weak that you fight with other weak people
ローリングソバット(兵庫県)＠＼(^o^)／:
What happens when two parasites start comparing themselves?
キドクラッチ(静岡県)＠＼(^o^)／ [in response to above]:
Their rating is probably determined based on what it is they’re leeching off of. It’s only natural!
フェイスロック(やわらか銀行)＠＼(^o^)／:
If you do stuff like that, you’ll be seen as a person lacking refinement.
セントーン(東京都)＠＼(^o^)／:
With idiots like these, I think gender equality is impossible…
ファイナルカット(SB-iPhone)＠＼(^o^)／:
It’s because they love assigning status to things, right?
ファイヤーバードスプラッシュ(チベット自治区)＠＼(^o^)／:
These have been around for a while… and there are also children’s business cards, too!
