Cover not available
Article published In:
Reconsidering Language and Gender in Contemporary Japan and among the Japanese Diaspora amid the #MeToo Movement
Edited by Kikuko Omori and Hiroshi Ota
[Journal of Asian Pacific Communication 33:1] 2023
► pp. 12–37

Transmission of gender ideology through family discourse

Japanese mothers and their career choices

| Saint Mary’s College of California
| Tsuda University
| Saint Mary’s College of California

Informed by the social cognitive theory of co-orientation, this qualitative study explored the impact of family and social discourse on women’s motherhood and professional identities through semi-structured, in-depth interviews with 13 Japanese women born in the decade before and after the Japanese Equal Employment Opportunity Law was established in 1986. Overall, the interviews revealed two lifestyle categories – semi-traditional and modern. Specifically, the interviews revealed that women in the semi-traditional and modern categories enacted some form of change in their gender ideology and that women in the modern category experienced more dialogue-based communication and equal power dynamic with their husbands compared to women in the semi-traditional category in which they experienced one-way communication and a greater power differential with husbands. Informed by the literature on cultural values, the findings from this study conclude that Japanese women’s empowerment is built not by resistance to oppression but by conquering the over-taxation.

Keywords: Japanese motherhood, working woman identity, gender ideology, family communication
Article outline
  • Impact of family discourse on gender reality construction
  • Gender roles and ideology in Japan
  • Motherhood ideology as a social system
  • Method
    • Participants
    • Data collection procedures
    • Data analysis
  • Results
  • RQ1.Discourse within the Family of Origin and Ideological Formation
    • Transmission of traditional values
    • Career guidance
  • RQ2.Current family and social discourse and gender roles
    • The ideal image of a mother
    • Communication and division of labor
    • Internal dialectical tensions
    • RQ3.Power dynamic and its impact on maternal and professional identities
      • Power dynamics with husbands
      • Power dynamics with parents and parents-in-law
      • Interpellation of gender ideology
  • Discussion
    • Implications for social cognitive theory of co-orientation
    • Contemporary gender ideology and cultural values
    • Limitations
    • Future directions
  • References
Published online: 19 July 2022
DOI logo
https://doi.org/10.1075/japc.00077.ima
References
Bond, M. H.
(1996) Chinese values. In M. H. Bond (Ed.) The handbook of Chinese psychology (pp. 208–226). Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Byers, A. M., & Hacket, G.
(1998) Applications of social cognitive theory to the career development of women of color. Applied and Preventive Psychology, 7 1, 255–267. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Canning, K., & Lazonick, W.
(1994) Equal employment opportunity and the “managerial women” in Japan. Industrial Relations: A Journal of Economy and Society, 33 1, 44–69. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Chinese Cultural Connection
(1987) Chinese values and the search for culture-free dimensions of culture. Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology, 18 1, 143–164. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Corbin, J., & Strauss, A.
(2015) Basics of qualitative research: Techniques and procedures for developing grounded theory (4th ed.). Sage.Google Scholar
Davis, S. N., & Greenstein, T. N.
(2009) Gender ideology: Components, predictors, and consequences. Annual Review of Sociology, 35 1, 87–105. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Edwards, L. N.
(1988) Equal employment opportunity in Japan: A view from the West. International and Labor Relations Review, 41 1, 240–250. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Emslie, C., & Hunt, K.
(2009) ‘Live to work’ or ‘work to live’?: A qualitative study of gender and work–life balance among men and women in mid-life. Gender, Work and Organization, 16 1, 151–172. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Erickson, R. J.
(2005) Why emotion work matters: sex, gender, and the division of household labor. Journal of Marriage and Family, 67 1, 337–351. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Eto, M.
(2005) Women’s movements in Japan: the intersection between everyday life and politics. Japan Forum, 17 1, 311–333. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Fujita, M.
(1989) “It’s all mother’s fault”: Childcare and the socialization of working mothers in Japan. Journal of Japanese Studies, 15 1, 67–91. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Glaser, B. G. & Strauss, A. L.
(1967) The discovery of grounded theory: Strategies for qualitative research. Aldine.Google Scholar
Heider, F.
(1958) The psychology of interpersonal relations. Wiley. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Hofstede, G.
(1980) Culture’s consequences: International differences in work-related values. Sage.Google Scholar
(2011) Dimensionalizing cultures: The hofstede model in context. Online Readings in Psychology and Culture, 2 1. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Kang, J. S.
(2017) Evaluating labor force participation of women in Japan and Korea: Developments and future prospects. Asian Journal of Women’s Studies, 23 1, 294–320. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Kazui, M.
(1997) The influence of cultural expectations on mother-child relationships in Japan. Journal of Environmental Applied Psychology, 18 1, 485–496. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Koerner, A. F., & Fitzpatrick, M. A.
(2006) Family communication patterns theory: A social cognitive approach. In D. O. Braithwaite & L. A. Baxter (Eds.), Engaging theories in family communication: Multiple perspectives (pp. 50–65). Sage. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Lambert, P. A.
(2007) The political economy of postwar family policy in Japan: Economic imperatives and electoral incentives. Journal of Japanese Studies, 33 1, 1–28. [URL]. DOI logo
Lee, K. S., Tufis, P. A., & Alwin, D. F.
(2010) Separate spheres or increasing equality?: Changing gender beliefs in postwar Japan. Journal of Marriage and Family, 72 1, 184–201. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Marks, G., & Houston, D. M.
(2002) Attitudes toward work and motherhood held by working and non-working mothers. Work, employment and society, 16 1, 523–536. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Matsui, M.
(1990) Evolution of the feminist movement in Japan. National Women’s Studies Association Journal, 2 1, 435–449. [URL]
McLeod & Chafee
(1972) Separate spheres or increasing equality?: Changing gender beliefs in postwar Japan. Journal of Marriage and Family, 71 1, 184–201. [URL]
Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare
(2019) Shigoto to ikuji tou no ryouritsu ni kansuru jishitsu haaku no tameno chousa kenkyuu jigyou [Survey on employment and childcare]. [URL]
Mun, E., & Brinton, M. C.
(2015) Workplace matters: The use of parental leave policy in Japan. Work and Occupations, 43 1, 335–369. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Nakamura, M., & Akiyoshi, M.
(2016) Who does the dishes?: Fairness and household chores. In G. Steel (Ed.), Power in contemporary Japan (pp. 79–91). Palgrave Macmillan. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Nakano, M.
(2017) “Ikuji sedai” no jirenma [The dilemma of the “childcare leave generation”]. Kobunsha Shinsho.Google Scholar
Newcomb, T. M.
(1953) An approach to the study of communicative acts. Psychological Review, 60 1, 393–404. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
OECD
(2019) Employment: Time spent in paid and unpaid work, by sex. [URL]
(2020) OECD family database. [URL]
Ogasawara, Y.
(2019) Working women’s husbands as helpers or partners. In G. Steel (Ed.) Beyond the gender gap in Japan (pp. 83–102). University of Michigan Press.Google Scholar
Ryan, G. W., & Bernard, H. R.
(2003) Data management and analysis methods. In N. K. Densin & Y. S. Lincoln (Eds.), Collecting and Interpreting Qualitative Materials (2nd Ed). Sage.Google Scholar
Sasaki, M.
(2002) The causal effect of family structure on labor force participation among Japanese married women. Journal of Human Resources, 37 1, 429–440. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Shimada, H., & Higuchi, Y.
(1985) An analysis of trends in female labor force participation in Japan. Journal of Labor Economics, 3 1, 355–374. [URL]. DOI logo
Statistics Bureau of Japan
(2020) Statistical handbook of Japan 2020. [URL]
Steinberg, S., Kruckman, L., & Steinberg, S.
(2000) Reinventing fatherhood in Japan and Canada. Social Science and Medicine, 50 1, 1257–1272. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Strauss, A. L.
(1987) Qualitative analysis for social scientists. Cambridge University Press. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Tachibanaki, T.
(2010) The new paradox for Japanese women: Greater choice, greater inequality. International House.Google Scholar
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
(2012) International comparisons of annual labor force statistics, 1970–2012. [URL]
Watanabe, N.
(1995) Shufu kara zennichisei shimin e, soshite seikatsusha toshiteno josei e [From housewives to full citizens and vibrant women]. In Y. Sato, M. Amano, & H. Nasu (Eds.), Joseitachi no seikatsusha und ̄o: seikatsu kurabu o sasaeru hitobito [The women’s movement for everyday life] (pp. 175–221). Maruj ̄usha.Google Scholar
Yun, S. H.
(2012) An analysis of Confucianism’s yin-yang harmony with nature and the traditional oppression of women: Implications for social work practice. Journal of Social Work, 13 1, 582–598. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Zhang, Y. B., Lin, M-C., Nonaka, A., & Beon, K.
(2006) Harmony, hierarchy and conservatism: A cross-cultural comparison of Confucian Values in China, Korea, Japan, and Taiwan. Communication Research Reports, 22 1, 107–115. DOI logoGoogle Scholar