How Japanese is this?
What does this tell us about gender, generally?
Zach F.
Does the opinion that subtle acts of resistance are referred to as only being natural. What ideas can we draw from this? Can resistance still be effective?
Allison H.
"OLs seemed to agree more readily that a certain man should be condemned than that sex-discriminatory company policies should be corrected?" Why is this? What would have to occur in order for women to come together to fight against the inequitable status of men and women in Japan?
Marc
OL's seem to be heading towards a path where they must choose between informal power and formal power. Is it possible for them to have both?
Emanuel
What situation is more equal? Women OLs having access to upward mobility while unable to influence a manager's actions or an OL who can exert influence through informal power but cannot move beyond OL in the corporate structure?
Alexa
Ogasawara states that White Day is yet another day to assess a man's generosity. Do you feel that generosity is actually the appropriate word for describing the reaction of men on that day? Is it possible that White Day is actually a day of control?
Stephanie W.
According to the author, White Day gained speed in the 1980s, what social factors of this time period contributed to the increased significance of White Day?
Matt
Ogasawaru writes on page 119 that "Men who compete in the race for promotion must make a good impression on high-ranking managers. These men do not have a choice- they must do favors." Yet, earlier on this page it is evident that women "have the power to decline to do a favor". Are men really the one's who are oppressed since they have to do all favors asked of them in order to get promoted?
Kristen L.
Why do the OLs pressure men to treat them for lunch and dinner etc., do women enjoy this power? Or is this the only way for them to attain any sort of power? Do you think this is right or wrong?
Shannon
Aren't the wives who purchase White Day gifts promoting the discriminatory treatment of women in the office? Do you think they actually realize that they are furthering the subjugation of women or do they think they are actually doing OLs a favor?
Zach N.
Do OLs not care that they are treated poorly, because they know secretly they hold the upper hand?
L.B.
I find the amount of power which OL's hold over the men both individually and as a collective group amazing. Do you think that if more fair hiring practices and more management opportunities were implemented that OL power would increase or decrease?
Hannah
it seems that the hold of power against the OL's actually helps them in bargaining, but is it worth never being able to achieve a higher position, which is the better option, being a working woman in america or japan?
Allison P.
If OL's read this book would it change their minds about how they are being treated at work and their response to it?
Minoru
OL does resist. However, this resistance activities like declining favor does not happen because they are women and these activities like gossip are female stuff. This is not a problem of gender but that of structural inequality between men and women jobs. Therefore, the resistances should not be easily conceived as feminine activities. What's important here; how are these activities supposed to be feminine generated as if being feminine?
Emily M.
I find it interesting that Ogaswara states the men are more dependent on women (160). We also know that women are dependent on men for financial stability. Is Japanese society just men's codependence on women, and vice versa?
Zach F.
Is there any way to break "the more Ols resist, the more they promote the stereotype: that women get carried away with emotion; that they are unable to make rational decisions; and that they are not seriously committed to business."
Megan G.
In Japanese society there seems to be an interconnected relationship between professional status in the workplace (being a salary man) and social status at home (married with children), why do you believe this connection is so prevalent in Japanese society? Do you believe it will force more homosexual men in to marriages under false pretenses?
Emily P.
In order to gain society's trust, men must get married. Yet, society doesn't allow them to participate in the family structure. What then, can men do when society is constraining them either way?
Shannon
How does the heterosexual inability to recognize their own power within the social construction reflect the plight of the OLs. Do you think it's possible to recognize yourself as a person of power within a social construction or is there always going to be someone you perceive as more powerful?
Allison H.
"Marriage, in hiw view, was 'part of the course nature takes.'" Is marriage really natural? What in Japanese society reinforces this concept of marriage and a necessity and as natural?
Stephanie W.
The idea that opting out of marriage is a noncompliance with society seems true in most societies. It is generally not "normal" to decide that you never want to marry. Why is this? What factors in Japanese society, and others, attribute to marriage expectations that exist within contemporary society? Are they changing? Is the expectation to marry waning?
Emily M.
One of the fathers interviewed stated, "I get the feeling that my trustworthiness at work has increased and things are moving in a favorable direction, that I'm trusted more" (180). Does this statement suggest that being a parent typically causes a male to receive more respect from his boss? Sometimes, in America, having children is seen as a distraction to workers in the form of phone calls from children, attending sporting events, etc. However, Japanese men rarely attend their child's graduation ceremony, as seen in Secrets of Mariko. Is it true that fathers appear to be more trustworthy, even though they may be absent from large events in their child's upbringing?
Marc
Do you find it odd that gay men are asked to keep their personal lives to themselves when married men and fathers seem to be honored and treated more favorably for their family ties?
L.B.
Is sexuality in the workplace truly a "private" or "personal" matter? Or is this only so because it is assumed that a man within the workplace is heterosexual?
Nicole
On page 181, the author wrote, "Thus, despite the very real shift and changes in gender and sexuality practice and ideology discussed in many of the chapters in this volume, in all likelihood, hegemonic notions surrounding what constitutes masculinity (and femininity) will also constitute to shape individuals' day-to-day behavior and actions well into the future." Do you agree with this statement, or do you think that characteristics of masculinity and femininity will eventually become relatively equal in the future?
LaKeisha
Do you think if fathers become more involved with their children that it will create a decline in birth rate?
Hannah
Through many of the readings it seems that japanese people marry out of convenience, how do relationships between the gay and straight world in japan vary?
Alexa
Why don't homosexual men try to change the system by using more direct means instead of the internet?
Danielle
Do you think that it is more beneficial for married men and women to have separate roles or to both work and spend time doing household chores?
Emily P.
Gay men undergo much of the same uneasiness and discrimination in the United States as Mark McLelland describes in his article. What makes this specific argument Japanese then?
Katie S.
The author says "Japanese society expects everyone to act in a similar way. If one acts differently, there is a negative sanction" (209). Is this true for all societies?
Bijal
Do you think this article depicts a fathers relationship with his children differently from the other readings we have done this semester?
Meagan B.
If the actions of a man are in the "margin", as opposed to the "normal" decisions he is expected to make, how does this make him less masculine in the eyes of his coworkers?