JAP WOMEN AND SOCIAL STATUS
Indicativc of the soeial status as-. signed to Japanosc womfch is tho comlueht of a New Zealand officer with the ■J Foi-ce who stated in a recent letter: "1 do not iieed a batrnan as I have -a Japanese house-girl who will not even allow me to lift a chair. The womei are einployed in f.jnqat.;- o|;- r:i)vb heavy labouring work iii this -country, . and as I write, a - .woma'n ■ labourer outgide is carrying for . se veral . hundred yards stones whi'ch I would not car'e to lift inyself. In Japan, of course, -.women, are entirely subse'rvient to their men folk, u alking behind them w'heu theygo'.out of doors, and .always carrying the ,'par-cc-ls if there are any to, b.e-earri'ed., . "Before the war piarriagOi was ' the only suitable .career i'or. a-better-;las3 Japanese girl". And as ofteil as not the girl lierself had no- say in ■ the chLoic.e of a husband, but would' have to tahe whai was given her without coinplaihirg. Once married, a Japanese wife is expectcd to be a hiodel "of -serviiity, aiwayS kneeling ,t° T-epe|vC h^r.'ihusbfind ;mg hOr vown liatli in: tlie bath wMtejr after lieJiaS linished With it.-/ Slie ihtist; sit circumspectly on the fl.oor,-ready -it all times tp listen to. what .het lord ind mastor has to say. " • ' "The average Japanese mothcr and housewife has not the same. drudgery with housework that our own women have, because the Japanese live more simjily and their homes are not furcislied with all sorts of knick;knacks as ours are. The young wife and mother has plcnty of time to deyote to her, cliildren, and if she is lucky.and has a kind husband her home may be a happy one. But running through ; her' life, as tlirough the Japanese art, is'this peculiar einptiness. She is not allowed tQ think for herself or be a personality. If her husband is displeased with her he may even retum her to her parents. Qo her life is rcally the life of a slave, altliougli it may be, and frequently is, comfortable and pleasant slavery."
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https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/CHRONL19460427.2.6.5
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Chronicle (Levin), 27 April 1946, Page 3
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346JAP WOMEN AND SOCIAL STATUS Chronicle (Levin), 27 April 1946, Page 3
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