It is often said that Japan falls behind other leading industralised nations when it comes to the treatment of women. Personally, I think this is complete bullshit. In fact, I think Japan should be praised for its attitudes towards gender equality.

I mean, sure, people can point out the fact that males tend to dominate in all walks of life in Japan but I think that’s missing the point. Ok, studies do show that Japanese women fall behind women in most other countries in economic and decision-making roles. Big wow. Yeah it’s true that Japan ranked a lowly 41st out of 70 countries in a recent United Nations Gender Empowerment study. So what!?

Does this mean that women are treated as inferior to men in Japan? I don’t think so.
Some people say that Japan’s business climate tends to be male-dominated. But is it really!? I mean, people may point to the figures that show that in Japan only 3% of department managers are female. Who cares! And so what if salaries for Japanese women are on average less than half of that of their male co-workers!? Is that really important?
I think that men and women are treated exactly as they should be, particularly on TV and across the media. I don’t think there is any objectification of women as sex objects at all. Also I don’t think you could never say that Japanese women are patronized. In fact, I think if anything, companies tend to be too feminist!

For example, an advert for Tokyo Gas Company a few years ago was praised for its enlightened attitude towards women. It was actually so successful that it even won the prestigious Asahi Advertising Prize.

Here is a brief description of the advert. It would probably be better to just show it but I couldn’t find it on youtube so what can you do.

The advert starts by showing a woman carrying out some normal everyday women’s duties (in this case, she is in the kitchen, wearing an apron and washing dishes whilst next to her a pot is boiling on a stove). It then shows the woman's reflection in a mirror, putting on lipstick (again, a perfectly normal thing for a woman to be doing). However, she can’t put the lipstick on very well because she is not looking at herself, she is watching the pot on the stove.

The advert is for a gas cooker with a special sensor that automatically stops the gas when the fire goes out. A caption read, "Toshi gasu wa feminsuto ne?" meaning, "City Gas is a feminist, isn't it?"

The idea is that because Tokyo Gas brought out this special gas cooker, it helps women with their tasks. She now doesn’t have to worry about the flame going out and her house filling with gas. This cooker would free her from constantly watching the stove and allow her to continue with her important “woman’s jobs” like doing the dishes, or putting on make-up.

I mean some people might argue that this is blatantly chauvinistic, but I would say that’s just political correctness gone mad! To me, this truly is an example of feminism – it is thinking about women’s needs. What a considerate company Tokyo Gas must be – always thinking about how it can improve women’s lives. For example, a woman might be in a real rush, she’s got a shitload of cleaning to do and she’s gotta cook dinner – how does she find the time to put her make up on!!!? Now, thanks to this new cooker she doesn’t have to worry about watching the stove the whole time.

No wonder the advert won an award.

I think these people moaning about gender inequalities and the like just need to chill the fuck out. Like I say, it’s political correctness gone mad!

I mean, for fucks sake, some people would probably even find this following video offensive. Personally I cannot see what the hell is wrong with a man going up to random women in the street and lifting their skirts and pulling their knickers down. Surely that is just a bit of harmless fun?

“Nihon wa feminsuto ne?”