How Japan sees #KuToo and gender expectations now

In 2019, the #KuToo movement became a hot topic in Japan. This was a wake-up call to the gender expectation that women should wear heels in general business settings. In these days of much discussion about gender equality and genderless fashion, the movement is gathering attention again. Here are some changes that have occurred in Japanese society since the #KuToo movement started.

Prime Minister and some major companies have indicated their support for #KuToo

A Japanese woman named Yumi Ishikawa started this activity by sharing her story on Twitter. She collected signatures for an online petition and submitted over 18,000 signatures to the government in June 2021. The number of signatures kept increasing and has exceeded 33,000.

In response to the #KuToo movement, a major telecommunications company Docomo in 2019 and two major airlines firms, ANA and JAL, in 2020, abolished their “heel rules.” Based on these corporate moves, the prime minister at the time, Shinzo Abe, said, “I would like to state clearly that we should not force women to suffer because of the way they dress when men and women do the same work.”

About 70% of people are critical of “heel manners”

According to a recent survey, when asked “What do you think of the expectation that women must wear high heeled shoes at work?” nearly 70% of the total respondents expressed their opposition to this custom. Only 1.6% of the respondents were in favor. The #KuToo movement may have helped people understand the essence of the issue.

However, this movement has also attracted its share of criticism. Some critics remarked that “Wearing heels is a custom that we should follow,” “Those women are just being lazy because it’s hard for them” or “Why don’t women just stop wearing heels if they don’t want to wear them? It’s not an obligation.”

Ishikawa has said in response that “Some companies have rules that force women to wear heels. Even if there are no clear rules, many women feel forced to wear heels due to customs or unspoken rules.”

#KuToo movement, an activity to realize diversity

#KuToo is not a movement to abolish heels, but to argue that we should stop forcing women to wear specific items, including heels against their will. We should also acknowledge the fact the “obligation” to wear heels makes it difficult for women to perform their duties and increases their risk of injury.

Regardless of gender, there are probably people who feel oppressed by such stigma. Although the #KuToo movement focuses on women’s wellness, it is more fundamentally a movement to realize diversity.