Cultural Issues
...paper is to compare Japanese and Middle Eastern Arab-
Muslim cultures concerning the issue of gender, gender roles, and the treatment of
women and men throughout history. Muslim women and men, in the Middle East,
definitely differ from Japanese men and women, particularly in current issues of
marriage, workforce, education, family, and social living. Although they may have
differences in current issues, they also have similarities of oppressing women historically.
Throughout my research, I will compare Japanese and Arab Muslims in various aspects of
their culture. To have a better understanding of these issues, traditional background
information on each culture is required to understand current issues.
I examined Japanese historical traditions of gender roles and how these roles
became established within their culture. Before WWII, Japan's status of women were
very low under the matrilineal and patriarchal ideology. (Yumiko, 2000, pg. 41) Women
were restricted from government activities, such as voting and owning property. Japanese
women during this time, also could not make decisions on where they wanted to live.
(Yumiko, 2000, pg. 41) Men on the other hand, were considered head of the family and
were permitted to make decisions of where his wife lived and worked. (Yumiko, 2000,
pg. 41) According to Bernstein, in her book "Recreating Japanese Women, 1600-1945",
the Confucian belief reinforced these social gender roles and the ideal family. The
Confucian concept of women was "good wife, wise mother", and has influenced beliefs
about gender roles. (Dolan and Worden, 1992) The Confucian concept of women
discouraged young mothers from raising their children alone, because they were seen to
be morally unfit. (Bernstein, 1991, pg. 4) For instance, child rearing was the...
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