東アジアにおける女性の「社会進出」の比較

抄録

This paper reviews the genesis and change of housewives in East Asian societies : Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, North Korea and China. To recognize the housewife as a historical product is to admit the possibility of its disappearance. Although East Asian societies have often been treated together as a Confucian cultural sphere, the present and future status of women in these societies are remarkbly different. In socialist societies virtually all women are supposed to work in the name of "women's liberation" but the status of women is not all the same. In North Korea patriarchal traditions are so well preserved that household chores are done solely by women, whereas in China men's participation in housework is quite prevalent. Patriarchy in Taiwan does not particularly emphasize motherhood as the most inportant female role and working outside the home is often considered one of women's responsibilities. Housewives in Taiwan, therefore, are most likely to follow the American type of the vanishing housewife. By contrast Korean housewives are still largely confined to their homes and transition to the next stage is quite unlikely because of strong Confucian influence just like in their Northern counterpart. In Japan, mothering still remains an essential role for married women and therefore prevent housewives from proceeding to the next stage although Japan is for more advanced than Taiwan in the economic sense.