Abstract
In recent years, there has been an increase in men who compete for pink-collar jobs. In particular, there has been an increase in the number of males who engage in care work such as nursing, caregiving, and child care. This phenomenon can be interpreted as a change in the gender regime, especially when it is observed in comparison to women who compete in occupations that are dominated by men. However, very few influential studies in the field of women's studies have focused on pink-collar males. This is also the case in men's studies, which have mostly focused on "masculinity." The purpose of this investigation was to examine pink-collar men in Japan, especially from the perspective of "masculinization of care work." Many narratives demonstrate that pink-collar men are sometimes considered as "tokens," because they are a minority. However, their position is not simply symmetrical to that of women who are minorities in male-dominated occupations. In a sort of irony, pink-collar men reflect the gender order of modem society and care work, and vice versa.
