2018 Volume 69 Issue 3 Pages 320-337
The purpose of this paper is to describe the formation and transformation of images of working women during the interwar period in the Japanese women's magazine Shufu no Tomo.
The findings were as follows: The magazine considered women working in offices, schools, hospitals, and department stores as typical working women. During the first decade (1917-27), many writers who wrote about working women were critical of the employment of women. These writers generally believed that working women were unenthusiastic and susceptible to temptation. They argued that women should find their calling as housewives and mothers. In addition, they claimed that working women should not compete with male workers in business, and women should instead find the right job to take advantage of their strengths: meticulousness and a soft attitude. Furthermore, these writers taught women that their success through work was demonstrated by getting along well with their colleagues. These arguments regarding women's success lowered the career aspirations of women.
During the second decade (1928-37), many writers accepted the employment of women because they understood working women's labor as a form of education that prepared them for marriage. These writers found similarities between the characteristics of working women's labor and that of housewives, namely, manual and emotional labor. Writing during this period taught women that the success they achieved through work was shown by getting married and being happy housewives. This type of success agitated women's career aspirations. The image of the working woman became contiguous with the image of the housewife because of this process. The normal course of a woman's life legitimized the idea that working women were marginal workers, and it enhanced the legitimacy of the position of the housewife because working women were perceived as callow daughters, which made the position of a housewife more appealing.
