Female Backlash against Gender Equality in Japan

From the Analysis of Conservative Discourse on “Family Values”

Abstract

　Conservatives and conservative associations have attacked the 1999 Basic Law for aGender-equal Society, whose aim was to correct gender discrimination and the gendergap from 2000. Today, this force is called “Backlash”, and is supported by housewivesat the grassroots. Are these women opposed to gender equality, and if so, why? Thispaper explores the reason why some housewives join the backlash, and examinesgender politics in that backlash. For this purpose, we analyze conservative discoursein magazines, newsletters of various associations, and communication magazines ofgrassroots movements.　As a result of the analysis, we find the following two points. Firstly, while abstractarguments that regard the family as the foundation of society and of the state accountfor the vast majority of articles, housewives however emphasize individual experiences,such as communication among family members, housekeeping and child-raising.Secondly, conservative female intellectuals are observed to have two facets, that ofthe intellectual, and that of the housewife. They describe the stories of their ownexperiences in the family as a housewife, and also discuss their value from the point ofview of society and state.　In conclusion, we examine the internal politics of the backlash. There are conflictingopinions between housewives and the mainstream of the backlash about the familymodel. However, the two facets of conservative female intellectuals conceal the conflict,and assume a pseudo-continuity between housewives’ individual experiences andconservative discourse.