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<p class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://learningenglish.voanews.com/a/japanese-women-stand-against-high-heels/4945361.html"><span style="color:blue">https://learningenglish.voanews.com/a/japanese-women-stand-against-high-heels/4945361.html</span></a><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:14.0pt">JAPAN – WOMEN REJECT HIGH HEELS & OTHER CLOTHING RULES AT WORK<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:20.25pt;background:white"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Georgia",serif;color:#222F3A">June 4, 2019 - Thousands of Japanese women have joined a social media campaign against rules for what kind of clothing
is acceptable at work. The campaign also rejects expectations that women wear high <b>heels</b> in the workplace.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:20.25pt;background:white"><img border="0" width="650" height="476" id="Picture_x0020_1" src="cid:image001.jpg@01D51BD5.688E5500" alt="Female office workers wearing high heels, clothes and bags of the same color make their way at a business district in Tokyo, Japan, June 4, 2019. (REUTERS/Kim Kyung-Hoon)"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Georgia",serif;color:#222F3A"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background:white"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Georgia",serif;color:#768492">Female office workers wearing high heels, clothes and bags of the same color make their way at a business district in Tokyo, Japan, June 4,
2019. (REUTERS/Kim Kyung-Hoon)</span><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Georgia",serif;color:#222F3A"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background:white"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Georgia",serif;color:#222F3A"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:20.25pt;background:white"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Georgia",serif;color:#222F3A">The movement is called #KuToo. The term #KuToo is a play on the Japanese word “kutsu” for shoes and “kutsuu,” meaning
pain.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:20.25pt;background:white"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Georgia",serif;color:#222F3A">Yumi Ishikawa launched the campaign after leaving a message on the social networking service Twitter. She wrote about
being forced to wear high heels for a part-time job at a funeral home. The 32-year-old said the requirement is an example of <b>gender </b>discrimination.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:20.25pt;background:white"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Georgia",serif;color:#222F3A">Ishikawa also works part-time as a writer and as an actress. She has started on online appeal to demand the government
bar companies from requiring female employees to wear high heels on the job. As of Tuesday, nearly 20,000 women have signed the appeal.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:20.25pt;background:white"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Georgia",serif;color:#222F3A">Ishikawa wrote that wearing high heels causes health problems for women with their feet and in the lower back. “It’s
hard to move, you can’t run and your feet hurt. All because of <b>manners</b>,” she wrote, noting that men do not face the same expectations.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:20.25pt;background:white"><b><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Georgia",serif;color:#222F3A">Japan’s gender discrimination</span></b><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Georgia",serif;color:#222F3A"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:20.25pt;background:white"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Georgia",serif;color:#222F3A">While many Japanese companies may not exactly require female employees to wear high heels, many women do so because
of tradition and social expectations.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:20.25pt;background:white"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Georgia",serif;color:#222F3A">Ishikawa said she had been the target of online <b>harassment</b> over the campaign, mostly from men. “I’ve been asked
why I need to make such a big deal about this - can’t I just work this out with your company?” she said.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:20.25pt;background:white"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Georgia",serif;color:#222F3A">Ishikawa told the Reuters news agency, “We need people to realize that gender discrimination can show up in lots of
small ways.” She noted the way women are treated by their supervisors and expectations that women will do all the housework and childcare - even if they work outside the home.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:20.25pt;background:white"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Georgia",serif;color:#222F3A">Japan, she said, is “way behind other countries in this regard.” Japan finished in 110th place out of 149 countries
in the World Economic Forum’s gender-equality ratings.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:20.25pt;background:white"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Georgia",serif;color:#222F3A">Until recently, Japanese businessmen were expected to wear neckties at work. However, that has changed since the government
launched a campaign in 2005 to persuade companies to turn down air-conditioners and reduce electricity use.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:20.25pt;background:white"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Georgia",serif;color:#222F3A">“It would be great if the country had a similar kind of campaign about high heels,” said Ishikawa. The health ministry
said it was considering the appeal, but had nothing more to say.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:20.25pt;background:white"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Georgia",serif;color:#222F3A">In Britain, Nicola Thorp launched a similar appeal in 2016 after she was sent home from work for refusing to wear high
heels.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:20.25pt;background:white"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Georgia",serif;color:#222F3A">A parliamentary investigation found there was discrimination in British workplaces, but the government rejected a bill
banning companies from requiring women to wear high heels.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">__________________________________________________________<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
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