In response to a petition seeking a ban on requiring women to wear high heels at work, Japan’s health minister on Wednesday said that such dress code expectations are “necessary and appropriate” in the workplace.
Japanese Minister of Health, Labor and Welfare Takumi Nemoto was responding to the online campaign gaining attention in Japan under the hashtag #KuToo, a play on the Japanese words for shoe, kutsu, and pain, kutsuu.
The petition, which has collected 21,000 online signatures and is still growing, was on Monday submitted to the Japanese Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare by Yumi Ishikawa, a 32-year-old funeral parlor worker.
Photo: AFP
She in January said on Twitter that she was required to wear 5cm to 7cm heels at work, causing her feet to hurt.
Many Japanese companies might not explicitly require female employees to wear high heels, but many women do so because of tradition and social expectations.
“I think it’s within the range of what’s commonly accepted as necessary and appropriate in the workplace,” Nemoto said in response to a question from an opposition lawmaker in a parliamentary committee meeting.
However, Nemoto also said that it could be considered “power harassment” if employers required female workers who had been injured to wear high heels.
Ishikawa yesterday said that Nemoto’s comments had pushed the issue even more into the spotlight and wanted people to debate the issue seriously.
“It seems like men don’t really understand that wearing high heels can be painful and lead to injuries,” she told reporters.
“But even if women aren’t hurt, I’d like such expectations to be considered power harassment,” Ishikawa said.
Nemoto’s remarks might prompt some women to bring the issue up with their bosses, Ishikawa said.
“This might spur that kind of action, so I think this is going in a good direction,” she said.
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