Gender and the Business Dress Code: the Case of Japan
The "tech bro" way of dressing for work is becoming a global phenomenon. The idea of T-shirts and jeans have gone from the image of the broke college student to the newly minted millionaires of the IT sector, making what used to be considered sloppy dressing a symbol of technological sophistication, hard work, innovativeness, and wealth that does not come from old money handed down the generations. "Dressing down," along with corporate welfare in the form of perks like free food, massage chairs, and "play-working" facilities have become hallmarks of successful IT firms.
Well, at least in the West. Here in Japan, the salaryman remains loyal to the black business suit, even in the hottest days of the summer. The unique business culture of the country means a unique style of dressing for work that generally involves a standard set for men: white dress shirt, black jacket, slacks, and dress shoes, along with a nice tie that introduce some colors to the repertoire. IT firms did manage to chip away at the conservative fashion sense of the salaryman, but only by a bit. Japanese IT firms are still full of guys in suits, just not with a full-on necktie.
Interestingly, however, Japanese businesswomen are subjected to much less fashion scrutiny than their male counterparts are. Sure, self-deprecating first-years in big firms show their humility with a white blouse, black jacket, and black dress skirt or pants, but while salarymen retain the same fashion sense at work as they get older, salary-women get more and more casual with their officewear. Indeed, as long as they are not meeting important clients face-to-face, it would not be surprising to find females in Japanese IT firms doing the "tech bro" attire, while their male coworkers remain stuck to the suit.
Essentially, the "tech dress code" in Japan is becoming the polar opposite of the US, where the concept really emerged. In the US, the men spearheaded the effort to dress down for work, while women placed greater emphasis on presentability over comfort. In Japan, professional presentability, in the form of the black business suit, remains more important for the men, while women seem more comfortable with dressing in a way that is, well, more comfortable. Despite the same emphasis on working comfortably, the tech sector manifested differently in two cultures with completely opposite results.
Cultural differences, especially when it comes to gender roles, may provide some explanations to the gender-based changes in fashion, but the connection is not so obvious. Across the business world, women have long suffered in positions that demand their beauty as a core competence. The secretaries, nurses, teachers, and especially flight attendants are overtly sexualized and marketed as such. Given that reality, women everywhere traditionally had to look their best, much more so than the men, because, quite literally, their job security depended on it. And looking their best cannot be done without impeccable fashion sense.
But conversely, as women in the West rose up to become more equal to men in the workplace, going beyond just beautiful to become also intelligent, somehow they found themselves unable to rid of the rigid social norms for impeccable fashion sense. Perhaps it comes down to a greater sense of crisis: because they feel they had to work much harder than men to get to the top of the corporate hierarchy, they want to deny any excuse for others to jettison them back down for minor infringements, such as not looking presentable based on how they dress. Fear at the workplace compels women to continue dressing well.
Compared to the West, women in Japan are both plagued and blessed. They are plagued by the fact that a similar level of gender equality has not been fought for and won in the workplace. In Japanese firms, women remain a tiny portion of the senior management and other positions of power. They find themselves locked out of promotions for being married, pregnant, and simply older and less physically beautiful. No amount of attention to the fashion sense changes the fact that they cannot climb the corporate ladder as high, on average, then women in the West can.
Yet, they are also, ironically, blessed on a daily basis because of their lack of career advancement. Knowing that they will never get as high as their male counterparts on the corporate hierarchy means that Japanese female workers need not care as much about their appearances as career-women in the West. The Japanese female workers have much less to lose since they were not given much from the very beginning, so they do not need to think so hard about dressing better than others at work in order to stay where they are (or go higher) professionally.
Of course, Japanese women already have plenty of social pressure to look their best outside work. So to see that they are dressing sloppily in absolute terms is a lie. But Japanese males, in their daily lives, are not sloppily dressed either. And unlike their male counterparts, the female workers do not need to try much harder to be presentable at work as at home. But behind this trend is not so much the freedom of dress given by the tech bro lifestyle, but the sad fact that Japanese females have not been able to achieve as much career equality as their Western counterparts.
Well, at least in the West. Here in Japan, the salaryman remains loyal to the black business suit, even in the hottest days of the summer. The unique business culture of the country means a unique style of dressing for work that generally involves a standard set for men: white dress shirt, black jacket, slacks, and dress shoes, along with a nice tie that introduce some colors to the repertoire. IT firms did manage to chip away at the conservative fashion sense of the salaryman, but only by a bit. Japanese IT firms are still full of guys in suits, just not with a full-on necktie.
Interestingly, however, Japanese businesswomen are subjected to much less fashion scrutiny than their male counterparts are. Sure, self-deprecating first-years in big firms show their humility with a white blouse, black jacket, and black dress skirt or pants, but while salarymen retain the same fashion sense at work as they get older, salary-women get more and more casual with their officewear. Indeed, as long as they are not meeting important clients face-to-face, it would not be surprising to find females in Japanese IT firms doing the "tech bro" attire, while their male coworkers remain stuck to the suit.
Essentially, the "tech dress code" in Japan is becoming the polar opposite of the US, where the concept really emerged. In the US, the men spearheaded the effort to dress down for work, while women placed greater emphasis on presentability over comfort. In Japan, professional presentability, in the form of the black business suit, remains more important for the men, while women seem more comfortable with dressing in a way that is, well, more comfortable. Despite the same emphasis on working comfortably, the tech sector manifested differently in two cultures with completely opposite results.
Cultural differences, especially when it comes to gender roles, may provide some explanations to the gender-based changes in fashion, but the connection is not so obvious. Across the business world, women have long suffered in positions that demand their beauty as a core competence. The secretaries, nurses, teachers, and especially flight attendants are overtly sexualized and marketed as such. Given that reality, women everywhere traditionally had to look their best, much more so than the men, because, quite literally, their job security depended on it. And looking their best cannot be done without impeccable fashion sense.
But conversely, as women in the West rose up to become more equal to men in the workplace, going beyond just beautiful to become also intelligent, somehow they found themselves unable to rid of the rigid social norms for impeccable fashion sense. Perhaps it comes down to a greater sense of crisis: because they feel they had to work much harder than men to get to the top of the corporate hierarchy, they want to deny any excuse for others to jettison them back down for minor infringements, such as not looking presentable based on how they dress. Fear at the workplace compels women to continue dressing well.
Compared to the West, women in Japan are both plagued and blessed. They are plagued by the fact that a similar level of gender equality has not been fought for and won in the workplace. In Japanese firms, women remain a tiny portion of the senior management and other positions of power. They find themselves locked out of promotions for being married, pregnant, and simply older and less physically beautiful. No amount of attention to the fashion sense changes the fact that they cannot climb the corporate ladder as high, on average, then women in the West can.
Yet, they are also, ironically, blessed on a daily basis because of their lack of career advancement. Knowing that they will never get as high as their male counterparts on the corporate hierarchy means that Japanese female workers need not care as much about their appearances as career-women in the West. The Japanese female workers have much less to lose since they were not given much from the very beginning, so they do not need to think so hard about dressing better than others at work in order to stay where they are (or go higher) professionally.
Of course, Japanese women already have plenty of social pressure to look their best outside work. So to see that they are dressing sloppily in absolute terms is a lie. But Japanese males, in their daily lives, are not sloppily dressed either. And unlike their male counterparts, the female workers do not need to try much harder to be presentable at work as at home. But behind this trend is not so much the freedom of dress given by the tech bro lifestyle, but the sad fact that Japanese females have not been able to achieve as much career equality as their Western counterparts.
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