"Worried About Men"

2022/11/10

About 30 years ago, when I had just become a newspaper reporter, I admired a senior male reporter who was calm, composed, and resolute in standing up to politicians and others in power. In my 30s, I was assigned to a weekly magazine with many male readers. There, I witnessed men—whom I had assumed were socially dominant and strong—actually suffering from various problems at work and at home, unable to confide in anyone. This deeply moved me and marked the beginning of my journey to explore the essence of the difficulties men face in life.

More than 20 years have passed since then. During this time, the experience of resuming my research at Keio University and refining my survey and analysis methods has been invaluable. I received my doctoral degree and became a university faculty member a few years ago. To date, I have conducted continuous interviews with individuals for up to 22 years, and the number of subjects in my continuous surveys exceeds 500 for men alone.

In this book, I address the issues men face at various milestones in life—from romance and marriage to raising children, the competition for promotion, caring for elderly parents or wives, and life after retirement—and analyze the social factors involved.

One man from the "employment ice age" generation used the frustration of being rejected by women due to his low income as motivation to hone his professional skills. However, shortly after securing a regular position at age 43, he grew increasingly anxious that he would be unable to get promoted due to the handicap of his long years of non-regular employment. Another man, who lost out in the competition for promotion, tried to find his sense of self-worth by being involved in childcare and seeking his wife's approval. However, the excessive stress of being an unwilling "masked ikumen" led him to commit child abuse.

At the root of their difficulties are fixed gender norms of "masculinity," such as "one must succeed and gain social recognition" and "one must be the economic and emotional pillar for one's wife and children."

Due to changes in economic and social structures, an increasing number of men are suffering because they cannot embody traditional norms of "masculinity" and are branded as "failures." They are people on the oppressed side.

Gender equality is necessary for men as well. While women have been oppressed for many years, men have also been forced to work long hours and sacrifice their private lives, while being subjected to harsh public scrutiny for deviating from gender norms. In this book, I propose gender equality policies for men.

If the difficulties men face are alleviated, it will also become easier for women to live. I hope this book will help people think from multiple perspectives toward the realization of true gender equality.

"Worried About Men"

Shoko Okuda

PHP Research Centers and Institutes

248 pages, 1,100 yen (tax included)

*Affiliations, job titles, etc., are as of the time of publication.