No doubt many women love wearing heels every day but that is not the case with every woman. But in Japan, women now have to wear heels to work every day.
Japan’s health and labor minister, Takumi Nemoto has defended the controversial practice of wearing heels at work every day. This week, a social media campaign was started in the country which asked the government to ban the rule wanting women to wear heels at work.
No doubt the campaign got immense support from the social media but the health minister called it occupationally necessary and appropriate.
A petition was submitted to the labor ministry for the campaign #KuToo which is derived from the Japnese words Kutsu and Kutsuu which means pain. The campaign also draws resemblance to the global #MeToo movement against sexual abuse.
During a parliamentary committee meeting on June, the Japanese minister Takumi Nemoto was asked to speak on the same. He defended the workplaces that make dress code demands for women including high heels. He said, “It is socially accepted as something that falls with the realm of being occupationally necessary and appropriate.”
The #KuToo movement is lead by actor and writer Yumi Ishikawa. She launched a petition after she was forced to wear heels working in a funeral parlor. The movement got support from other women internationally.
Campaigners of this initiative say that wearing high heels is almost a compulsion for them while looking for a job in companies. Some campaigners describe high heels as akin to modern foot-binding while others have urged a broader loosening of dress codes in the Japanese workplace
But now it seems there will be no relief for the women soon as the minister itself has defended the workplaces.
