Attitudes toward Household Division of Labor in Japan

• In Event: 2351 - Section on the Sociology of Sex and Gender Refereed Roundtables
  In Refereed Roundtable 100min: 2. Gender and Household Division of Labor

Abstract

While various theoretical perspectives have been used to explain the actual as well as of the perceived household division of labor, narratives of the individual actors who perform the housework have rarely been the focus of research. This research aims to examine men and women’s feelings, interpretations, rationales, and justifications of the division and identify what factors might account for these perceptions. We use Japan as an illustrative case of an institutional-social context characterized by social norms that define husbands’ role as the primary breadwinner while emphasizing women’s roles in domestic work and childrearing. Our analysis of in-depth interviews conducted with 50 Japanese highly-educated married men and women in early adulthood shows that many accept a highly gendered division of household labor, even if their division is different from their ideal. We argue and theorize that men and women’s perceptions of the household division of labor are shaped by the macro-level institutional and gender-role ideology environment. Specifically, the combination of male-centered workplace norms characterized by the rigid structure of regular full-time work and the persistent expectation that men be breadwinners inevitably contribute to how individuals view the skewed division of household labor.

Authors

• Yuko Hara, University of Maryland

• Mary C. Brinton, Harvard University