Making women wear high heels in the workplace is ‘necessary and appropriate’, says Japanese health minister following campaign to end the tradition
- Women should wear high heels to work Japan’s health minister has claimed
- Comments were on a petition calling for the shoes to be banned as an obligation
- Started after funeral parlour worker required to wear two-to-three-inch heels
Women should wear high heels at work because it is ‘necessary and appropriate’, Japan’s health minister has claimed.
The comment came after Takumi Nemoto was asked about a 21,000-signature petition, submitted to his ministry on Monday, that asks for the shoes to be banned as a workplace requirement.
It was started by 32-year-old funeral parlour worker Yumi Ishikawa after she tweeted about being ordered to wear two-to-three-inch heels to work, causing her feet to hurt.
Women should wear high heels at work because it is ‘necessary and appropriate’, Japan’s health minister, Takumi Nemoto, has claimed. He was speaking in response to a 21,000-signature petition started by 32-year-old funeral parlour worker Yumi Ishikawa (Pictured) who said she has to wear two-to-three-inch heels to work
He made the comments before adding that it could be considered ‘power harassment’ if injured female workers were also required to wear high heels
‘I think it’s within the range of what’s commonly accepted as necessary and appropriate in the workplace,’ Nemoto said in Tokyo, responding to a parliamentary committee question.
However, he also said it could be considered ‘power harassment’ if injured female workers were also required to wear high heels.
Ishikawa said these remarks might prompt some women to bring up the issue with their bosses.
‘It seems like men don’t really understand that wearing high heels can be painful and lead to injuries,’ she said.
‘But even if women aren’t hurt, I’d like such expectations to be considered power harassment.’
She tweeted about the requirement, saying that it made her feet hurt. Speaking about the health ministers remarks, she hopes it may prompt women to bring up the issue with their employer
‘This might spur that kind of action, so I think this is going in a good direction.’
Online campaign #KuToo has already gained traction in Japan, which is a play on Japanese words ‘kutsu’, for shoe, and ‘Kutsuu’, which means pain.
Many Japanese companies may not explicitly require female employees to wear high heels but many do because of tradition and social expectations.
The health ministry said it was reviewing the petition and declined to comment further.
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