10th speaker Wakaba Onose
"Towards a 'Win-Win' Society"
Why she delivers her speech
I had been longing to deliver this speech in this contest to break the glass ceiling that prevails in Japanese society and realize gender equality. Ever since I read the book Lean In by Sheryl Sandberg (COO, Facebook) two years ago, I have been passionate to seek solutions to the myriad problems related to this issue. Through my speech, I would like to raise awareness of the deeply rooted perceptions in the society that are making both men and women struggle to expand one’s own potential and fulfill their lives. Why can’t women succeed in their career as a working mother? Why can’t men split the burden of breadwinning with his partner and care for the family? I hope that even by baby steps, Japan will make its way forward to encourage all genders to pursue their dreams. This is the message that I truly believe in and want to deliver in my last speech as a student.
Script
One phrase in the concession speech of the American Presidential Election by Hillary Clinton struck my heart this November: “To all of the little girls who are watching this, never doubt that you are valuable and powerful and deserving of every chance and opportunity in the world to pursue and achieve your own dreams”. There is a reason why this phrase stung. It is because I have so many female friends around me, who are so bright and full of potential, that I feel are not taking full advantage of it. The cause being: the perception of gender roles.
I believe that the deeply rooted perceptions of gender roles in Japan are obstructing opportunities of people in the society. Therefore, I am standing here today to realize a win-win society in Japan, here defined as the state of both men and women getting same social opportunities. I will attack this problem by explaining how the elimination of gender roles could enhance the possibilities of all people, regardless of whether he or she is a woman or man.
Gender equality in Japan has been far behind other countries in the world. Last year, it ranked 101st out of 145 countries in the global gender equality rankings set by the World Economic Forum. According to the Japan Institute of Labor Policy and Training, the ratio of female management positions in Japan is only 11%, whereas in the United States, the percentage is over 44% and in France 39%. Even with our government enforcing policies, which encourage women to play more active roles in companies, Japan is facing a gender inequality crisis.
Let me talk a little bit about myself. Since I was a child, I have always dreamt of making business that can improve people’s lives all over the world. Therefore, starting next year I will pursue my dream by working in a Japanese trading company or “sogo-shosha” in Japanese. I am very proud to undertake my dream job and am greatly looking forward to working with people from all around the world.
However, in this society, not everyone takes ambitious women positively. This was especially the case with my male friends in Japan. Working in a trading company is known to be a tough job, and is still a male-dominated industry. Therefore I got many stinging comments such as, “Why do you have such high ambitions?” or in the worst case, “What about your future family? I think you will neglect your family because your future dreams are self-centered”. Even some female friends gave me sarcastic comments like “Your so strong, maybe stronger than a guy”. These comments honestly hurt. Why can men have big dreams to run after but we women are supposed to stay “feminine” and support the men? Why can’t women be SAMURAIs too? Everyone, this is reality. In our society today, the majority of us potentially perceive it to be natural that men are the breadwinners and it is beautiful for women to be the supporters.
This was not the case in Canada, where I studied for a year. When I talked about my dream and women’s working conditions in Japan, everyone encouraged and supported me. One of my best friends who was a guy told me, “Wakaba, you should do what you want to do with your life. You can be the one to change it”. This is one of the reasons why I am making this speech today. As far as I experienced, it is normal in some other countries like Canada for females to want to work for a lifetime or take on a job that was traditionally male-dominated.
Here I noticed a big difference between Japan and Canada. In Japan, gender roles have deep connections with what is thought to be the ideal “happy life”. However, in Canada, people respect and support other’s dreams and goals regardless of gender. Gender has no relation to what dream a human being wants to go after. There is no “right” or “wrong” to how a person wants to live, because she is a woman or because he is a man. I believe this is how every dream of every human being should be treated.
My message today then, is please imagine a world where we do not have the perception of gender roles. Please perceive both women and men as humans before looking at the fact that we are men or women. By this I mean you yourself as well. When people are asked their biggest regret in life, there is something in common to all of the answers. It is that most of them are about chances not taken, words never said or dreams never pursued. When there are no gender roles, what are the chances you want to take? What are the words you want to say? What are the dreams you want to pursue? My answer as a human, not a woman is to go after my dream to raise a happy family and fulfill my career.
Please do not stop yourself from dreaming. Let us work together to realize a win-win society where both men and women can pursue their dreams and enhance each other’s lives. This society must change from the level of individual perceptions before real change can happen. Let me wrap up with another quote by Hillary Clinton: “please never stop believing that fighting for what’s right is worth it”. This is why I am here, and I sincerely hope that my words touched your heart to rethink what you really want to do about your once and only life.