After Making High Heels Compulsory, Japanese Companies Now Ban Specs For Women At Work

Just a few months back, companies in Japan made it compulsory for women to wear high heels to work. They said that it was “necessary and appropriate”, according to a report by The Guardian. Even the country’s Health and Labour Minister said that it is a “socially accepted” norm. The decision was widely protested against by Japanese women and by people on the internet. But it seems like the authorities disregarded the collective women’s voice.

And now, companies in Japan have banned women from wearing glasses at their workplace, reported Independent UK.

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The reason for this ban differed from company to company. Retailers justified the decision saying female shop workers wearing glasses left a “cold impression” on customers. Traditional restaurants argued that specs didn’t go with traditional Japanese clothing which was their uniform. Companies from the beauty sector said that customers wouldn’t be able to see the female worker’s makeup under their specs.

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According to a report by the BBC, it wasn’t clear whether the ban was based on company policies, or whether it reflected socially acceptable beauty standards being imposed on women. A professor of sociology from the Kyoto University of Foreign Studies said that the ban revealed “old, traditional Japanese thinking” and that it was pretty “discriminatory”.

According to Independent, one woman complained of being forced to wear contact lenses when she was suffering an eye infection and that led to more pain and discomfort.

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People on the internet are outraged over such company policies and are accusing them to be overtly sexist.

Will society ever stop dictating to women what they should and should not wear?

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