Item Details

Identity and category construction of the sengyōshufu (‘househusband’) in Japanese TV shows: a gendered division of labour in transition

Issue: Vol 14 No. 3 (2020) Special Issue: Language, gender, and sexuality in Japanese popular media

Subject Areas: Gender Studies Linguistics

Abstract:

This study illustrates the discursive construction of the househusband in Japanese TV shows as a situated gender practice. Although the category of sengyōshufu ‘househusband’ has existed since at least the 1980s in Japan, the dominance of the ideology of ‘salaryman masculinity’ has ensured its marginalisation. The recent emergence of the househusband as a topic in mainstream media discourse reflects a social change in the gendered division of labour in Japan. Employing conversation analysis and membership categorisation analysis, this study explores how participants in TV shows constitute the identity and category of househusband, drawing on verbal and embodied resources in interaction. Through this analysis, the study reveals both positive and covertly negative attitudes towards househusbands, suggesting that the ‘traditional’ gendered division of labour in Japan is in transition.

Author: Chie Fukuda

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