Why Japanese women rebel against Valentine’s day, but still buy chocolate 為何日本女性反抗西洋情人節 卻仍購買巧克力？
Japanese women are rebelling against a decades-old Valentine’s Day tradition that obliges them to give chocolates to men.
日本女性已經開始反抗行之有年的強迫她們送巧克力給男性的西洋情人節傳統。
On February 14, the nation’s female workers are expected to give "giri choco," or obligation chocolates, to their male colleagues. Women are also expected to buy heartfelt chocolates, "honmei choco," for their crushes or loved one.
在2月14日，全日本的女性上班族都被期待分贈所謂的「義理」或義務巧克力給男同事。女性購買衷心巧克力或所謂的「本命巧克力」，送給暗戀對象或男友，也被視為理所當然。
"Valentine’s Day （in Japan） got turned upside down to become a symbol of the Japanese patriarchy," said Jeff Kingston, a Japan expert at Temple University in Tokyo.
「西洋情人節（在日本）已經被搞得亂七八糟，成為日本父權意識的象徵。」美國天普大學東京分校的日本專家傑夫．金斯頓如是說。
But this year, women are calling time on the financially draining practice.
但今年，（日本女性）開始對這種燒錢的做法喊停。
A recent survey by a Tokyo department store found about 60% of women will instead buy chocolates for themselves on Valentine’s Day.
東京一家百貨公司最近做了一項調查，發現約6成女性在西洋情人節會改為自己買巧克力。
Only 35% planned to offer chocolates to their male colleagues.
只有35％的女性打算送巧克力給男同事。
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Japanese minister: High heels for women at work are ’occupationally necessary and appropriate’－日本部長：女性上班穿高跟鞋是「職場需要且適當」
For many years it has been required in many Japanese offices for women to wear high heels.
多年來，許多日本辦公室要求女性員工上班要穿高跟鞋。
But a recent backlash has thrown the practice into question, with more than 19,000 people in Japan signing a petition to ban the requirement.
但這項習慣已因最近的反彈而受到質疑，日本有超過1萬9000人連署請願，希望禁止這項規定。
Speaking about the petition at a lower house committee session on Wednesday, Health, Labor and Welfare Minister Takumi Nemoto demurred on whether demanding women to wear high heels constituted an "abuse of power."
週三在國會眾議院的委員會上論及這項請願活動時，厚生勞動大臣根本匠針對要求女性員工上班穿高跟鞋是否構成「濫用權力」的質疑，提出異議。
"It is socially accepted as something that falls within the realm of being occupationally necessary and appropriate," he said.
「這（指規定女性上班時必須穿高跟鞋）是獲得社會接納的習慣，在職場上是必要而且適當的，」他說。
The petition was started by Tokyo artist, writer and feminist Yumi Ishikawa after comments she made on Twitter went viral across the country.
這項請願是由東京藝人、作家與女權主義者石川優實發起，她在「推特」上發表的相關評論在日本各地瘋傳。
"I’m hoping to get rid of the custom that women have to wear heels and pumps at work," she wrote in January.
「我希望擺脫女性上班必須穿高跟鞋的習慣做法，」她今年一月如此寫道。
Source article: https://features.ltn.com.tw/english/article/paper/1297593; https://features.ltn.com.tw/english/article/paper/1302540
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