Paper short abstract:

The paper analyses masculinity images constructed in the discourse of Japanese ruling right-wing party initiatives, that promote men's greater involvement in housework and childcare activities, with reference to the context of their significance in achieving the goals of Abe's Womenomics policy.

Paper long abstract:

Following a Womenomics policy initiated by Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in 2013, that aims for the social and professional empowerment of women, Japanese government, largely represented by right-wing political parties, such as Liberal Democratic Party and Komeito, implemented a number of both legal and PR initiatives in order to promote a greater men's involvement in housework and childcare activities: improved paternal leave conditions, Thank You Papa project, Ikumen Project (since 2010), Otōhan hajimeyō campaign and others. Despite of these measures Japanese men's involvement in family life remains low, whereas women remain underrepresented in political and high-level professional positions (Macnaughtan 2015, Gender Equality Bureau Cabinet Office 2019). The above mentioned projects aim to change the existing stereotypical perceptions of masculinity and femininity, that are crucial for the actual changes in reducing the existing gender gap. Therefore this paper aims to analyze the images of masculinity, that are promoted in the 2017-2019 year discourse of men-oriented PR campaigns regarding balancing work and family life, taking Ikumen Project (ikumen-project.jp) and Otōhan hajimeyō campaign (gender.go.jp/public/otouhan) as representative cases. The images of masculinity are analyzed in the context of their consistency with the official campaign message about the positivity of men's participation in family responsibilities, as well as their significance to achieving the goals of Womenomics policy.