The movement could get going thanks to everyone’s efforts. “I started #KuToo because I had something to share with society and my message went through. Business Insider Japan even conducted a survey which revealed that 60% of Japanese women have been asked to wear heels for work or job interviews.įor Yumi, all the sudden attention was welcome, if only because it shed light on a problem left undiscussed. The wave of anecdotes in reply to Ishikawa’s tweet also echoed the viral traction of the #MeToo movement, and media-both domestic and international-began to report on the story.
Helped by the website, she launched a petition addressed to the Ministry of Health, Labor, & Welfare and came up with the ingenious hashtag, #KuToo-a nod to the viral #MeToo movement against sexual harassment and assault sparked by abuse allegations against Hollywood producer, Harvey Weinstein.
#Yumi ishikawa how to#
Eager to start the debate in Japan, she contacted the website for advice about how to organize herself and figure out the steps.
#Yumi ishikawa professional#
Researching further, she wondered how heels ended up being part of women’s professional etiquette. “I’d been studying feminism for about a year and a half and suddenly, it occurred to me that workplace outfit requirements for women were actually a gender inequality issue, one that we needed to address and solve,” she said. That’s when she began to understand the underlying implications of women being forced to wear heels. Researching further, she realized that workplace dress codes for women were also sparking debate and that the topic was being labeled as an issue of gender inequality in countries like Britain, France, and Canada. Struck to hear that high heels seemed to be enforced by a lot of Japanese companies, Ishikawa felt this was no longer a personal issue but a societal one. How a tweet turned into an international debate over gender inequalities in Japan I told myself my feet didn’t have the right shape,” she says.
I blamed myself for not searching enough for the right pair and not investing in a good pair of shoes. “For a long time, I thought that feeling pain from wearing heels was somehow my fault. It was at that point she realized this was bigger than just her. Opening up on Twitter about her feelings, she was surprised when she received thousands of comments and a wave of sympathy from other women. “Picking up a pair, I had a moment where I thought ‘wow, they’re so light! I’m desperate to wear the same!’ says Ishikawa, glancing down at her own sneaker-clad feet.
One day, while aligning shoes at the entrance of a tatami room, she noticed that while her female colleagues had to wear uncomfortable heels, her male counterparts’ shoes were flat, light, and comfy. Though she rebelled against her company dress code-which required female employees to wear 5 to 7 cm heels-and wore 2 cm heels, she constantly suffered from sore legs, blisters, and bleeding feet. Her work consisted of standing for long periods of time in between running around to ensure the ceremonies were going as planned. At her job in a funeral parlor, Yumi Ishikawa would work up to eight hours per day.
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