This article ("#MeToo movement confuses media in Japan" in the Nov. 26 edition) made me realize that Japanese people's impression of the U.S. is often different from reality.
First and foremost, women's power in the U.S. is much stronger than in Japan, but I believe that there still exists an insurmountable "glass ceiling." Some people say one of the representative examples of this phenomenon is Hillary Clinton's defeat in the last presidential election. Second, in the U.S. media and entertainment industry sexual harassment has been much talked about before Harvey Weinstein's scandal surfaced. Gretchen Carlson, who is an American television commentator, has been fighting against this issue for a long time.
Without these people's efforts over a long time, the #MeToo movement would not occur now. As this article points out this movement in Japan has been reduced to no more than a means of the media to bring down politicians or celebrities, which is a far cry from the original principals.
The opinions expressed in this letter to the editor are the writer's own and do not necessarily reflect the policies of The Japan Times.
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