Machismo in Japan: a mayor apologizes for advising pregnant women to "cook, clean and massage" their husbands

The mayor of the Japanese city of Onomichi, Yuko Hiratani, has apologized publicly after withdrawing from circulation a series of pamphlets, aimed at pregnant women, containing advice not to irritate their husbands during and after pregnancy.

“This campaign does not adapt to the feelings of pregnant women and other people involved in raising children,” Hiratani corrected in an official statement, announcing the withdrawal of material “containing expressions that promote perception and stereotyped practices of gender roles”.

As reported by the local newspaper Chugoku Shimbun, the leaflets began to be distributed after a survey of 100 new fathers in the city indicated that the main reason for having a wife was to carry out household chores. Some of the respondents commented that they were upset when their wife was “irritable for unknown reasons” and “couldn't take care of the housework” because she was too busy taking care of the small child.

In the brochures, they sought a remedy for these situations, advising pregnant women not to neglect cleaning, cooking or massaging their husbands, even when they had to take care of the babies.

Akira Takahashi, head of the municipal public health department, justified the removal of the brochures to The Mainichi newspaper: “They were intended to be useful for raising children, but their content fueled gender roles.”