The Japanese Economy
Japan’s economy is the third largest in the world behind China and the United States. Japanese men that wish to engage in a white-collar career undergo rigid entrance exams to both high school and college, on which their later careers are entirely dependent. These men are referred to as sarariiman, and are guaranteed lifetime employment in return for total commitment and dedication to the company. In the popular media however, they are referred to as “forever cogs in someone else’s wheel” (Allison 1993: 1). In the workplace these men are constantly demeaned and disempowered by their bosses in order to increase productivity and maximize profits. However, ‘seeking entertainment’ is an expected perk of this corporate lifestyle. As a reward for these men’s commitment to the company the practice of seeking entertainment on the company’s expense is standard. This chance to ‘unwind’ in a setting that is neither home nor work is supposed to encourage strong male bonding between co-workers and between employees and customers.
Corporate entertainment is considered an “indispensible expense of industrial profits” with some companies spending up to $6,000 per male employee per year. Between 1954 and 1982 the Japanese government unofficially sanctioned this behavior allowing for corporate tax breaks for all entertainment expenses. These men are expected to be loyal, respectful, benevolent, and responsible. This platform where co-workers can bond and form friendships provides a “warm and human back structure to an otherwise cold and utilitarian front” (Allison 1993). This comfortability with co-workers and customers is critical considering most corporations exchange huge sums of money without contracts; everything is based on trust. These outings on the company’s expense are very functionalistic because they relive stress and raise the egos of the sarariiman who are often discouraged and frustrated in the workplace. These outings take many forms from golf courses to restaurants to clubs. The form that such an outing takes has a symbolic meaning in itself, the ore money that is spent the more flattered the man is and the harder he works for the company the next day. Once a man stops being productive for the company these outings become nonexistent.
Hostess Clubs
While entertainment on the company’s dime may come in many forms, the most likely form on entertainment takes place at what are referred to as hostess clubs. Japanese men working these white-collar jobs feel that they need to be recognized, which is rarely received in the work environment due to it’s expectations for self-sacrifice and hierarchical behavior. It is the job of a hostess to make men feel recognized, accepted, and important no matter what. These girls do not engage in prostitution (although some girls do end up having sex for money outside the clubs, most do not) but instead merely flirt with customers and attends to all their needs: serving drinks, lighting cigarettes, feeding him and his ego.
There are three main aspects to hostess work. First, hostesses are expected to demonstrate extreme servitude, some clubs even require the hostess to kneel and bow her head to the customer while she cleans his hands with a wash cloth (Parreñas 2009: 215). Second, they are required to entertain through song and dance on stage as well as engage in lively conversation or silence depending on the customer. Finally, is the sexual aspect of hostess work. These women are essentially imitating a sexual relationship with customers without the actual act of sex. Some girls will go as far as a hand job under the table (which can get you fired form most hostess clubs) but the majority do nothing more than flirt. References to the hostesses’ breasts are so common that it is unlikely you will attend such a club and not hear someone mention the size and shape of each hostess-addressing her directly or just speaking about them in front of her.
In these clubs men behave chauvinistically and sometimes the girls will be completely ignored besides when they need another drink or their cigarette lit. The women are also expected to speak of their own sexuality and listen as the men tell them about theirs. The men often exaggerate but the job of the hostess is to smile and be impressed by every detail. This atmosphere displaces the men’s daily concerns about responsibility, duty, and performance. The “customers are positioned as dominant and the dominance their position assumes is over women and as sexual males” (Allison 1993).
Functional
Because this experience is shared between co-workers and between employees and customers, the hostess clubs promote and produce relationships that will sustain business. Not only do these clubs allow men to blow off steam, ensuring they will be ready for the next day of work, the relationships formed between superiors and subordinates allow the bosses to ask for longer working hours. When asked to work harder and longer by a friend as opposed to just a boss refusal becomes more difficult. This means more labor can be extracted from employees by making their “work day longer and their conception of work broader” (Allison 1993). These men, who they themselves are dominated, are placed in a situation where they are allowed to dominate women to maintain their perceived level of masculinity. This practice is truly at the expense of men and women, women more overtly, all in order to benefit industry.
Works Cited
Allison, Anne, and Ann Kibbey. 1993. “Dominating Men: Male Dominance on Company Expense in a Japanese Hostess Club.” Genders. 16:1-13.
Parreñas, Rhacel Salazar. 2009. “Hostess Work: Negotiating the Morals of Money and Sex.” Research in the Sociology of Work. 18:207-231
soc384masculinities 