| Yuko
Ogasawara. Office Ladies and Salaried Men: Power, Gender and Work in
Japanese Companies. UC Press, 1998.
Discussion questions for second half of the book. Chapter Four: POPULARITY POLL 1. How do OLs use Valentine's Day chocolate to assert their influence over the careers of young, male managers? 2. How does the public nature of farewell flowers give the OL power over a man's status in a company? 3. How does OL gift-giving
on these occasions bring together OLs as a group, rather than make individual
OL conspicuous? How does this group identity through gift-giving
advantage the OLs and disadvantage the male manager receiving the gift?
Chapter Five: ACTS OF RESISTANCE 1. Name the five behaviors that Ogasawara describes as OLs' acts of resistance. 2. Why do OL get away
with insubordination? Why do some OL disapprove of the manager's
tolerance for this?
Chapter Six: MEN CURRY FAVOR WITH WOMEN 1. What are White Day gifts? 2.
What role do managers' wives assume in this gift-giving custom?
3.
What happens to the man who refuses to give White Day gifts?
CONCLUSION 1.
How do Ogasaswara's conclusions summarize the key points of her study,
and explain why this kind of "accommodation and resistance" occur?
2.
What does she see as potential changes in the future of women in corporate
Japan?
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