Japanese women aren't allowed to wear glasses to work because they give a 'cold impression.' Here's how they're fighting it.

Are looks more important than the ability to get through a long work day without ending up with eyes so dry and painful you wish you could pop them out of your face? Many employers in Japan don't permit their female employees to wear glasses while at work. Big shocker, male employees are totally allowed to sport a pair of frames. The logic behind it (if you can call it that) is that women come off as "cold" and "unfeminine" and – horror of all horrors – "too intelligent."
Women are given excuses as to why they can't wear glasses to work. Airline workers are told it's a safety thing. Beauty industry workers are told they need to see makeup clearly. But men apparently don't have the same safety issues as women, because they're allowed to wear their glasses square on the face. Hospitality staff, waitresses, receptionists at department stores, and nurses at beauty clinics are some of the women who are told to pop in contacts while they're on the clock.
Wearing contacts for long periods of time can lead to dry eyes, and they hurt like a mother. A woman identified Ms. A told Business Insider she wears contacts for 12 hours a day (including her commute). "There are times when it's bad whatever I do," Ms. A told Business Insider, "and there are often mornings where I just think to myself, 'I wish I could wear glasses.'"
RELATED: Japanese women are fighting their country's insanely sexist high heels 'dress code.'
Ms. A also spoke about how her job had strict requirements for her appearance, but those requirements came with a double standard. "It seems like only women are being asked for the appearance of beauty and feminine that isn't imposed on men," she told Business Insider. She said that her appearance should not be what matters when it comes to her job. "It should be the thoughtful attitude I have towards clients [rather than my hair] that matters. I want the rules to be reviewed," she said.
Women in Japan are fighting back against the unfair requirements, and the hashtag "glasses are forbidden" is trending in Japan. It's not a sponsored hashtag for Lasik, it's a cry for women to be treated like it's the friggin' 21st century. One Twitter user even posted that she was forced to wear contacts after recovering from an eye infection. Ouch.
This isn't the only time Japanese women have complained about painful beauty requirements at work. Earlier this year, Yumi Ishikawa led the charge against high heel requirements, creating the hashtag #KuTu. In June, Ishikawa submitted a petition asking the government to ban dress codes that discriminate against women, such as a requirement to wear high heels. "If wearing glasses is a real problem at work it should be banned for everyone — men and women. This problem with glasses is the exact same as high heels. It's only a rule for female workers," she told Bloomberg News.
RELATED: A mom told women they shouldn't wear leggings for her sons' sake and instead got a lesson on not policing women's bodies.
Japan doesn't have the best track record when it comes to sexist standards. A 2018 report from the World Economic Forum ranked Japan 110th out of 149 countries in terms of gender equality. It's at the bottom of the G7 countries when it comes to gender equality.
This isn't the 1950s when everyone had to wear the same Henry Kissinger-eque pair of glasses and phrases like, "Guys don't make passes at girls who wear glasses" were spoken without irony. Glasses are a medical aid, not a fashion statement. It's not unreasonable for women to want to be able to see at work without ending up in searing pain at the end of the day.
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There's a reason why some people can perfectly copy accents, and others can't
Turns out, there's a neurodivergent link.
A woman in black long sleeve shirt stands in front of mirror.
Have you ever had that friend who goes on vacation for four days to London and comes back with a full-on Queen's English posh accent? "Oooh I left my brolly in the loo," they say, and you respond, "But you're from Colorado!" Well, there are reasons they (and many of us) do that, and usually it's on a pretty subconscious level.
It's called "accent mirroring," and it's actually quite common with people who are neurodivergent, particularly those with ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder). According Neurolaunch, the self-described "Free Mental Health Library," "Accent mirroring, also known as accent adaptation or phonetic convergence, is the tendency to unconsciously adopt the accent or speech patterns of those around us. This linguistic chameleon effect is not unique to individuals with ADHD, but it appears to be more pronounced and frequent in this population."
Essentially, when people have conversations, we're constantly "scanning" for information—not just the words we're absorbing, but the inflection and tone. "When we hear an accent, our brains automatically analyze and categorize the phonetic features, prosody, and intonation patterns," writes Neurolaunch. For most, this does result in copying the accent of the person with whom we're speaking. But those with ADHD might be more sensitive to auditory cues. This, "coupled with a reduced ability to filter out or inhibit the impulse to mimic…could potentially explain the increased tendency for accent mirroring."
While the article explains further research is needed, they distinctly state that, "Accent mirroring in individuals with ADHD often manifests as an unconscious mimicry of accents in social situations. This can range from subtle shifts in pronunciation to more noticeable changes in intonation and speech rhythm. For example, a person with ADHD might find themselves unconsciously adopting a Southern drawl when conversing with someone from Texas, even if they’ve never lived in the South themselves."
People are having their say online. On the subreddit r/ADHDWomen, a thread began: "Taking on accents is an ADHD thing?" The OP shares, "My whole life, I've picked up accents. I, myself, never noticed, but everyone around me would be like, 'Why are you talking like that??' It could be after I watched a show or movie with an accent or after I've traveled somewhere with a different accent than my 'normal.'
They continue, "Apparently, I pick it up fast, but it fades out slowly. Today... I'm scrolling Instagram, I watch a reel from a comedian couple (Darcy and Jeremy. IYKYK) about how Darcy (ADHD) picks up accents everywhere they go. It's called ADHD Mirroring??? And it's another way of masking."
(The OP is referring to Darcy Michaels and his husband Jeremy Baer, who are both touring comedians based in Canada.)
Hundreds of people on the Reddit thread alone seem to relate. One comments, "Omfg I've done this my whole life; I'll even pick up on the pauses/spaces when I'm talking to someone who is ESL—but English is my first language lol."
Sometimes, it can be a real issue for those around the chameleon. "I accidentally mimicked a waitress's weird laugh one time. As soon as she was out of earshot, my family started to reprimand me, but I was already like 'oh my god I don’t know why I did that, I feel so bad.'"
Many commenters on TikTok were shocked to find out this can be a sign of ADHD. One jokes, "Omg, yes, at a store the cashier was talking to me and she was French. She's like 'Oh are you French too? No, I'm not lol. I'm very east coast Canada."
And some people just embrace it and make it work for them. "I mirror their words or phrase! I’m 30. I realized I start calling everyone sweetie cause my manager does & I work at coffee shop."
This article originally appeared in May.