Japanese women push back against Valentine's tradition of 'obligation chocolate'

[Itori]

I was unaware of this, which i cant blame them. If i was socially forced to buy chocolates for every guy at my job id be irritated too, but nothing is said about white day though, are the guys required to do the same?

[ellieg]

I don't think that's possible

You can hate men and women equally lol

[Nathreim]

how the fuck people can defend having to be obligated to give other people chocolate for some fucking reason is beyond me.

Do whatever the fuck you want, you shouldn't be obligated to do shit other than do your work.

Because obligation chocolate is given only to people you want to give it too not everyone you know in your life. The obligation means you like/respect them so you feel obligated to show that like/respect.

Often its for friends family and other people you are close too. The asshole at work is not getting chocolate from you because you dont like or respect each other.


On White Day the those who got chocolate are expected to return gifts that are at least two or three times more valuable than the gifts received in Valentine's Day. Giving something of equal value is seen as a sign that you dont like them and is a big insult.

[Biomega]

Wtf, where's my obligatory chocolates

It's OBLIGATION, not obligatory.

And "obligation" doesn't quite capture the spirit of giri. It's a somewhat complicated social dynamic of personal interrelationship in Japan.

But I mean, you reap what you sow. Valentine's Day (and White Day) were pushed by industry, not affection. And they pushed too hard and too far in Japan, as they tend to do. Now instead of a joyous occasion where you can display affection without worrying too much about propriety, it's become an event governed by social pressures. Not only because the whole giri choco thing for the girls, but also in terms of "how many chocolates did you get?" for the boys.

And that's not confined to Japan, either. Similar problems (albeit to a lesser degree) exist in many other countries.

[Jonnusthegreat]

You can hate men and women equally lol

If you're treating them equally then it's not sexist though!

[NED funded]

Neat stuff. More people should push back against traditions that make no practical sense.

[Unholyground]

My chocolates all have copious amounts of THC in them so eat at your own risk lmao.

[vindicatorx]

100 yen is about an American dollar, fyi. So 1,000 yen is a hundred bucks.

ok disregarding the fact that it's 100 yen = .90 USD to correct your shitty math skills. it's fairly simple to move the decimal point 2 places. If it were a flat 100 yen to dollar 1000 yen = 10.00 USD

[Sky High]

From my understand you only get chocolate from guys on white day if you've given THEM chocolate during "giri choco". So since these women wouldn't have given obligation chocolate out to anyone, they wouldn't be receiving any on white day either. So honestly you're just fucking talking out of your ass right now.

This has jack shit 0% to do with feminism and 100% to do with you being ignorant and not understanding what you're talking about.

that's the only thing that poster is interested in, bitching and moaning about SJW's and feminism. doesn't matter if it is actually related to those subjects they'll find a reason to rant about them anyway.

[vindicatorx]

I was unaware of this, which i cant blame them. If i was socially forced to buy chocolates for every guy at my job id be irritated too, but nothing is said about white day though, are the guys required to do the same?

the return value for white day is supposed to be 3 times what you received, and yes if a woman does give you something, which they don't have to do, you pretty much have to buy a return gift.

[josykay]

the return value is supposed to be 3 times what you received on white day and yes if a woman does give you something, which they don't have to do, you pretty much have to buy a return gift.

I can not believe, that the Japanese made Valentines Day even worse than the Westeners. So... women are obligated to give men choclate, and then, the men are obligated, to give them trice as much? Obligation to gift is terrible. Obligation to gift a certain worth is even worse. To hell with that shit. Hell, it is not even a tradition from what I have read. It stems from the late seventies...

[AcidicSyn]

Jesus Christ, the article is full of shit. Looking at who the OP is, that is to be expected.
This isn't much if any of an issue in Japan at all, especially considering we have white day which is a month after returning the favor, but just another article to spread hateful lies about how backwards Japanese society supposedly is.

^^^^

Though the pressure on salarymen I've had confirmed far more often than denied. As someone actually there right now; I'd be interested in your opinion on the subject. Especially if you wouldn't mind including what areas or prefectures you're referring to. (I've been getting the impression lately that it might be mostly a Tokyo or other larger city thing rather than a country wide mentality)

Also more on topic; is the whole White Day expectation of the men spending something like 3x what was spent on them real too? Or just more hogwash.

[Sky High]

Feminism claims another society. I'm just waiting for the inevitable global collapse. Where all these people have to own the horrible things they have done.

lol, gotta say, loving all of these butthurt comments over something so not important.

[Phookah]

But I'm sure White Day isn't a problem, right? Oh well, makes it easier for the salarymen since 3 times nothing is nothing.

[Strangebrew]

From my understand you only get chocolate from guys on white day if you've given THEM chocolate during "giri choco". So since these women wouldn't have given obligation chocolate out to anyone, they wouldn't be receiving any on white day either. So honestly you're just fucking talking out of your ass right now.

This has jack shit to do with feminism and 100% to do with you being ignorant and not understanding what you're talking about. So please kindly shove your closet-misogynistic shit back into the closet =)

Yeah, they have to return 3 times as much, implying that isn't just as bad if not worse.
waah waah women are like children that needs to be cuddled by progressive minded guys like me. <-you


"closet-misogynistic shit"

Oh, you're just another unhinged SJW trash, that explains it.

[vindicatorx]

I can not believe, that the Japanese made Valentines Day even worse than the Westeners. So... women are obligated to give men choclate, and then, the men are obligated, to give them trice as much? Obligation to gift is terrible. Obligation to gift a certain worth is even worse. To hell with that shit. Hell, it is not even a tradition from what I have read. It stems from the late seventies...

How to explain it? It's not mandatory to give for Valentines it's just a tradition they have and from what I have seen it's usually like buying a bag of fun sized chocolates and setting it out so anyone who wants one can have one it's usually cheap. Other things strongly encouraged but not mandatory is attending company drinking parties and buying souvenirs when you go on vacation for everyone in your office. They also have shit like Key Money on apartments where you present your landlord with a cash gift , usually a months rent, as thanks for letting you live there.

[AcidicSyn]

Because obligation chocolate is given only to people you want to give it too not everyone you know in your life. The obligation means you like/respect them so you feel obligated to show that like/respect.

Often its for friends family and other people you are close too. The asshole at work is not getting chocolate from you because you dont like or respect each other.


On White Day the those who got chocolate are expected to return gifts that are at least two or three times more valuable than the gifts received in Valentine's Day. Giving something of equal value is seen as a sign that you dont like them and is a big insult.

So......the obligation is referring to what men are expected to do a month later?

If that's true I am not sure how this could be somehow related to feminism.

[Kathandira]

Wow...took the time to read the few pages here, and boy are some posters uninformed, and just plain ignorant.

The outrage here could have very easily been remedied with a quick google search.

[Strangebrew]

The received gifts worth needs to be repaid 2-3 times in worth, and yet these women do not want to give anything, so that means they won't be getting something worth a lot more back either. How is that oh so evil of them? Also, if anything, this is the fault of companies who pushed so ridiculously hard to make valentines day chocolate a part of the traditions. They only care about how to make people buy more.

Point to someone who claimed this makes japanese women evil, you're acting like women are the victims here when men have it "just as bad" if not worse.
You and the rest of you shitheads who agree with this article or think women have it bad are just a bunch of weasels, or hypocrites, pick one.

I'm sorry that the truth hurt your feelings.
But how else would you describe your ignorant behaviour? Benevolent? Tolerant? Understanding? It's none of those.

You bitched about "western feminism" as you talked about a subject that you had no understanding about, only to got called out for your shit. If that is hurtful to you, then maybe educate yourself before you speak next time so you don't end up looking like a complete idiot =/

Heard it here guys, being against western feminism makes you an closet-misogynistic shit. Because somehow being against western feminism means you hate women, period.

[Prokne]

I was unaware of this, which i cant blame them. If i was socially forced to buy chocolates for every guy at my job id be irritated too, but nothing is said about white day though, are the guys required to do the same?

Most likely the guys do not receive the same kind of pressure to give office gifts or the same amount of negativity for not giving gifts. In a very male dominated society like Japan, where men are more likely to be the boss, it is much worse for a subordinate to not give a gift to the boss than for a boss to not do the same for subordinates. Don't give a gift to the boss - no raise, promotion, ect. Don't give a gift to workers - they won't complain so they don't miss out on raises, promotions, ect.

IMO things like this should only be between couples and friends.