The World Economic Forum's 2017 gender gap index ranks Japan 114th out of the 144 countries surveyed. Such a low ranking concerning women's status in society is quite shameful for the world's third-largest economy in terms of gross domestic product. The main reason for this poor performance is clear — the rate of women's participation in politics remains too low.
It is perhaps our country that has the greatest need to introduce a quota system like France's 2000 parity law, which stipulates that elections must have an equal number of female and male candidates. But demands for adopting such a system — which would be reasonable and natural — are rarely heard in Japan. Let us look at this deep-rooted problem from the viewpoint of feminism.
What is feminism? Generally speaking, it is a belief that both women and men should have equal rights and opportunities in the real world. It is also the idea that men and women should be equal politically, economically and socially.