TOKYO (AFP) – A Japanese mayor has apologised after a public outcry over a flyer issued to pregnant women advising them on what most irritated husbands after their wives became mothers, an official said yesterday.
The flyer included a section titled ‘Advice from fathers to you’, which included answers to a survey of new fathers conducted five years ago in the city of Onomichi in western Hiroshima prefecture.
Officials have been sharing the responses with expectant women ever since, apparently thinking it would be helpful to know what new fathers liked and disliked about their wives’ behaviour after giving birth.
Some men said they were annoyed when their wives became “irritated for unknown reasons” or could “not do housekeeping work” because they were too busy taking care of the baby.
Japanese women have long struggled against deeply entrenched gender stereotypes, and there was a furious reaction when the document was shared on social media this week.
That prompted Onomichi Mayor Yuko Hiratani to publish an apology on Tuesday and retracted the flyer, city official Akira Takahashi told yesterday.
