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News Mori: women talk too much, and other gaffes

thomas

Unswerving cyclist
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14 Mar 2002
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Mr Mori, time to call it quits and enjoy those days of retirement!

mori-talks-too-much.jpg


Yoshiro Mori, chief of the Tokyo Olympics organizing committee, has come under fire for saying that "competitive" women prolong meetings with their need to talk. Mori made the remarks Feb. 3 at an extraordinary meeting of the Japan Olympic Committee Council. He was giving his "private opinion" about the JOC's policy to increase female members of sports organizations' executive boards to 40 percent or more. "A meeting of an executive board that includes many women would take time," Mori, 83, said at the online meeting, which was shown to media representatives. "Women are competitive," he continued. "When someone raises his or her hand and speaks, they probably think they should speak, too. That is why they all end up making comments." Mori also quoted an anonymous person as saying it may be necessary to put a cap on how long members can speak.


"It was an inappropriate remark. I apologize," Mori said. But he said he would not be resigning from the post, saying he has a responsibility to hold a successful Games.

:rolleyes:

 
Was pretty surprised that the chief of tokyo olympics organizing committee said that. Time to retire for him!
 
Mr Mori, time to call it quits and enjoy those days of retirement!
Was pretty surprised that the chief of tokyo olympics organizing committee said that. Time to retire for him!
This is absolutely nothing new for Mori. He's a slow-witted bigot who has been putting his foot in his mouth, making an utter fool of himself in public, and failing upward since he was prime minister at the turn of the century (and before that).


There's zero reason to expect any better from him, or to expect him to show any sense of self-awareness or genuine remorse and a willingness to try to be better, as evidenced by his utterly embarrassing attempt at an press conference, where he belittled reporters and droned on and on with pathetic non-apologies and excuses. (Leading one to wonder if he realized the irony that he himself is the perfect example of a politician who talks too much while saying literally nothing at all of substance.)
 
My wife caught my eye when we went shooting. She wanted to try my big .44 magnum revolver and put all the shots dead on target and I knew then she was a keeper , LOL. She was born in England and a military brat. Her dad was a hard as nails top kick sergeant in the Black Watch (Ladies from Hell) for 30 years. His Scottish accent kept me always asking "what" ? Been married now 44 years , she takes no crap and gives no quarter as they say . Her comment when I showed her the newspaper article ..."Yeh , right , never gonna happen".
 
What I found interesting yesterday was how Mori's gaffe was reported on the NHK evening news, who are usually very pro-establishment and pro-Olympics. Although they often choose not to report or under-report obnoxious comments by the well connected or things that might embarrass Japan on the world stage, they went to town on Mori, reporting critical comments from many people, as well as Japan's woeful record on gender equality (quoting the figure of 121st out of 153 countries in an international survey). They even reported the criticism that the IOC made of the members of the JOC for either laughing or staying silent when Mori made his comment, i.e., NHK reported a criticism of how Japanese people normally behave in such situations! (and how much better the country would be if people did speak up more often!) I suspect that it has been decided that Mori is a too big liability and that the media have been given permission to pile on. I wouldn't be surprised if he resigned in a few days.
 
If it was a strictly "internal affair", it could have been easily swept under the rug (see Aso's past sexist and racist remarks). Playing on a more international stage though, Mori has become untenable as a Japanese representative.

I agree: after a weekend of contemplation he will probably be resigning next week for health reasons.
 
Interesting to see that people show action against it and not just let it go this time, indeed the news coverage as well:


 
There's an online petition for Mori's resignation.


Funny to see those numbers increase by the second.
 
It is heartening to see the size of the backlash and for a Japanese celebrity to make a stand - normally they are too beholden to their agencies to make such comments.
 
Thanks, Davey, that was amusing. Mr Mori's family seems to be divided, too. :LOL:

Mori, however, appeared to be wavering deep down. "My wife is watching my behavior calmly, but my granddaughter is enraged. She said she couldn't sleep and even took leave from office. She called me just now and said, 'Quit right now. You don't have to shorten your life to keep working anymore. If you aren't going to resign, I'll quit my job.' I told her I was sorry, and that she shouldn't talk nonsense, but I was shocked. It hurts," he said.

Meanwhile, almost 118,000 people have signed the petition (see above).

And no silence in sight:

#dontbesilent
#genderequality
#男女平等


 
Nikkei published an interesting commentary by William Pesek, author of "Japanization: What the World Can Learn from Japan's Lost Decades.":


It is really disheartening to see how low Japan is ranking in terms of gender equality. 👇😲

This latest dust-up, though, dramatizes why Japan often seems to move backward. In 2020 alone, Tokyo plummeted 11 rungs to 121st place in World Economic Forum's gender-empowerment index, and 20 rungs during former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's tenure. That puts a Group of Seven power 15 places behind China, 74 behind Zimbabwe and 105 places behind the Philippines.

Tokyo, though, ranks 166th in female representation in parliament, behind Pakistan, Libya and even Saudi Arabia. And Mori's latest gaffe is a timely reminder of why. His refusal to resign is par for the course in male-dominated Tokyo politics. So is current Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga's unconvincing effort to look the other way.

Mr Suga called Mr Mori's gaffe and non-apology "not in line with Japan's national interests" but when asked whether Mr Mori should resign he played the ball into the court of the JOC committee. It was not up to him to decide that matter. How convenient. :oops:

Yesterday, some 400 Olympic volunteers quit following Mr Mori's sexist remarks. The reaction of LDP general secretary Nikai:

"Once these volunteers calm down, they will change their mind."

 
While I agree that gender equality is much lower in Japan than many other countries I do see some improvement. For example 30 years ago I could not imagine a female governer of Tokyo. I actually do see more women in management postitions. That said I'd still mostly agree with the overally ranking putting Japan low, no argument with that. Maybe it is 1955 now?
 
Yesterday, some 400 Olympic volunteers quit following Mr Mori's sexist remarks. The reaction of LDP general secretary Nikai:

"Once these volunteers calm down, they will change their mind."
This comment may well add fuel to the fire.
 
Yes, he really should just quiet down.

Also keep in mind there are about 80,000 volunteers so this is not even 1%.

Another problem they have is buyers of the olympic village apartments have a 2024 move in date.

I just think they are throwing good money after bad at this point.
 
I applaud Mr Mori's resignation.

As for the Olympics:

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No cancellation planned so far.
 
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