Your Daily WTF: Reprehensible Condom Photo Edition.

[sechan19]

So, apparently, being photographed with a box of condoms can be ruinous for your career if you're a woman working on television in Japan. 25-year-old TV announcer Natsume Miku was fired after photos of her holding a box of condoms and smiling were published in a gossip rag. Supposedly, the reasoning for this was that her image was irreparably damaged in the minds of the Japanese housewives who were her majority demographic. Other commentators have voiced the opinion that Natsume's firing may have also been inspired by Japanese men's dislike of condoms and the freedom it affords Japanese women. Of course, that must be taken with a grain of salt. It's only what one commentator said, and I want to be clear that it is not necessarily an actual factor. My own experience of Japanese cultural attitudes to condoms is very limited.

Either way, however, it sucks. In scenario a) you have a bunch of housewives who clearly harbor outmoded and misogynistic views of female sexuality (which is always a shame); in the potential scenario b) you have a bunch of men who want to punish a woman for acting with the same freedom they themselves enjoy (an attitude that will probably be with us always in one form or another).

Lame.

Via.