Japan’s #KuToo founder Yumi Ishikawa asks: ‘Is it bad for a feminist to get naked?’
- KuToo began as a movement against high heels and gendered dress codes in Japanese workplaces
- The founder, however, has become the target of online harassment after her nude modelling photos stirred further debate about image expectations placed on women in Japan
#KuToo – a portmanteau of the words kutsu (shoe), kutsuu (agony) and MeToo – became a rallying cry for Japanese women. Thousands of Twitter users responded with photos of bloodied, bruised and injured feet, to protest against the expectation of having to wear high heels at work in the conservative and patriarchal nation.
Despite the success of #KuToo, though, Ishikawa’s growing public prominence has made her the target of online attacks – especially after photographs of her past work as a nude model appeared on Twitter. Such comments have opened more discussion regarding the social and image-based expectations of women, and what it means to be a feminist in Japan.
Ishikawa’s critics, who are largely male, have called her a hypocrite for her feminist activism when she was once a pin-up model.
“I was surprised to see that Yumi Ishikawa, who’s making a big fuss over ‘gender discrimination’ using KuToo and MeToo hashtags,” tweeted @Austin39526189, along with photos of Ishikawa’s nude modelling shots. “You’ve been making money from sexual photos, and once you stopped profiting from them, you’ve made a big cry over sexism.”
Another Twitter user alleged Ishikawa had been lying about her workplace dress code and associated foot injuries: tweeting: “I will try to find out where she works, and whether she is in fact required to wear 5-7cm heels.”