- Despite “Symbolic Rebukes” of Israel & Netanyahu, Will Biden’s Legacy Be Apartheid? Democracy Now!
- Israeli PM Netanyahu tells Bret Baier ‘we’re getting closer to peace every day that passes’ with Saudi Arabia Fox News
- Netanyahu tears into Abbas over Holocaust comments; says Palestinians must reconcile to Jewish rights The Times of Israel
- Despite “Symbolic Rebukes” of Israel & Netanyahu, Will Biden’s Legacy Be Apartheid? Democracy Now!
- Netanyahu tells UN that Israel is ‘at the cusp’ of a historic agreement with Saudi Arabia Yahoo News
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Tag Archives: Symbolic
Michael Imperioli Clarifies “Symbolic” Take on U.S. Supreme Court Rulings: “I Vehemently Oppose Hate, Prejudice and Bigotry” – Hollywood Reporter
- Michael Imperioli Clarifies “Symbolic” Take on U.S. Supreme Court Rulings: “I Vehemently Oppose Hate, Prejudice and Bigotry” Hollywood Reporter
- Michael Imperioli Says His ‘Satirical and Symbolic Take’ on Discriminatory Supreme Court Decision Did Not Land for Some People Yahoo Entertainment
- Michael Imperioli Clarifies His ‘Bigots and Homophobes’ Sopranos Ban: ‘Some People Have Not Gotten the Irony’ TVLine
- Michael Imperioli clarifies ‘satirical’ remarks about banning bigots from watching his work Entertainment Weekly News
- Michael Imperioli Is Forbidding Bigots From Enjoying His Work The Mary Sue
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Netflix Shareholders Reject Executive Pay Packages in Symbolic Move; WGA Had Urged Investors to Vote Against Them – Variety
- Netflix Shareholders Reject Executive Pay Packages in Symbolic Move; WGA Had Urged Investors to Vote Against Them Variety
- Netflix Shareholders Decline To Back Executive Compensation Packages After WGA Urged Rejection Of “Inappropriate” Pay During Strike Deadline
- The top Hollywood exec made $498 million in the last 5 years—384 times as much as the average writer CNBC
- Netflix Shareholders Reject Exec Pay Packages, Days After Writers Guild Urged “No” Vote Hollywood Reporter
- Netflix shareholders withhold support for executive pay package Yahoo Finance
- View Full Coverage on Google News
OPEC+ decision is a ‘political snub’ and ‘symbolic’, say analysts
OPEC+’s decision to implement a small production output cut is more of a political statement and symbolic message sent by the alliance, analysts said.
On Monday, the group announced a small oil production cut of 100,000 barrels per day to bolster prices. Just last month, OPEC+ decided to raise oil output by the same target of 100,000 barrels per day.
“Essentially, it’s like a zero sum for the market,” said Ellen Wald, president of Transversal Consulting. “The increase [in oil production] last month was also almost nothing… and now we’re talking about taking those away.”
Wald said the underlying message is more significant than the cut itself.
“The symbolic meaning of this cut is, I think, much more important for the market,” Wald said, adding that the price of Brent crude was “pushed up so much” following the decision.
Oil prices rose about 3% on Monday following OPEC’s announcement. The rally has since lost steam, paring gains in Tuesday trade. Brent Crude stands around $95 per barrel while West Texas Intermediate hovers around $88 per barrel.
“It’s more of a political snub to President [Joe] Biden as well as the European Union, signaling that OPEC is going to go its own way and they want to protect those higher prices,” said Andy Lipow of Lipow Oil Associates, who also mentioned that the cut was “quite paltry.”
“[They’re] basically saying — look, we have been talking about a cut. A cut is totally within our power and we very well may put through a cut that would be much more significant than this,” Wald said, adding that Russia’s influence is quite significant in OPEC+.
Price cap may end ‘pushing up the price of oil’
Both analysts were skeptical about the efficacy of Russian oil price caps.
Last week, the G-7 countries agreed to cap Russian oil prices to reduce funds flowing into Moscow’s war chest and bring down the cost of oil for consumers.
“[It] doesn’t look like India is really about to sign on here. And neither is China,” Wald said. She explained that even if some countries agree on not buying oil from Russia, other countries like India and China could purchase those barrels at a discount.
“I just don’t see how this works out in any way except to end up pushing up the price of oil for everyone, except for those who are continuing to buy Russian oil,” she said.
Similarly, Lipow said the price cap is inviable because both China and India are “already benefiting from deeply discounted Russian oil” and have nothing to gain by getting on the bandwagon.
Lipow added that the price cap protects consumers from paying higher prices rather than reducing demand for oil.
“They don’t have an incentive to reduce demand… What it means is that the governments around Europe are gonna be printing money to send to the consumers, and going deeper into debt.”
Beautiful Bone Carving From 51,000 Years Ago Is Changing Our View of Neanderthals
As humans, we like to think we have some pretty unique traits in the animal kingdom. Language enables us to communicate efficiently with one another. Culture preserves and accumulates knowledge through generations. Technology and tools help us solve problems. Symbols and art reveal clues about our complex experiences.
A growing body of evidence suggests the traits we tend to assume are unique to modern humans, may once have been present in our hominin cousins, too.
Scientists have now announced the discovery of a 51,000-year-old engraved giant deer bone which was produced by Neanderthals in the Harz Mountains, now northern Germany. The carvings on the deer bone are precisely and artistically arranged into chevron patterns.
Previous evidence of symbolic and artistic traits in Neanderthals has been scarce, but the new findings raise exciting questions about how complex Neanderthal behavior might truly have been.
The findings add to previous research already pointing to Neanderthals having complex behavioral traits, such as their capacity to produce and hear the speech sounds of modern humans, their production of tools and technology, and their mourning of the dead.
Archaeologists Dirk Leder, Thomas Terberger and their colleagues carbon dated the deer bone, placing it at 51,000 years old. Microscopic analysis and experimental replication suggests the bone was actually boiled to soften before the engraving took place.
Up until now, Neanderthal artistic evidence amounted to minimalistic motifs and hand stencils on cave walls at three Spanish sites – La Pasiega, Maltravieso, and Ardales.
The authors of the new study believe the engraving of individual lines in the chevron design combined with the fact that these giant deer (Megaloceros giganteus) were rare north of the alps at that time, strengthens the idea that the engravings have symbolic meaning and show evidence for conceptual imagination in Neanderthals.
“Archaeological finds of artist engravings are rare and, in some cases, ambiguous. Evidence of artistic decorations would suggest production or modification of objects for symbolic reasons beyond mere functionality, adding a new dimension to the complex cognitive capability of Neanderthals,” writes Silvia Bello from the Natural History Museum in London, in an accompanying News & Views article published in Nature.
“The choice of material, its preparation before carving and the skillful technique used for the engraving are all indicative of sophisticated expertise and great ability in bone working,” adds Bello.
A question at the heart of this research is whether these Neanderthals were influenced by ancient H. sapiens contemporaries in the production of this type of carved bone.
Leder, who works at the State Service for Cultural Heritage Lower Saxony, and colleagues believe that Neanderthals had the manual and intellectual capabilities to produce the artifact independently of any modern human influence.
They support their hypothesis with archaeological evidence that suggests H. sapiens arrived in Central Europe several millennia after the engraved bone was dated.
However, given recent evidence for the exchanging of genes between Neanderthals and modern humans over 50,000 years ago, Bello thinks we can’t rule out the possibility H. sapiens had some influence on Neanderthals producing these types of artifacts.
“Given this early exchange of genes, we cannot exclude a similarly early exchange of knowledge between modern human and Neanderthal populations,” she writes.
“The possibility of an acquired knowledge from modern humans doesn’t undervalue, in my opinion, the cognitive abilities of Neanderthals. On the contrary, the capacity to learn, integrate innovation into one’s own culture and adapt to new technologies and abstract concepts should be recognized as an element of behavioral complexity.”
The research was published in Nature Ecology and Evolution.
Bone carving suggests neanderthals had the capacity for symbolic thought
Patterns deliberately etched onto a bone belonging to a giant deer is further evidence that Neanderthals possessed the capacity for symbolic thought.
Neanderthals decorated themselves with feathers, drew cave paintings, and created jewelry from eagle talons, so it comes as little surprise to learn that Neanderthals also engraved patterns onto bone. The discovery of this 55,000-year-old bone carving, as described in Nature Ecology & Evolution, is further evidence of sophisticated behaviour among Neanderthals.
“Evidence of artistic decorations would suggest production or modification of objects for symbolic reasons beyond mere functionality, adding a new dimension to the complex cognitive capability of Neanderthals,” as Silvia Bello, an archaeologist at the Natural History Museum in London, explained in an associated New & Views article.
The carving was found at the Einhornhöhle archaeological site in the Harz mountains of northern Germany, and it features a line pattern consisting of six etchings that form five stacked chevrons. The “parallel and regularly spaced engravings have comparable dimensions and were very probably created in a uniform approach suggesting an intentional act,” according to the study, led by archaeologist Dirk Leder from the State Service for Cultural Heritage Lower Saxony in Hannover, Germany.
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Radiocarbon dating places the 2.2-inch-long toe bone to the Middle Paleolithic, and shortly before the arrival of Homo sapiens to the region. Microscopic analysis of the fossil suggests it was boiled prior to etching, which was likely done to soften the bone prior to carving, according to the research. The markings don’t resemble cuts typically associated with butchering, and the decorated item is of “no practical use,” as the researchers write in the study. The carving likely held significant symbolic meaning given the rarity of giant deer north of the alps during this time period. The exact meaning of the patterns, however, is anyone’s guess.
That the bone carving was produced by Neanderthals is not a certainty. Genetic evidence presented earlier this year places the arrival of anatomically modern humans to central Europe at around 45,000 year ago, which post-dates the carving by around 6,000 years. This apparent temporal gap points to the artifact as belonging to Neanderthals, but it’s not entirely implausible to suggest that Homo sapiens produced, or possibly influenced, the creation of this artwork.
Bello, who was not involved in the new study, said “we cannot exclude a similarly early exchange of knowledge between modern human and Neanderthal populations, which may have influenced the production of the engraved artefact from Einhornhöhle.” This possibility, that Neanderthals learned this skill from modern humans, doesn’t diminish their cognitive capacities, however.
“On the contrary, the capacity to learn, integrate innovation into one’s own culture and adapt to new technologies and abstract concepts should be recognized as an element of behavioural complexity,” wrote Bello. “In this context, the engraved bone from Einhornhöhle brings Neanderthal behaviour even closer to the modern behaviour of Homo sapiens.”
Of course, it’s also possible that the authors of the new study are completely right—that Neanderthals were indeed responsible for the bone carving, and that modern humans had nothing to do with it. Neanderthals, in addition to their aforementioned cultural contributions, engaged in many other sophisticated behaviors, such as caring for disabled loved ones, burying their dead, and taking care of their teeth. That Neanderthals carved patterns onto bone is thus hardly a stretch.
Modi appeals to keep Hindu festival symbolic as India’s COVID-19 infections surge
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday appealed to devotees to keep a key Hindu festival symbolic, amid worries about the spread of COVID-19 infections as the country reported more than 200,000 new cases for a third straight day.
Criticism has mounted over the Indian government’s handling of the health crisis, as religious festivals and election rallies continue despite reports of shortages of hospital beds, oxygen cylinders and vaccination doses. read more
India reported 234,692 COVID-19 infections over the last 24 hours, taking the total number of cases to nearly 14.5 million, second only to the United States.
Deaths from the disease rose by 1,341 to 175,649.
After hundreds of thousands of ascetics and devout Hindus gathered for several days along the banks of the Ganges for a religious festival Kumbh Mela, Modi on Saturday called for restraint, saying on Twitter the festival should now be kept “symbolic”.
Responding to Modi’s appeal, one of the religious leaders Swami Avdheshanand urged devotees to not gather in large numbers. Devout Hindus believe bathing in the holy Ganges absolves people of sins, and during the Kumbh Mela, brings salvation from the cycle of life and death.
Those returning to Mumbai in western Maharashtra state from the Kumbh Mela will have quarantine in hotels, Mumbai’s mayor Kishori Pednekar said. Maharashtra accounts for quarter of India’s coronavirus cases and is the worst hit region.
Experts have warned about the spread of more contagious variants of the disease, especially during large-scale gatherings for religious festivals and political rallies.
On Saturday, Modi was scheduled to hold two rallies in eastern state of West Bengal where state polls are ongoing. In recent weeks, such rallies have attracted thousands of people, few of whom follow COVID-19 safety protocols.
“Stop spreader rallies,” the Times of India said in an editorial on Saturday, adding: “Business as usual is an unaffordable luxury until this virus is conclusively tamed.”
India’s daily COVID-19 vaccinations have slowed from their record high early this month and many state governments have requested more doses.
Federal Health Minister Harsh Vardhan assured states there were no shortages and 11.6 million doses would be made available in a week, adding that 125 million doses have already been administered.
Some state governments in India have raised concerns over hoarding and black marketing of anti-viral drug Remdesivir. read more
Nawab Malik, a minister from Maharashtra, accused Modi’s federal government on Twitter for restricting Remdesivir supplies to the state. A minister in Modi’s cabinet, Mansukh Mandaviya, denied the allegation, saying adequate supplies were being arranged.
After imposing one of the world’s strictest lockdowns for nearly three months last year, India’s government relaxed almost all curbs by the beginning of 2021, although many regions have now introduced localised restrictions.
“This is Narendra Modi’s biggest crisis yet. It is bigger than any security threat, external or internal, or even the economic attrition of 2020,” prominent editor and political commentator Shekhar Gupta wrote in a column on Saturday.
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Pope, top Iraq Shiite cleric hold historic, symbolic meeting
PLAINS OF UR, Iraq (AP) — Pope Francis and Iraq’s top Shiite cleric delivered a powerful message of peaceful coexistence Saturday, urging Muslims in the war-weary Arab nation to embrace Iraq’s long-beleaguered Christian minority during an historic meeting in the holy city of Najaf.
Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani said religious authorities have a role in protecting Iraq’s Christians, and that Christians should live in peace and enjoy the same rights as other Iraqis. The Vatican said Francis thanked al-Sistani for having “raised his voice in defense of the weakest and most persecuted” during some of the most violent times in Iraq’s recent history.
Al-Sistani, 90, is one of the most senior clerics in Shiite Islam and his rare but powerful political interventions have helped shape present-day Iraq. He is a deeply revered figure in Shiite-majority Iraq and his opinions on religious and other matters are sought by Shiites worldwide.
The historic meeting in al-Sistani’s humble home was months in the making, with every detail painstakingly discussed and negotiated between the ayatollah’s office and the Vatican.
Early Saturday, the 84-year-old pontiff, travelling in a bullet-proof Mercedes-Benz, pulled up along Najaf’s narrow and column-lined Rasool Street, which culminates at the golden-domed Imam Ali Shrine, one of the most revered sites in Shiite Islam. He then walked the few meters (yards) to al-Sistani’s modest home, which the cleric has rented for decades.
A group of Iraqis wearing traditional clothes welcomed him outside. As a masked Francis entered the doorway, a few white doves were released in a sign of peace. He emerged just under an hour later, still limping from an apparent flare-up of sciatica nerve pain that makes walking difficult.
The “very positive” meeting lasted a total of 40 minutes, said a religious official in Najaf, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to brief media.
The official said al-Sistani, who normally remains seated for visitors, stood to greet Francis at the door of his room — a rare honor. Al-Sistani and Francis sat close to one another, without masks. Al-Sistani, who rarely appears in public — even on television — wore black robes and a black turban, in simple contrast to Francis’ all-white cassock.
The official said there was some concern about the fact that the pope had met with so many people the day before. Francis has received the coronavirus vaccine but al-Sistani has not. The aging ayatollah, who underwent surgery for a fractured thigh bone last year, looked tired.
The pope removed his shoes before entering al-Sistani’s room and was served tea and a plastic bottle of water. Al-Sistani spoke for most of the meeting. Francis paused before leaving al-Sistani’s room to have a last look, the official said.
The pope arrived later in the ancient city of Ur for an interfaith meeting in the traditional birthplace of Abraham, the biblical patriarch revered by Christians, Muslims and Jews.
“From this place, where faith was born, from the land of our father Abraham, let us affirm that God is merciful and that the greatest blasphemy is to profane his name by hating our brothers and sisters,” Francis said. “Hostility, extremism and violence are not born of a religious heart: they are betrayals of religion.”
Religious leaders stood to greet him. While Francis wore a mask, few of the leaders on the tented stage did. The meeting was held in the shadow of Ur’s magnificent ziggurat, the 6,000-year-old archaeological complex near the modern city of Nasiriyah.
The Vatican said Iraqi Jews were invited to the event but did not attend, without providing further details. Iraq’s ancient Jewish community was decimated in the 20th century by violence and mass emigration fueled by the Arab-Israeli conflict, and only a handful remain.
The Vatican said the historic visit to al-Sistani was a chance for Francis to emphasize the need for collaboration and friendship between different religious communities.
In a statement issued by his office after the meeting, al-Sistani affirmed that Christians should “live like all Iraqis, in security and peace and with full constitutional rights.” He pointed out the “role that the religious authority plays in protecting them, and others who have also suffered injustice and harm in the events of past years.”
Al-Sistani wished Francis and the followers of the Catholic Church happiness, and thanked him for taking the trouble to visit him in Najaf, the statement said.
For Iraq’s dwindling Christian minority, a show of solidarity from al-Sistani could help secure their place in Iraq after years of displacement — and, they hope, ease intimidation from Shiite militiamen against their community.
Iraqis cheered the meeting of two respected faith leaders.
”We welcome the pope’s visit to Iraq and especially to the holy city of Najaf and his meeting with Grand Ayatollah Ali Al-Sistani,” said Najaf resident Haidar Al-Ilyawi. “It is an historic visit and hope it will be good for Iraq and the Iraqi people.”
Francis arrived in Iraq on Friday and met with senior government officials on the first-ever papal visit to the country. It is also his first international trip since the start of the coronavirus pandemic, and his meeting Saturday marked the first time a pope had met a grand ayatollah.
On the few occasions where he has made his opinion known, the notoriously reclusive al-Sistani has shifted the course of Iraq’s modern history.
In the years after the 2003 U.S.-led invasion he repeatedly preached calm and restraint as the Shiite majority came under attack by al-Qaida and other Sunni extremists. The country was nevertheless plunged into years of sectarian violence.
His 2014 fatwa, or religious edict, calling on able-bodied men to join the security forces in fighting the Islamic State group swelled the ranks of Shiite militias, many closely tied to Iran. In 2019, as anti-government demonstrations gripped the country, his sermon lead to the resignation of then-prime minister Adil Abdul-Mahdi.
Iraqis have welcomed the visit and the international attention it has given the country as it struggles to recover from decades of war and unrest. Iraq declared victory over the Islamic State group in 2017 but still sees sporadic attacks.
It has also seen recent rocket attacks by Iran-backed militias against U.S. military and diplomatic facilities, followed by U.S. airstrikes on militia targets in Iraq and neighboring Syria. The violence is linked to the standoff between the U.S. and Iran following the Trump administration’s withdrawal from the 2015 nuclear accord and its imposition of crippling sanctions on Iran. President Joe Biden has said he wants to revive the deal.
Francis’ visit to Najaf and nearby Ur traverses provinces that have seen recent instability. In Nasiriyah, where the Plains of Ur is located, protest violence left at least five dead last month. Most were killed when Iraqi security forces used live ammunition to disperse crowds.
Protest violence was also seen in Najaf last year, but abated as the mass anti-government movement that engulfed Iraq gradually petered out.
___
Abdul-Zahra reported from Baghdad. Associated Press journalists Anmar Khalil in Najaf, Iraq, and Samya Kullab in Baghdad contributed.
After Leader’s Sexist Remark, Tokyo Olympics Makes Symbolic Shift
TOKYO — Bending to intense criticism from abroad and social media activism at home, the Tokyo Olympic organizing committee on Thursday appointed Seiko Hashimoto, one of Japan’s two female cabinet ministers, to replace the previous leader, who resigned last week after making sexist remarks.
The selection of Ms. Hashimoto, 56, an Olympic medalist in speedskating, represented a stark generational and gender shift for the committee. The man she is succeeding, Yoshiro Mori, is an 83-year-old former prime minister who stepped down after saying that women talked too much in meetings. The man the committee had initially planned to turn to next — Mr. Mori’s handpicked choice — is an 84-year-old former leader of Japanese soccer.
The appointment of Ms. Hashimoto did not stray far from the entrenched establishment that governs Japan. But both Mr. Mori’s resignation and his successor’s ascension reflected the potent voice that Japanese people — especially women in a male-dominated society — have found online, swaying the course of what was viewed as an important symbolic decision.
“In the past, he would have been just criticized, and then the issue would have ended,” said Kazuyo Katsuma, a businesswoman and prominent author of best-selling books on gender and work-life balance, speaking about Mr. Mori. “But this time he had to resign because of a lot of criticism from women who raised their voices.”
Yet even as some praised the capitulation of Mr. Mori, others wondered whether Ms. Hashimoto’s appointment was much more than a cosmetic decision, made under duress, in a country that ranks 121st out of 153 countries in the World Economic Forum’s global gender gap index. Some of the most significant criticism of Mr. Mori had come from outside Japan, with many traditionalists inside the country defending him.
“It’s a very superficial appointment,” said Momoko Nojo, 22, an economics major at Keio University in Tokyo and one of the authors of a Change.org petition that called for systemic change in the wake of Mr. Mori’s remarks. “I think it’s kind of doubtful that this moment will make a great change to empower women in society.”
Nevertheless, women of an older generation suggested that simply mobilizing a group of younger activists was an achievement.
“I’ve not seen this much movement or energy for gender equality in Japan for a long time,” said Kikuko Okajima, 62, the chair of the Women Empowerment League, a newly forming professional soccer league for women in Japan. “So Mr. Mori created that moment to spur this discussion and movement.”
After Mr. Mori resigned last Friday, a second outcry on social media prodded the organizing committee to abandon its original choice of Saburo Kawabuchi as his successor. The committee swiftly changed plans after critics pointed to Mr. Kawabuchi’s age, his apparent support for corporal punishment of children and the seeming back-room nature of his selection.
Toshiro Muto, the chief executive of the organizing committee, then announced the formation of a new selection committee, divided evenly between men and women, to choose a replacement just five months before the Games are scheduled to open in July. Ms. Hashimoto seemed the clear leader from the start, though it took nearly a week to make her appointment official.
Ms. Hashimoto is a member of Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga’s governing Liberal Democratic Party and has served in the upper house of Japan’s Parliament since 1995. In accepting her new role, Ms. Hashimoto gave up her cabinet post as minister for the Olympics and for gender equality.
Speaking on Thursday afternoon after she was officially appointed, Ms. Hashimoto said her first priority would be to implement measures to protect against the coronavirus at the Summer Games so that “both the Japanese people and people from abroad will think that the Tokyo Games are safe and secure.”
In a news conference that evening, Ms. Hashimoto spoke directly to athletes, saying that as a former Olympian herself, she wanted them to “perform on this dream stage without hesitation.”
She also acknowledged that she was taking up the post after a scandal stemming from her predecessor’s sexist remarks — comments that raised questions about the organizing committee’s commitment to gender equality. She said she would work to establish a “gender equality promotion team” within the month.
In a statement, the selection committee said it had chosen Ms. Hashimoto because of her “deep knowledge of sport, an understanding of the issue of gender equality and experience working to achieve it, international experience and perspective, and a thorough understanding of preparations for the Games.”
Ms. Hashimoto is no stranger to being a pioneer in male-dominated spaces. She was the second member of Parliament to give birth while in office, and in order to accommodate her, Parliament changed its rules to allow members to take time off for childbirth. Ms. Hashimoto took a week’s leave when her daughter was born.
As an Olympian, Ms. Hashimoto was selected for a total of seven Summer and Winter Games in the 1980s and ’90s, competing in speedskating and cycling. She won a bronze medal in the 1,500-meter speedskating event at the Winter Olympics in Albertville, France, in 1992, becoming one of the first two Japanese women to win a medal at a Winter Games.
Ms. Hashimoto entered politics when Mr. Mori was secretary-general of the Liberal Democrats, and she joined his political faction, one of a handful of influential groupings that can determine the careers of lawmakers in Japan.
“I think Ms. Hashimoto was selected so that Mr. Mori’s influence can be maintained,” said Atsuo Ito, an independent political analyst and former staff member for both the Liberal Democrats and the opposition Democratic Party. “She’s a puppet of Mr. Mori.”
This week, her party created another storm over gender equality, when Toshihiro Nikai, 82, the current secretary-general, said he would invite women to observe the party’s executive board meeting but not allow them to speak.
Ms. Nojo, a leader in No Youth, No Japan, a nonprofit group, said that Ms. Hashimoto had done important work on gender equality: pushing to make the morning-after birth control pill available as an over-the-counter drug at pharmacies, helping establish one-stop centers for victims of sexual violence and advocating that women be allowed to keep their surnames after marriage.
“We think it’s quite a bit of a loss not having her in the cabinet,” Ms. Nojo said.
Still, Kazuko Fukuda, a women’s rights activist who was another author of the petition, said she was glad the Olympic committee had ultimately “really valued the people’s voices” when abandoning its initial selection of Mr. Kawabuchi.
“It seemed like it was already decided without any meeting or discussion,” Ms. Fukuda said. “For a long time, everything was decided at the dinner table after work, so that many people who have to do care work, mainly women, could not join the important decision-making process, which really disservices women.”
Japanese women who have been watching the scandal unfold said they saw some hope in the choice of Ms. Hashimoto — or at least the retreat from another older man.
“It’s a step in the right direction, because we’re talking about it,” said Robin Narimatsu, 45. “Just growing up in Tokyo, all these misogynistic views are so entrenched in our society that most people don’t notice it.”
“It’s so normal for all the decision makers to be middle-aged or old men,” said Ms. Narimatsu, who sits on the board of her father’s restaurant and real estate business. “I feel like people are finally recognizing and seeing it as a potential problem.”
Makiko Inoue and Hisako Ueno contributed reporting.
After Leader’s Sexist Remark, Tokyo Olympics Makes Symbolic Shift
TOKYO — The Tokyo Olympic organizing committee on Thursday appointed Seiko Hashimoto, Japan’s cabinet minister in charge of the Olympics and gender equality, to replace Yoshiro Mori, 83, who resigned last week in the wake of an international firestorm over sexist remarks.
The selection of Ms. Hashimoto, 56, an Olympic medalist in speedskating, represents a stark generational and gender shift for the committee, which had initially planned to name another octogenarian male leader, Saburo Kawabuchi, a former head of the governing body for Japanese soccer, as Mr. Mori’s replacement.
Although the choice did not stray far from the establishment, both Mr. Mori’s resignation and Ms. Hashimoto’s appointment reflected the growing power of social media and Japanese activists to sway the course of what was seen as an important symbolic decision.
“In the past, he should have been just criticized, and then the issue would have ended,” said Kazuyo Katsuma, a former businesswoman and prominent author of best-selling books on gender and work-life balance, speaking about Mr. Mori. “But this time he had to resign because of a lot of criticism from women who raised their voices.”
A public outcry on social media also prodded the organizing committee to abandon its original choice of a successor. Last week, after Mr. Kawabuchi, 84, told reporters that he was prepared to accept an offer to succeed Mr. Mori, the organizing committee swiftly changed plans after critics pointed to Mr. Kawabuchi’s age, his apparent support for corporal punishment of children and the fact that he had been handpicked by Mr. Mori himself.
After Mr. Mori’s resignation last Friday, Toshiro Muto, chief executive of the organizing committee, announced the formation of a new selection committee, comprised half of men and half of women, to choose a successor just five months before the Games are scheduled to open in July.
A number of names had surfaced in the Japanese media, but Ms. Hashimoto always seemed to be the clear leader.
Ms. Hashimoto is a member of Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga’s governing Liberal Democratic Party and has served in the upper house of Japan’s Parliament since 1995. In accepting the job as president of the Olympic organizing committee, Ms. Hashimoto gives up her cabinet post, halving the number of women in Mr. Suga’s cabinet.
Speaking on Thursday afternoon after she was officially appointed by the executive board of the Tokyo organizing committee, Ms. Hashimoto said her first priority would be to implement measures to protect against the coronavirus at the Summer Games so that “both the Japanese people and people from abroad will think that the Tokyo Games are safe and secure.”
But she acknowledged that she was taking up the post after a scandal stemming from her predecessor’s sexist remarks — comments that had raised questions about the organizing committee’s commitment to gender equality.
She said she would work to establish a “gender equality promotion team” within the month.
Ms. Hashimoto is not a stranger to being a pioneer as a woman in male-dominated spaces. She was the second member of Parliament to give birth while in office, and in order to accommodate her, Parliament changed its rules to allow members to take time off for childbirth. Ms. Hashimoto took a week’s leave when her daughter was born.
As an Olympian, Ms. Hashimoto competed in a total of seven Summer and Winter Olympic Games in the 1980s and ’90s, competing in speedskating and cycling. She won a bronze medal in the 1,500-meter speedskating event at the Winter Olympics in Albertville, France, in 1992.
Ms. Hashimoto entered politics when Mr. Mori was secretary-general of the Liberal Democrats, and she joined his political faction, one of a handful of influential groupings that can determine the careers of lawmakers in Japan.
“I think Ms. Hashimoto was selected so that Mr. Mori’s influence can be maintained,” said Atsuo Ito, an independent political analyst and former staff member for both the Liberal Democrats and the opposition Democratic Party. “She’s a puppet of Mr. Mori.”
Kazuko Fukuda, a women’s rights activist and one of the authors of a Change.org petition that had criticized Mr. Mori’s remarks, said she was glad the Olympic committee had ultimately “really valued the people’s voices” and changed course after its initial selection to replace Mr. Mori.
“It seemed like it was already decided without any meeting or discussion,” Ms. Fukuda said. “For a long time, everything was decided at the dinner table after work, so that many people who have to do care work, mainly women, could not join the important decision-making process, which really disservices women.”
Japanese women who have been watching the scandal unfold said they saw some hope in the choice of Ms. Hashimoto — or at least the retreat from another aged man.
“It’s a step in the right direction because we’re talking about it,” said Robin Narimatsu, 45. “Just growing up in Tokyo, all these misogynistic views are so entrenched in our society that most people don’t notice it.”
“It’s so normal for all the decision makers to be middle-aged or old men,” said Ms. Narimatsu, who sits on the board of her father’s restaurant and real estate business and is raising two teenagers. “I feel like people are finally recognizing and seeing it as a potential problem.”
Makiko Inoueand Hisako Uenocontributed reporting.