母と娘は友達?

[From August Issue 2013]

 

Nowadays more and more young women enjoy going shopping with their mothers, just as if they were friends. This kind of mother/daughter relationship is called “parent/child friendship.” As if they were friends, some daughters give their mothers a nickname, or address them as “~ chan.”

As the birth rate continues to decline and the marriage age for women is getting higher in modern Japan, mothers are spending more time with their children at home. As a result of this, because they are the same sex, mothers and daughters feel closer to each other and are becoming friends. Indicative of this is that matching mother/daughter wristwatches have been brought out.

Mothers subsidize their daughters financially when they go shopping together. Mothers are also helpful when it comes to paying for lunch after shopping. Generally speaking, while they’re still students, parents pick up the tab for their children, but once they become working adults and receive a salary, this happens less and less.

Mothers don’t purchase exactly the same things as their daughters. Mothers don’t only buy things for themselves, but also buy things for the family, while daughters tend to only buy things they want for themselves. Both buy clothing and cosmetics. Clothing is bought in different stores, but cosmetics are purchased in the same stores. It seems that they have similar tastes because they are mother and daughter.

In regards to shopping, mothers have a slightly different attitude to their daughters. If we look at the example of clothing, mothers buy high quality items, regardless of cost, that are well taken care of and worn for a long time. But daughters buy cheap stuff and throw it away after a season if they don’t like it anymore. Everyone has a different attitude towards money, but relatively speaking, we can say mothers prefer quality to quantity, while daughters prefer quantity to quality.

Today’s market is glutted with products; in the case of clothing alone there is a wide array of choice, but young women lack a sense of how to dress appropriately for different occasions. Daughters can learn from their mothers about how to manage their money, how to spot good quality items, how to buy the minimum items necessary and how to use them carefully.

Recently, more and more mothers and daughters not only enjoy shopping and eating out together, but also going to the movies, going on trips, and having beauty treatments together. For daughters in Japan, the parent child relationship means having a good friend with whom they can have a frank exchange of opinions and having a teacher to advise them about life. Despite being friends, daughters still respect their mothers.

Text: TERAUCHI Moe

[2013年8月号掲載記事]

 

今、友達のように仲良く母親と買物を楽しむ若い女性が増えています。そのような母娘関係を「友達親子」と呼んでいます。まるで友達のように、母親にあだ名をつけたり「~ちゃん」で呼んでいる娘もいます。

現代の日本では少子化や女性の晩婚化が進み、家庭内で母と子どもが共に過ごす時間が比較的長くなっています。そのため、同性である母親は「友達」という感覚に近い存在になっているようです。それを象徴するように、母と娘で共有できる腕時計が販売されています。

母親と買い物をするときには経済面で支援してくれますし、買物帰りの食事も母親が支払ってくれるので娘は助かります。一般的に、子どもが学生までなら支払いは親ですが、給料をもらう社会人になるとその回数は少なくなります。

母親と娘では買うものが少し異なります。母親は自分のものだけでなく、家族のものも購入しますが、娘は自分の欲しいものだけを買う傾向があります。共通の買い物は洋服や化粧品です。洋服は違う店でも、化粧品は同じ店だったりします。親子だけに好みは似ているようです。

買い物での母娘の金銭感覚には少し違いがあります。服で例えてみると、母親は高くても良い物を購入し、長い間大切に着ます。しかし娘は安いものを買って、気に入らなくなるとワンシーズンで捨てるようです。金銭感覚は人それぞれですが、母親は比較的、数より質を選び、娘は質より数を選ぶといえます。

現代は物があふれていて、服1枚とっても幅広い選択肢がありますが、娘はTPOをわきまえた服装の知識が不足しています。また、金銭感覚や良いものの見分け方、必要最低限のものを購入して物を大切に使う心なども母親から学べます。

最近では、買い物や食事以外でも、映画、旅行やエステなどを一緒に楽しむ母娘が増えています。日本の娘にとって母親は、気兼ねなく本音で意見を言い合える親友であり、人生の師匠、相談役でもあります。しかし、友達のようであっても敬意をはらっています。

文:寺内萌

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