Office Lady: Difference between revisions

[[File:Office_Lady_by_KaranaKOffice Lady by KaranaK.jpg|framethumb|400px]]

A'''Office Lady''' is a [[Gratuitous English]] Japanese term -- oftenterm—often abbreviated "OL" -- for—for a low-level female employee in a corporate setting. Although she may have higher aspirations, the sexist atmosphere of the usual Japanese corporation frequently conspires to keep her [[You! Get Me Coffee!|fetching coffeetea]], fending off sexual harassment, and forever clinging to the bottom rung of the office ladder. The Western equivalent would be the "glass ceiling". Traditionally, the "[https://web.archive.org/web/20160616043421/http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/japans-office-ladies-wont-file-and-forget-1318393.html office flower]" was selected for being attractive and gracious to clients, and expected to only work for a few years (just long enough to meet a nice young executive to marry), so it was not considered a "real" career. Some companies actually have OLs on separate career tracks than the real employees -- andemployees—and give female hires a choice which track they want to be on.

Generally treated as the expected employment path for a respectable young woman, Office Ladies are often used as shorthand for an employed, responsible adult woman (in contrast to the teenagers who populate most manga). In works for teenagers, the [[Cool Big Sis]] or [[Promotion to Parent|the one taking care of her younger siblings]] is likely to be an OL, while in [[Josei]] (women's manga), it's a likely career for [[The Protagonist]]. In [[Seinen]] (men's manga) there is also often a titillating aspect to OL characters, since OLs are traditionally supposed to be good-looking, attentive to men and unmarried, so it's a likely choice for [[Ms. Fanservice]] or the [[Love Interest]].

Office Lady characters played straight are a bit more common in ''dorama'' (Japanese "soap operas") than they are in anime, although [[Punch Clock Villain|Punch Clock Villains]]s and female Mooks are sometimes depicted this way.

* The Punch Clock Villains in ''[[All Purpose Cultural Cat Girl Nuku Nuku (Anime)|All Purpose Cultural Cat Girl Nuku Nuku]]'' aren't office ladies, but at least one of them ''thinks'' they are:

{{quote| '''Arisa:''' We office ladies can get really stressed out, you know.<br />

'''Kyouko:''' Where do you get off calling us office ladies?<br />

'''Arisa:''' Simple, we're the Secretarial Department's Flying Column, which abbreviates down to O.L.<br />

'''Kyouko:''' Just how do those words abbreviate into O.L.?<br />

* Kaneru from ''[[Doujin Work]]'' is a rather bored [[Office Lady]] who only finds joy in making [[Doujinshi]], even though she claims to be the owner of a tea salon.

* Wendy in the ''[[Read or Die (Anime)|Read or Die]]'' OVA seems to be an OL, {{spoiler|although this [[Take a Level In Badass|changes]] when she appears in the Read or Dream TV.}}

* ''[[Butterflies, Flowers]]'': The heroine, Choko.

* The duties of Mai from ''[[Ghost Hunt (Manga)|Ghost Hunt]]'' when Naru doesn't have a case are similar to that of an office lady. She even comments that her pay is roughly equivalent to what an office lady makes - which is really generous for an after-school part-time job.

* Linna Yamazaki in ''[[Bubblegum Crisis]]: Tokyo 2040]]'' (not to be confused with the OVA version of her character, who was an aerobics instructor and later a stockbroker.)

* One level in ''[[Osu! Tatakae Ouendan|Osu! Tatake! Ouendan]]'' has Sachiko, the overworked secretary. She is forever being bullied by a group of three other office ladies. The cheerleaders help to get her work done so she can go to the company's anniversary dance and win over the company president's son.

[[Category:TropeWhite Collar Tropes]]