Office Lady: Difference between revisions
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[[File:Office Lady by KaranaK.jpg|thumb|400px]]
'''Office Lady''' is a [[Gratuitous English]] Japanese term—often abbreviated "OL"—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 tea]], 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—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]].
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