the term is originally negative, but some woman call themselves in this way, with the message being, "it is my lifestyle and I am happy with itit"
It's not uncommon to find people who are resigned to a particular lifestyle, and who choose to make the most of it. Nevertheless the kinds of behavior described as characteristic of "dried fish women" belie any sense of joy. I choosehave to resolve this discrepancy by assumingassume that "happy" here is meantmeans something more along the lines of someone saying, "I can't complain". The women aren't using 干物女 as a point of pride, but rather as a defensive rejection of the assumption that their lives are somehow incomplete, -- even as they act in a way that makes it seem their lives aren't as fulfilling as they could be.
Alternately, a woman might call herself an "dried fish woman"a 干物女 in the same way she might call herself an "old maid", but this is ironic self-deprecation, not redefinition.
So I remain unconvinced that the term is anything but a negative slur against "older" Japanese women. It might come across as mild scorn in Japan, but over here there's really no way to soften the impact. You might think something like "independent woman" is a happy medium, but not ifwhen the subtext is "old maid".
Now, it would be different if Japanese women did things like proudly wear t-shirts with 干物女 printed on the front as defiance of stereotype and custom, in the same way women in the U.S. wear shirts saying "Nasty Woman" in defiance of Donald Trump. If that's the case, I'm willing to editrevise my answer.
