GRSJ224/Feminism In South Korea

A slogan of the online community "Megalia"

Introduction to Past Confucian/Korean Societal Norms

Through the cultural influences from China, Korea adopted "Confucianism" values and developed its own form of "Korean Confucianism". The beliefs and values of Confucianism are still embedded in current Korean society. These beliefs and values stem from the basic lessons of Confucianism which are called “Three Bonds and Five Relationships” (Samgang Oryun). The three bonds (Samgang) consist of three lessons as do the five relationships (Oryun). The three bonds place emphasis on the bond between the following: 1. the king and subject 2. father and son 3. husband and wife. This means that as a ruler the king, the father, and the husband should be a good example for the subordinates which are the subject, the son, and the wife. The five relationships place emphasis on the relationship between the following: 1. the king and subject 2. father and son 3. the elderly and the young 4. husband and wife 5. between friends. Each stresses loyalty, intimacy and love, respect for the elderly, respect for husband, and trust.

Traditional Gender Roles and Rise in Feminism

Due to the interaction and close geographical proximity between China and Korea, specifically "Joseon Dynasty", "Neo-Confucianism" morals and values became prominent in "Joseon Dyansty". Due to the influence of Neo-Confucianism values, women's roles were mainly tied to housework and men's roles were mainly tied to providing necessities such as shelter, food, and clothing. It was not until 1948 that women achieved rights for access to equal public education and the right to work outside the home. In current Korean society, the norms have changed. Now, modern Korean women are challenged in different ways such as dealing with multiple tasks of working and being a mother as well as dealing with the changing social norms in Korean society. From the three bonds and five relationships, the most relevant and prevalent themes in Korean society used to be the bond between father and son, husband and wife, and the relationships between the elderly and the young and husband and wife, but all the themes are now losing their importance. This phenomenon can be explained by the introduction of Western beliefs. These are spread through the media and internet, and from international students and exchange students.

Online Feminist Community -Megalia

The logo of the online community "Megalia"

One of the most influential online feminist communities in Korea is "Megalia". "Megalia" is a female-only feminist group that provides an online space for women to share their thoughts and experiences in relation to gender discrimination. This group also reacts to gender discrimination on and offline through creating stereotypes for Korean men such as posting pictures of themselves making a hand sign that specifies a small male genital as shown on their logo.

Memorial at Gangnam station in Korea after the murder of a young female

• Two main activities ignited Megalia response:

1. After a twenty-three-year-old Korean woman was stabbed by a man in the middle of the day, women in Korea were outraged by the police report saying that the potential motive for this crime was hatred against women. People gathered at Gangnam subway station to protest and started to post post-its on the wall of Gangnam subway station.

2. A female voice actor whose voice was used for a gaming company called "Nexon" got fired after she posted a picture of herself wearing a "girls don't need a prince" t-shirt on Twitter.

After these incidents, "Megalia" shed light on these issues online and raised awareness.

Discrimination Against Women

A designated parking lot for women in Korea

• Parking spots: Korean government recently took an initiative to build specific parking spots designed for women drivers in Seoul. These parking spots are wider, outlined in pink and contain a female stick figure wearing a skirt. This is an example of the city's initiative to accommodate women. Is this initiative effective on tackling gender discrimination?

A women-only subway car in Korean public transit

• Subway: June 22, 2016 in Busan marks the first day of the test trial where subway trains will contain women-only cars. Also, women-only seats are already used widely in Seoul, the capital and largest city in South Korea since 2013. Some women like the idea of women-only cars because it provides safety from crimes against women.

Criticism

• Parking spots: It could potentially create/increase further stereotypes that women are not as capable drivers as men. The usage of a stereotypical female stick figure wearing a skirt further emphasizes that women are to dress and look a specific way. In addition to this physical stereotype, the parking space outline and the stick figure is painted pink which further enforces stereotypes that women are to wear light colours because it is considered feminine. Is this step forward or backward?

• Subway: It seems that the separate subway cars are a temporary fix rather than tackling the fundamental issues related to old societal norms and new societal norms. Modern Korean women want equality; however, separate subway cars reinforce this notion that women are weak and need protection. One may say that it is more effective to tackle the issue of violence at the core rather than enclosing women in a 'safe' space during transportation. Looking at this issue from a different perspective, it seems that this initiative is counterproductive to taxpayers' money because it often occurs that there are more empty seats in the female designated cars than in the coed designated cars. Once again, this ties to the fundamental issue that the government and society should work together to understand the issues as well as provide permanent solutions to eliminate gender differences. This issue must be tackled from the core and not merely be solved temporarily by creating more gender divisions.

New Social Norms and Issues

Compared to the past patriarchal society, the current society in Korea has advanced to a more egalitarian one than what has been in the past. Progress has been made, but there are still issues to be resolved from the core.

• As a direct result of Westernization and changing social/gender norms, men started to aware the inequalities happening during the process of marriage. In the past, it was a norm that most of financial burden was on men. However, as the society becomes more competitive and housing prices rise, men are finding it more difficult to provide for family. In addition, due to Westernization, Korean society started to rapidly adopt Western values such as "Dutch Pay(Going Dutch)" and cohabitation. As a result, more young men are now avoiding marriage for later time or to not marry at all, and even endorsing anti-feminism.

• Despite increase in women's political rights, and increase in rates of getting higher education and entering workforce, Korea ranked 54th among 58 major countries for the "empowerment of women". One of the most noticeable category was economic opportunity. Korea ranked 55th in this category and 57.5% of 573 female workers reported that they experienced discrimination because of their gender while finding a job. Especially, 80% of respondents reported experiences of discrimination with promotion and nearly 50% felt that it was impossible for them to promote from certain positions. Thus, the glass ceiling still exists in Korea.