65page

65 The future of women ’ s welfare Some remain pessimistic about Korea achieving gender equality. Song of the Korea Women’s Hotline thinks the government’s first priority is the economy, expecting every- thing would fall into place if it were thriving. In 2013, the World Economic Forum’s Global Competitiveness Report placed South Korea’s economy as ranking 19th worldwide out of 144 countries, up from 24th in the previous year — an incredible feat for a country whose economic development is considered relatively recent. Yet at the same time, the Global Gender Gap report placed South Korea 111th out of 136 countries in 2013 in overall gender equality. It was a drop from being ranked 108th the pre- vious year. “I don’t think the government has interest (in gender equality), because the economy is re- ally important so they think any other problems will be better automatically,” she says. “There is a Gender Equality Ministry in Korea, so peo- ple think that’s enough.” Similarly, So, the homemaker, believes the government’s initiatives do not tackle issues at their roots. “It is gradually improving, but I feel like the government’s policies are still superficial,” she says. “The government should make policies that can touch upon fundamental issues for women, (like) supporting child care so that women can continue their career after giving birth.” Nonetheless, Korea has a lot of progress to look back on, and So does not feel that sex- ism is as threatening a problem for women as it once was. There are signs of change for women in Korea, with small steps led by Pres- ident Park, South Korea’s first female elected leader. In 2013, the Ministry of Employment and Labor organized a part-time job fair, with 30,000 people coming for job interviews and consulting. Fueled by Park’s initiative to raise the overall employment rate from the current 65 percent to 70 percent by the end of her term, the encouragement for married women to come out of career disruption – generally due to maternity leave or child care – is grad- ually growing. Perhaps as a response to the 2013 Global Gender Gap report, the Ministry of Strategy and Finance revealed late last year that it would allocate 22.4 trillion won to gender-re- lated policies for 2014, up 68 percent from the 2013 budget. The funds target a total of 339 projects focusing on child care support, sexual violence prevention and encouraging employment for women, among others. Even the Korea Women’s Hotline has tak- en initiatives beyond domestic violence to encourage young women to fight against the standard image of how girls should behave and present themselves. It has its own educa- tion program to teach girls that they don’t have to give in to the barrage of beauty standards they will face. “In the summer we went to a camp with teen- age girls … and we talked about beauty and diet. These kids, they don’t think (vanity) is a problem; it’s an inevitable thing they have to do. (But) it’s not an inevitable thing. Let’s rethink this,” says Song. “We also (want to target) teenage girls, so we have a group for teenagers. We go camping, we do lectures and many things.” With such initiatives, a handful of Korean women remain hopeful and continue fighting for women’s welfare, even if that means just starting with the right attitude. “Things are getting much better. I can feel it,” says Hong Tae-young, the marketing intern. “I think women should change (things) first. Boys cannot know how things are unfair to girls, because they never experienced it. Girls should act preemptively, and take responsibili- ty for developing their own careers.” As Korea modernizes and expands its inter- national ties, the isolation it had maintained up until the 1970s and 1980s continues to erode. Old values — especially the influence of Con- fucian tradition — are fading. The young, technologically wired generation is immersed in new ways of interacting with each other, es- pecially with the opposite sex. “I believe Confucian traditions will gradually disappear,” says So. “My generation is very different from that of my mom. My child’s mar- ried life will also be very different from mine. I think it is more significant to seek out con- structive solutions for women than to disclose how the past traditions were absurd.” Journalist Kim believes Confucian values no longer hold relevance in Koreans’ modern dai- ly lives. “Confucian values are not inherently Korean; they are, in fact, just values that were rein- forced in the late Joseon dynasty. Therefore, there is no need to obsess over keeping the tradition,” Kim says. “In this global world, all nations are intercon- nected. Through numerous women’s rights movements, Western countries that were historically patriarchal have now advanced in terms of gender equality. … A social hierarchy where women are at the bottom only shows a nation’s lack of advancement.” Anna Lee, a student at Sungshin Women’s University who has traveled extensively, be- lieves the change is already here and many women choose to say ‘no’ to what other women do, just as she did. She is optimistic about what women are capable of doing in to- day’s environment. Overall, she believes that women in Korea are treated well, as long as they choose to take control of their ambitions and follow their own happiness. But there are many who believe that women face unfair ob- structions that do not make it easy, and some- times even impossible — especially under the scrutiny of others. “Five years ago, there was a term called Al- pha Girl. Alpha Girls do what they want to do and they’re successful,” she said. “It wasn’t a (bad thing); it just shows a new different gen- eration of Korean women.” Alpha Girl, a term coined by Harvard pro- fessor Dan Kindlon, refers to girls who are equal or sometimes superior to boys in school, sports and jobs. They embrace their femi- ninity and use it to their advantage to pursue higher aspirations, overcoming barriers placed against them. “These days, a lot of Korean women don’t get married although they are over 30 years old. They follow their ambitions and careers until they feel like they really need to get mar- ried,” Lee says. “Although society still gives them pressure to get married, they still feel like, ‘This is my life, I have my own control, I can live by myself.’ So there are a lot of wom- en who are not married and have their own nail art shop, hair salon, website or whatever they want to do. It has changed a lot.” If this is the case, then approaching gender equality may be only a matter of time, and Roh Yon-hee, the lecturer, is one of the hopeful. “We should understand, accept our differenc- es and respect each other. Men should share housework and caring for children. Women should be more responsible for what they are in charge of. I believe time will heal the prob- lem, and it actually is happening now.” ‘I believe Confucian traditions will gradually disappear. My generation is very different from that of my mom. My child’s married life will also be very different from mine. I think it is more significant to seek out constructive solutions for women than to disclose how the past traditions were absurd.’ So Eun-sil, homemaker