Men > Women?
- will.liace4
- Nov 17, 2018
- 3 min read
For my discussion, I will be talking about women’s right and how this is portrayed in this drama. In Korea, gender inequality might have been better over the past few years but it is still seen as a problem. We see many Korean women working but they didn’t feel they achieved the equal status with Korean men (Palley, 1990). In fact many in society still believes that the gender equality is still a problem where men do seem like they achieve more than what women get and their position in the house as well. Most married Korean women are seen to do both work and housework but is still not appreciated (Sung, 2003). In a hierarchical relationship between men and women according to a Confucian book, men are regarded as “heaven” while women are regarded as “earth” (Sung, 2003).
In episode 5, it is seen in the beginning that when both Yoon Ha-Kyung and Soo Jin are trying to resist from the hands of the security men, but is shown powerless and being unable to stop this separation until Kim Sung-Ryong, a man, comes to stop the cause. I feel some part of the drama are shown to show men’s power over women because in another scene of episode 5 shows Seo Yool trying to discipline/ threaten Jo Min Young, which is weird because both people are of the same status but in this drama Seo Yool seems like the one in charge. Women are seen participating in these social movements, but yet they aren’t really the ones to be in power nor hold leadership positions (Palley, 1990).
In a later scene of episode 5, when Yoon Ha-Kyung and Soo jin are just talking in some place, still worrying about the lawsuit. Kim Sung-Ryong comes and literally just rips the lawsuit with knowing it has been dropped. While the women are still trying to solve a way to get rid of this lawsuit, Kim Sung-Ryong easily teared it up showing his privilege.
Throughout episode 6, Jang Yoo-Sun, the chairman’s wife and also the CEO of TQ group, is always mostly seen in her wheelchair being pushed by Yoon Ha-Kyung and talking to her in secret, lying on bed, or just sitting on the couch and relaxing/ doing nothing major. While her husband and son are causing troubles, all Jany Yoo-Sun is doing is commanding others to help her, being incapable of stopping the men in the household.
In conclusion, women are still treated not equal to men, even though they might do more work than men do. In this drama, it clearly shows how Korea is functioning and women’s right is one thing they are trying to show everyone that this is still a problem in Korea
Word Count: 457
Questions:
1. How is women's right nowadays in Korea different from other countries? What is also different from the past and present for women's right? Is it good or bad?
2. Do you think the purpose of showing these women's right in the drama is just merely a coincidence or it was intended? Does women's right have anything to relate with corruption?
Bibliography:
Palley, Marian Lief. "Women's status in South Korea: tradition and change." Asian Survey 30, no. 12 (1990): 1136-1153.
Sung, Sirin. "Women reconciling paid and unpaid work in a Confucian welfare state: The case of South Korea." Social policy & administration 37, no. 4 (2003): 342-360.
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