(Source)
Sorry for the short notice, but I’ve only just found out about it. Still, that might actually be a good thing(!), as like Gomushin Girl put it:
…I’m sure part of the reason lots of expats haven’t heard about it is because the Facebook page and most of the planning has been done by and for Koreans, which is freakin’ awesome.
Indeed. But I’m sure the organizers would still be more than happy for any spectator support and/or even participation by expats, so please contact them via their blog, Facebook page, or Twitter feed if you’re interested (and here’s the Wikipedia page for more about Slutwalk in general). And, with it starting at 4pm in Gwanghwamun, I’m happy to report that I’m actually going to be able to see it myself, as by a great coincidence I’d already just booked KTX tickets to see a friend in Seoul at the very same time and place!^^
(Hat tip to Dating in Korea)
Update 1: Here’s a Korea Times article on the event. More links coming soon!
Update 2: Impossible Black Tulip questions the wisdom of holding Slutwalks.
Update 3: Here’s Roboseyo’s excellent report on the event.
The Grand Narrative 
Wow–I’m excited to see an event like this happening in Korea!
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Likewise, although I imagine that dress-wise, it’s going to be a much more sedate affair than Slutwalks overseas. Not that that’s necessarily a bad thing of course (from what little I’ve read, people have very mixed-feelings about and/or motivations for baring all on them), and regardless it’s going to be interesting to see how it’s adapted for Korea.
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I know your site is Korea-centered, but I’m also thrilled to see this expanding to Singapore and Malaysia later this year. I’m interested to see how it goes. -Grace
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Oh likewise, and actually I’m always happy to mention anything East Asia-related on the blog (lots of Chinese, Taiwanese, HK, and Japanese stuff creeping into the Korean Gender Reader posts these days!),.
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Exactly what is this about? Sorry I don’t read Korean and don’t really find the info on their site useful. Some sort of feminist thing?
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Try the Wikipedia page, and you’ll get the general idea.
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So, any inputs on how it was?
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Once it’s up, I’ll put a link to what I’m sure will be an excellent post on it by Roboseyo.
I would write something myself, but I’m just exhausted after the trip there and back sorry.,
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I went to gwanghamun but I didn’t see anything happening. It was probably sometime between 4:30-5pm. I asked a police officer who was guarding outside the US embassy and he didn’t have any idea about it…
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Sounds like you just missed it. From 4-4:30 it was by exit 6 of Gwanghwamun station, directly across the crossroads from the embassy (well, Kyobo building), but at 4:30 everybody moved down towards City Hall.
It was strange that the police officer didn’t know anything about it, because a squadron of about 30-40 female officers were keeping an eye on proceedings. As an aside, Roboseyo (I think) told me that they usually have female officers at protests etc. likely to have mostly women.
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The German Press already reported the event.
Was a rather lame article about the whole deal and it’s history.
It just mentioned S-Korea as a place of the event.
Nothing more.
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That’s a pity. I met a Dutch journalist covering the event though, who’ll probably have written something much better, so I’ll email him for a link to his article.
In the meantime, I’ve added a link to a Korea Times article on it, and will add more links later.And anybody has more themselves, please pass them on!
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Yeah, a real pity.
It failed to consider the socio-cultural frame/impact of a slut-walk in Neo-Conf. Korea.
Hence it being a lame report.
Oh, well, more reports on Greece and the looming mass-poverty, then.
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I have to say that I fail to see why exactly you approve of this. Granted, my perspective may be skewed after reading Tulip’s article (I mostly agree with her perspective on this sort of event), but nonetheless, as far as I know, the two most plausible/common reasons a woman wants to dress “slutty” is because:
a. she wants male attention of a certain kind, or
b. she just feels like dressing this way
I think this sort of protest heads most at the direction of the first reason, and that as Roboseyo says, its aim is to teach the axiom, “no is no”. Now as for the second reason, if what I’ve read so far on your blog is true, then women only want to dress this way because they’ve been raised to think that this is how women of a certain age and social group dress, and that that has been the design of and for the male gaze. So essentially, aside from advancing the cause of women’s freedom of expression, I again say that I don’t see how you could approve of this.
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Forgive me if this sounds like a copout, but frankly I’ve been just far too busy and sleep-deprived to deeply educate myself about the politics of the Slutwalk movement, and certainly don’t have anything to add to the already voluminous commentary on it, let alone Roboseyo’s excellent post on the Korean one specifically. I will say though, that particularly in Korea, I am extremely supportive of literally anything that raises awareness and gets people talking about rape and sexual harassment, and have a great deal of respect for those people that organized and/or participated in it, which I think it’s no exaggeration to say took far more guts than it would have for their counterparts in Western countries.
Not that I’m saying that you’d disagree with either sentiment, or that one can’t agree with those but still be against Slutwalks. But although people may be surprised at and/or have some disdain at how ignorant of the debate about Slutwalks I was walking up to Gwanghwamun last Saturday, I still thought those reasons above were more than sufficient motivation for me to attend and publicize it.
Finally, on that last note I do feel that as “The Korean Gender Guy” (TM), then I have a definite responsibility to publicize events like this to the best of my ability, and regardless of my personal feelings about them (although so far I’ve never come across something that I didn’t very much support). So, although it’s true that I thought that Slutwalk Korea was a very good idea, Impossible Black Tulip was really reading too much into my use of an “!” in the title!
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Why should it matter why a woman wants to dress when “no is no”? On a TV interview for the first slutwalk (brief though it was) one of the organizers never mentioned dressing for a man’s attention. Instead she said it shouldn’t matter what I wear. That doesn’t give another person the right to rape me. Not verbatim quote, but at least the gist of it. The original protest was against the fact a police officier basically victim blamed by saying, “Don’t dress like sluts if you don’t want to be raped”. From what I can glean of the South Korean slutwalk it was in response to how a rape at a university is being handled. So it’s not about freedom of expression for women, but instead protesting for the basic right of “no means no” and how a victim isn’t to blame for the clothes they were wearing at the time.
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Well, from that perspective, I understand. I’m doing a study abroad right now at Yonsei, and aside from the ubiquity of high heels and short shorts, this is definitely a sexually-conservative country, regardless of your personal background. I do hope that some good comes out of this Slutwalk.
I agree with you, TinyGuest, I was just wondering why, considering what’s often written on this blog, James (Mr. Turnbull? GrandNarrative? What’s the appropriate way to refer to you?) would approve so readily, but seeing as the approval is essentially conditional on it raising awareness of these issues, I get it ; ).
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Its strange that you did not mention the subject of PLASTIC SURGERY when it comes to Korean idols. Everyone in Asia know that it is big business there in korea. Is it really such a taboo subject there? :S
I really don’t understand why Korea is so self-concious when it comes to outward appearence. I believe most of Korean look beautiful as they are On of my friend in Korea (gangnam) had her eyes and cheeks done right after high school. when i asked her why she said becuae that way she will have a better chance of getting a job in the future!?! really?
Anyway, interesting post. :)
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