Korean Gender Reader, November 24-30

(Source)

Apologies to Psy’s die-hard fans, but I’ll be retiring the Gangnam Style section this week. After all, even my daughters are tired of it now, preferring to dance 10 times a weekend to Miss A’s I Don’t Need a Man instead…

Don’t blame me — they picked it up from their friends at kindergarten!

Announcements

— Holiday Gift Drive for KUMFA kids! (Tales of Wonderlost)

Body Image, Health

— “One of the truly rare examples of a female nude which is not performing for the male gaze, despite being literally directly under it.” (I’m No Picasso; also see here)

— “For some reason, some cultures allow family members to comment on one another’s weight as a personal greeting.” (Thick Dumpling Skin)

— Who thought skinny would be a problem? (Alleyways)

— North Korean Girls: South Korean Netizens Debate Their Beauty (KoreaBANG)

— Doctors stand off over English names (The Korea Times)

— Some foreigners regret their plastic surgery in Korea (Korea Joongang Daily)

— Viewpoint: Do models need more rights? (BBC)

Censorship, Media

— Netizens Report: Suzy at risk of losing “Nation’s First Love” title (Omona They Didn’t)

— The Global Times’ faux concern about the ‘sex tape mistress’ is heartbreaking (Shanghaiist)

Crime

— Sex Offender Detector (The Marmot’s Hole)

— Watching the detectives: Korean prosecutors under scrutiny for bribery, including coerced sex (Korea Law Today)

— “At a deeper level, what caused the 30-year-old guy to be attracted to a woman who was 13 years older than him?” (The Korea Times)

— Soon, you will no longer be able to rape your wife (The Korea Times)

Dating, Relationships, Marriage

— Here Comes the (Idol) Bride: Sunye, Marriage, and Fan Reactions (Seoulbeats)

— Can We Get Married? (우리가 결혼할수 있을까?): New drama shows a realistic view of Korean marriage (10 Magazine)

— Dating in K-pop? No, I (Am Brainwashed To) Believe Oppa Is Mine (Seoulbeats)

— Lee Tae-sung reveals he has wife, son (Korea Joongang Daily)

— The Romantic and Idol, We Can’t Get Enough Dating (Seoulbeats)

— Lee Seong-gyun Finds Out All about His Wife (Seoulbeats)

— Are More Unconventional Chinese Men More Likely to Date/Marry Western Women? (Speaking of China)

— To Pursue or Not Be Pursued, Love My Boyfriend But Don’t Want Sex, Pursuing Pleasure, and More (Radical Ramblings)

Education, Parenting, Demographics

— Demographic Shifts Redefine What It Means to Be Korean (The New York Times)

— NYT on ‘multiculturalism’ in Korea, and CERD update (Gusts of Popular Feeling)

— Vietnamese woman in South Korea commits suicide with two children (Vietnam.net)

— Korean Elementary School Teacher Slaps Misbehaving Student (KoreaBANG)

— Linguistic imperialism and native speakers in Korea (Gusts of Popular Feeling)

— The ’30 million won stereo’ (Gusts of Popular Feeling)

— In China, A Macabre Trade In Ghost Brides (Forbes)

— China’s lack of concern for the safety of children (Seeing Red in China)

Economics, Politics, Workplaces, Ladygate

— As South Korea Tackles Drinking Culture, Samsung Sets Guidelines (Korea Realtime)

— S. Korea’s income gap by gender widest among OECD nations (Yonhap)

— HIV-positive Koreans worry about being shut out of employment (The Hankyoreh)

— Working women in Seoul increase 38.4% in 11 years (The Korea Herald)

— Adult adoption in Japan: Family firms adopt an unusual approach to remain competitive (The Economist)

Gangnam Style

— Exclusive: PSY`s Once-Passionate Protesting Past (Busan Haps)

— Why PSY and Gangnam Style Demolish Cultural and Socioeconomic Barriers (TriplePundit)

— How Korean culture stormed the world (South China Morning Post)

— Washington, DC is Dreaming of a PSY Christmas (MTVK)

— PSY to Perform in Front of U.S. President Barack Obama (Soompi)

— Watch: What Comes Next for Korea After ‘Gangnam Style’? (Scene Asia)

— Psy’s ‘Mission Impossible’: Getting Tom Cruise to dance ‘Gangnam Style’ (The Telegraph)

— Should Psy Be TIME’s Person of the Year 2012? (TIME)

— Psy and the Faceless Asian (Seoulbeats)

LGBT, Sexuality

—  Korean sex toys a hit, but can’t top Japan’s Tenga (The Tokyo Reporter)

— Queer Links from the Week (The Kimchi Queen)

— Reading List: Narrative Case Study: Unheard Life Story of a Senior Gay Korean Man (The Kimchi Queen)

Miscellaneous

— Futurology in Korean Studies: hell in a handcart or hallyu heaven? LKL reports from the 2012 BAKS conference (London Korean Links)

— Prospects for Korean as an International Language (Korea: Circles and Squares; see also New Term: “White Endorsement Monkey” and “White Defamation Monkey”)

— AKF in Korea #5: Drinking with professors 101 (Angry K-pop Fan)

Pop Culture

— Exploring Gender Perspectives Through Response Songs (Seoulbeats)

— Japanese Actors Hope to Boost Career in Korean Soaps (The Chosun Ilbo)

— Is the bubble beginning to burst? (London Korean Times)

— Why it was so easy for Korea to overtake Japan in the pop culture wars (Quartz)

— Brothers and Sisters: Sibling Pairs as a Marker of Success (Seoulbeats)

— Book review: So Far from the Bamboo Grove (London Korean Links)

— ‘Red Dawn’ Spurs Anti-Asian Tweets (Scene Asia)

— Confessions of a Fangirl: Let’s Talk About Smut (Seoulbeats)

— Unusual Finds: Masan’s Half Wing Book Cafe (Chincha)

— Dispute that Shocked K-Pop is Over (Korea Realtime)

— JYJ – SM News Round Up (Omona They Didn’t)

— JYJ’s agency says they “do not expect much difference” and that they made “a concession” (Asian Junkie)

— Korea’s Idol Prep Schools and the Parents Who Fund Them (Seoulbeats)

Social Problems

— South Korea to stem digital addiction from age 3 (Stuff.co.nz)

(Links are not necessarily endorsements)