(Sources: left, right)

As I type this, I’ve just returned from having a vacuum cleaner stuck in my ear — an opening line I hereby copyright, just in case I do ever start that novel.

Seriously though, the procedure itself was mercifully painless and brief. But, it came after one trip to an incompetent dentist this week, then two to a much better ear, nose, and throat doctor. Add all the ibuprofen I’ve been taking too, then I didn’t have much time or concentration left for posts this week sorry.

There will be one next week soon about objectification and SISTAR though (specifically, SISTAR19), whom I’d be happy and grateful to hear your thoughts on as I finish writing this weekend. Or, on Camile Paglia, who’s Sex, Art, and American Culture (1992) — a collection of short, impactful magazine articles — has just blown me away since picking up a copy in Seoul a few weeks ago. I didn’t need to think twice about making her my first official writing role model, and am already calculating average sentence word counts!^^

Announcements

— All is Well in Gwangju Vagina World (Gwangju Blog)

Saturday

— For transgender Koreans, sex change not about organs, but “a question of life and death” (The Hankyoreh)

— Dear Mr. PD, Give Me a Break! Female bodies on K-pop TV shows (Beyond Hallyu)

— ‘Leftover’ men of China: You’re okay (as long as you’re rich) (Shanghaiist)

— There is now a stereotype for psychics in Korean cinema (Gord Sellar)

— Queer Links from the Week (The Kimchi Queen)

Sunday

— Does Peer Pressure Ever Discourage Dating Differently? (Speaking of China)

— Japanese Women Take Command, Finally (TIME)

— The Korean Baby Box: What makes single moms give up their babies? (South Korean Human Rights Monitor)

— Korean Subway Sexual Harassment Prevention Tips Constrict Women’s Behavior (ILDA)

— Romantic North Korea: Comrade Kim Goes Flying (The Wall Street Journal)

Monday

— Women warriors break down barriers across Asia (The Nation)

— Has there really been a drop in Japanese suicides or should we look at it as a drop in homicides? (Japan Subculture Research Center)

— In a Room Full of Naked Koreans, Margaret Cho’s Body Is an Unwelcome Sight (Jezebel)

— 5 K-hiphop Producers You Shouldn’t Miss Out On (Angry K-pop Fan)

— Is immigration at sustainable levels? (The Korea Herald)

Tuesday

— Flight Attendants Can Now Wear Pants, but the Question Remains, Does Sex Sell Anyway? (Busan Haps)

— The Big Fat Post About Weight, Women, and Body Image in K-Pop (The One Shots)

— Korea drama’s breastfeeding scene under controversy for being ‘too sexually suggestive’ (Netizen Buzz)

— Chinese crackdown begins on illegal reproductive clinics (China Daily)

— Soo Joo Park Doesn’t Want to Be Typecast As an Asian Model (The Cut)

Wednesday

— The March 1st Independence Movement, Led By Teenage Girls (ILDA; Part 2)

— What do you do when you discover your husband of nine years is gay? A new Taiwanese rom-com (Scene Asia)

— “Censorship has had a long and storied history in South Korea” (The Marmot’s Hole)

— Crackdown brings to light China’s lucrative black-market reproductive clinics (Shanghaiist)

— Korean Teenagers Go Online to Find Random ‘Ghost Friends’(koreaBANG)

Thursday

— Kodansha & AKB48′s Kasai Tomomi cleared of child porn charges cause nobody cares anymore (Asian Junkie)

— Women in Combat? Old Hat, in North Korea (TIME)

— North Korean Defector Working as Prostitute Found Dead in Motel (koreaBANG)

— “Why is it that even completely American Korean-Americans get one whiff of Korean culture and then are obsessed with it like there is no tomorrow?” (Ask a Korean!)

— Park Si Hoo’s Sexual Assault Case: A Timeline Of What We Know So Far (Asian Junkie)

Friday

— This is why there is only a 2.7% rate of success for adoptees that search for their families (Tales of Wonderlost; update)

— Korean Media Deliberately Exaggerates Foreigners’ Crime Rates (Gusts of Popular Feeling)

— Translation: Guidelines prepared for police to protect the rights of sexual minorities (The Kimchi Queen)

— Case of prolonged abuse shows the need to protect South Korea’s intellectually-disabled from sexual violence (The Hankyoreh)

— The Asia-Pacific may be home to 60% of the global population, but it only boasts 6% of the most beautiful female celebrities (The Diplomat)

(Links are not necessarily endorsements)

(While you were sleeping 10 by Shin Sun Mi, 2011. Source)

Remember this picture? I’ll wager you do — after all, it was probably the most liked and highly-shared thing I’ve ever posted to the blog’s Facebook page. So, I’m sure many of you will be happy to learn that the artist is having an exhibition at the Gallery Sun Contemporary in Jongno until April 7th…

See here for the details, and thanks very much to Gomushin Girl for letting me know!

Announcements

— Art Workshop for V-day, GIC, Gwangju, 5:30pm, Saturday March 30th (No previous experience required!)

Saturday

— Landmark legal ruling for South Korean transgenders (The Hankyoreh)

— Zinni and crew hilariously not innocent on Music Bank (Frank Kogan)

— Queer Links from the Week (The Kimchi Queen)

— School administration shown to have responded poorly to signs of violence (The Hankyoreh)

— Perfect Match? North Korean Wives for South Korean men (NK News)

Sunday

— BBC’s Mariko Oi on the history education in Japan (The Marmot’s Hole)

— Japan’s nationalism targets hallyu stars (The Korea Times; also see “Japanese step up against anti-Korea demonstrations” at The Korea Herald and at koreaBANG)

— Women’s Bodies Given Away For Medical Experiments (ILDA)

— “Contract Marriages” Between Korean Gays and Lesbians (The Kimchi Queen)

— Chinese parents bemoan their children’s laziness and greed, but this generation of young people has had enough (aeon)

Monday

— Citizens’ choices of birth control made public in Dongguan (Shanghaiist)

— K-pop and Korean Political Unrest (Seoulbeats)

— Transsexual people can amend official gender without surgery, South Korean court rules (Gaystarnews)

— A new message from Anti English Spectrum (Gusts of Popular Feeling)

— Divorcing Your Chinese Spouse Doesn’t Mean A Divorce From China (Speaking of China)

Tuesday

— The ironies of South Korea’s “digital generation” (The Hankyoreh)

— South Korean Drama Actor Park Si-hoo in Rape Scandal (koreaBANG; A Koala’s Playground)

— The K-Pop Police (Youtube Video; Steve Miller)

— South Korea Expands Chemical Castration For Sex Offenders (Korea Realtime)

— On the uniqueness of ‘Jeong’ and my inability to understand even if I tried really really hard (Idle Worship; The Marmot’s Hole)

Wednesday

— Women’s lotions and potions in old Joseon (London Korea Links)

— Finding (and Documenting) Love in China (Scene Asia)

— Managers blackmail actor engaging in homosexual acts (Omona They Didn’t!)

— Caution, Don’t Feed the Fans! (Seoulbeats)

— Cross-Dressing Throughout History to Fit In (Slate)

Thursday

— China’s One-Child Policy Already Irrelevant? (Asia Society)

— Park Geun-hye & Fashion: A Late-comer to the Race to Ascribe Stereotypes to the President (Korean Gender Cafe)

— Wonju villa sex scandal keeps getting better (The Marmot’s Hole; koreaBANG)

— Here come the princesslings: will the daughters of China’s new leaders finally break the glass ceiling? (Shanghaiist)

— The Pregnant Murderer of Park Chorong-Chorong-Bitnari (Gord Sellar)

Friday

— Vietnam’s Gender Policies Take a Progressive Turn (The Diplomat)

— Sexual Harassment: It’s Not Just in the Seoul Streets (Tales of Wonderlost; update)

— New South Korean Law Might Make Miniskirts Illegal (koreaBANG; Omona They Didn’t)

— MTV’s Korean Drama Butterfly to Raise Awareness on Human Trafficking (The Diplomat)

— “Blogging in Korea for so long…I’m watching the exact same conversations happen all over again” (I’m No Picasso)

(Links are not necessarily endorsements)

(La Belle Dame Sans Merci by Frank Dicksee, 1902; source)

“This picture is fascinating to me because of its portrayal of a powerful female character who doesn’t fall into any of the typical modern ‘Strong Female Character’ cliches.

The woman is the powerful, sexually assertive and threatening figure here, while the man is the more passive figure, visibly vulnerable to her. However, this portrayal of a woman as assertive and powerful doesn’t rely either on sexualizing her or on presenting that power in masculine ways.”

(Kawabilia, via Peppermint Kiss)

Announcements

— Congratulations to Lee on the birth of his son Alex! (Lee’s Korea Blog; update)

— Bake Sale & Flea Market for The (Gwangju) Vagina Monologues at GIC on March 23 (KoreaMaria)

Saturday

— A review of Gaijin: Cultural Representations through Manga, 1930s-1950s, by Karl Ian Uy Cheng Chua (Dissertation Reviews)

— ‘Supporting unwed moms key to reducing adoption rate’ (The Korea Times)

— Queer Links from the Week (The Kimchi Queen)

— Cute Girls Finish First: Is aegyo a form of power? (Beyond Hallyu)

— Reading List: The Works of Alexander Chee (The Kimchi Queen)

Sunday

— Equal Opportunity Sexual Objectification in K-Pop (Footnotes)

— 2013 Blogs by Western Women Who Love Chinese Men (Speaking of China)

— Editor calls netizens out on their bullshit, netizens deny everything (Netizen Buzz)

— The Price of Marriage in China (The New York Times)

— Honors for female cadet at top military academy (Korea Joongang Daily)

Monday

— Confessions of a Fangirl: Exotics, You Guys Aren’t Half Bad (Seoulbeats)

— Is Korean defamation law too strict? (The Korea Herald)

— More disgust with gender stereotyping in Korean workbooks (Hagwon Style)

— Another student commits suicide over school violence (Netizen Buzz)

— On Int’l Women’s Day: Celebrated in China, Forgotten in America (Speaking of China)

Tuesday

— How valuable are stars in the Korean film industry? (Modern Korean Cinema)

— Alarming Lack Of Women Scientists In South Korea (Asian Scientist)

— Korean ‘Baby Box’ orphanage saves babies’ lives (Netizen Buzz)

— Korean single mothers in the eyes of Korean men (Loving Korean)

— North Korea attacks South Korea’s president’s ‘poisonous’ skirt (The Telegraph; The New York Times)

Wednesday

— Controversial Book on Abortion in South Korea Triggers Debate (koreaBANG)

— Military chaplain applicants rejected on ideological grounds (The Hankyoreh)

— South Korea Struggles To Rein in Bullying, Student Suicides (Korea Realtime)

— China’s top ten porn search terms might surprise you (SFW) (Shanghaiist; see Korea’s here and here)

— ‘Insufficient dress’ rule goes viral on Internet (Korea Joongang Daily)

Thursday

— Hating Sexual Minorities Is Not a “Right” (Ilda)

— Korea reels over the suicide of high school student as more info on his abuse is revealed (Netizen Buzz)

— The Secret Behind Girl Group Members’ Abs Is… (Soompi)

— What managers actually do behind the scenes (Netizen Buzz)

— Short Films: Suddenly Last Summer (지난 여름, 갑자기 ) and Going South (남쪽으로 간다) (The Kimchi Queen)

Friday

— Corporal Punishment Getting Punished in Japan; Don’t throw pens at the kids! (Japan Subculture Research Center)

— When Scandal Statements Go South (Seoulbeats)

— What’s in a Scandal? (Always Rational K-Pop)

— Plastic Island (The Korea Times)

— MUST READ: Meet the men who spy on women through their webcams (Arstechnica)

(Links are not necessarily endorsements)

(Sources; left, right)

Not quite enough for another post in my “Reading the Lolita Effect in Korea” series, but a good example of what I discuss there: 18 year-old Sulli, one of the maknaes of the girl-group f(x), shows far less skin in her latest photoshoot for Oh Boy! magazine than she did 3 years ago! (Hat tip to @mellowyel).

Meanwhile, next week I’m giving a presentation in Seoul; have a magazine article to write; one daughter starting school, the other changing kindergartens; the start of the next semester at my university; and so on (seriously, I really could go on!), so I’ll be much too busy to post again until the week after next sorry. Until then, I hope the stories below keep you occupied, and please remember that Friday, March 8 is my birthday International Women’s Day, with various events happening in Gwangju and Seoul. If readers know of any more, please let me know!

Saturday

— Stephen Epstein: Korea’s indie rock scholar (Korea.net)

— Glass ceiling outlasts Madam President (The Korea Herald)

— Citizen Brock: South Korea considers a Canadian (Asian Correspondent)

— 13 Photos From Taiwan’s First Same-Sex Buddhist Marriage (Peppermint Kiss)

— Ask the Yangxifu: Does He Like Me? Signs a Chinese Man Might Be Into You (Speaking of China)

Sunday

— American teacher in Japan under fire for lessons on Japan’s history of discrimination (The Washington Post; The Marmot’s Hole)

— Park Si-hoo and Sexual Assault in K-entertainment (Seoulbeats)

— Did Sunny Days’ company use Jung Soo Jung’s sexual harassment to promote the group? (Asian Junkie)

— Police under controversy for asking intrusive questions to gang rape victim (Netizen Buzz; more cases here)

— What’s going on with Rainbow’s “concept”? (Frank Kogan)

Monday

— Hongdae club day lewd party incident (Gusts of Popular Feeling)

— Eight Years of Living Together as an Unmarried Heterosexual Couple (Ilda)

— “Korea is a paradise” for foreign instructors (Gusts of Popular Feeling)

— “Little Mom” Program in Gwangju: Stigma or Support? (Korean Gender Cafe)

— Leftovers: unmarried Chinese women over 25 (The Guardian)

Tuesday

— How Demography Is Changing Japan (The Diplomat)

— K-pop trainees have a 0.1% chance of debuting (Netizen Buzz)

— Korean plastic surgery ads from the 1970s (Möüth)

— Resources on censorship in the Korean music industry (Angry K-Pop Fan)

— Truth, Lies and Propaganda: The North Korean hoax that backfired (NK News)

Wednesday

— Beijing Lesbian Couple Seeking Marriage Registration Refused (chinaSMACK)

— More Than Half of Korean Nurses Report Being Sexually Harassed or Assaulted by Doctors and Patients (Idle Worship; The Marmot’s Hole)

— Female population predicted to surpass males by 2016 (Netizen Buzz)

— Migrant Women Still Suffer Discrimination (The Chosun Ilbo)

— SKorea’s 1st female leader yet to hire many women (AP)

Thursday

— Japan’s ‘Women Only’ Train Cars: Is it a Crime for Men to Ride? (Rocketnews24)

— On Death, Dying, and Funerals in Korea (Seoul Searching)

— 1 in 5 Korean men to die single (The Korea Herald)

— K-pop’s Guns: Sexy, Cool and Harmless? (Seoulbeats)

— Investigation into “foreign instructors’ methods for luring Korean women” (Gusts of Popular Feeling)

Friday

— Why are there so many trainees involved in celebrity scandals? (Netizen Buzz)

— Broadcast announcement: ‘For foreign instructors, is Korea a paradise for women?’ (Gusts of Popular Feeling)

— The (Daycare) Wonder Years (Lee’s Korea Blog)

— Korean cosmetics enjoy popularity in China thanks to Korean pop culture (Yonhap)

— Plastic surgery, ‘Gangnam-style’ (Global Post)

(Links are not necessarily endorsements)