Korean Gender Reader

(“Oohlala Spouses makes best poster ever” — Dramabeans. Source)

This new theme is AWESOME, yes?^^ Have a happy Chuseok everybody!

Body Image, Health

— Seoul Cosmetic Surgery Clinic Looking for (Naked) Before and After Models (The Marmot’s Hole)

— Why the Rise of Asia In Fashion Isn’t As Beautiful As It Seems (Speakeasy)

— Korean eunuchs reveal clues to why women live longer than men (BBC; see also Science)

— What rejuvenates my vagina?!?! Not Lasers!!! (Korean Gender Cafe)

— It takes hundreds of employees, thousands of hours and millions of dollars to launch a mass market lingerie line. And one blogger to take it all down. (Racebending; see also Bitch)

— How do you explain the Gramscian concept of hegemony to a 10 year old? (Tales of Wonderlost)

Censorship, Media

— Teen sexualization on TV faces stronger censorship (The Korea Times; see also The Korea Herald)

— New Term: “White Endorsement Monkey” and “White Defamation Monkey” (Gord Sellar)

— Men finally behave badly (The Korea Times)

— “Unqualified foreign instructor” problem…in 1973 (Gusts of Popular Feeling)

Crime

— I cannot remember a period of time in my life when I was not scared by older ahjussis (Lost in Traffic Lights)

Dating, Relationships, Marriage

— Culture and Language Issues in Foreign/Korean Relationships (I’m No Picasso II)

— Dating Asian Women When You’re an Asian Guy (Radical Ramblings)

— Marriages between North American(?) men, Korean women top 2,000 in 2011 (The Korea Times)

— Male writer and I have a Korea / dating column starting in October’s 10mag (Meet me at the wall)

— What’s the REAL appeal of a Samsung or LG guy? (Dating in Korea)

— SECRET’s Hyosung says her ideal type is a stalker … great (Asian Junkie)

— Ask the Yangxifu: Chinese Parents Refuse to Meet Me (Speaking of China)

— Why I have no female Chinese friends (Seeing Red in China)

— Are Yangxifu (The Western Wives of Chinese Men) More Difficult Wives? (Speaking of China)

Education, Parenting, Demographics

— Breaking the promise of universal day care (The Hankyoreh; see also Korea Joongang Daily)

— Funny, sad, and revealing answers to questions from Korean students (South Korea)

— Adventures in Parenting Abroad Pt. 3: The End is Just the Beginning (The Three Wise Monkeys)

— “The Challenges of Korean Education in Historical Perspective” Asia Institute Seminar with Professor Michael Seth (Korea: Circles and Squares)

— A Trojan Wall of Separation: The Battle Over South Korean Textbooks (Busan Haps)

— South Korea to probe corruption in international high schools (Asian Correspondent)

Economics, Politics, Workplaces

— Low Unemployment Rates, But No Jobs for Youths or Women (The Korea Economic Daily)

— Park Geun-hye: Female President, Patriarchal Society? (Roboseyo)

— Feeling the pinch: The housewives of Japan are giving less spending money to their husbands (The Economist)

— Asia Institute Seminar on ‘Women in Science’ in Seoul (Korea: Circles and Squares)

Gangnam Style

— The Obligatory Gangnam Style Post (Ask a Korean!)

— PSY And The Acceptable Asian Man (Racialicious)

— Is “Gangnam Style” a Hit Because of Our Asian Stereotypes? (Mother Jones)

— Growing Up Gangnam-Style: What the Seoul Neighborhood Was Really Like (The Atlantic)

— Dead horse (Liminality)

— Gangnam Style’s Irony is Missed b/c of the Publicity Wave (Asian Security Blog)

— On Gangnam Style (The Korea Times)

— What’s so funny about Gangnam Style? (The Guardian)

— Why Psy and not JYP? (The Korea Times)

— A Few Things JYP Can Learn From Psy for Wonder Girls’ American Venture (Seoulbeats)

— The Gangnam Phenom (Foreign Policy)

LGBT, Sexuality

— A Different Color of Sexual Identity (The Yonsei Annals)

— Former senior police officer: “Registered brothels needed” (The Korea Times)

— Queering Korean Literature: Author and Activist Yi Gwang-su (The Three Wise Monkeys)

— Beware of people asking you for 키알 / 섹알 (Hangukdrama and Korean)

— Why are men so obsessed with breasts? (io9)

— Reading List: Mapping the Vicissitudes of Homosexual Identities in South Korea (The Kimchi Queen)

— Dirty Little Secrets: A variety of Korean Sex Links (The Marmot’s Hole)

Miscellaneous

— The death of the red ink taboo in Korea (The Marmot’s Hole)

— Meeting the Mannam Cult: My Korean volunteerism at an end (Travel Blog)

— Crazy beautiful: Understanding the Korean mind (WND Diversions)

Pop Culture

— The Korean Wave and the Question of Soft Power (Seoulbeats)

— Nice Guy: Han Jae Hee Character Analysis (Idle Revelry)

“Courtship is usually portrayed (in heterosexual pairings) as something a man does; it’s an act he performs, while the woman is passive and simply receives his love. If she rejects him, it doesn’t mean he should stop, it simply means he has to try harder.”

— Review: Words of Farewell Fiction by Korean female writers (Korean Modern Literature in Translation)

— Revisiting the women who changed Korea with their pens (Yahoo!)

— I ain’t here to make you honkies laugh! (The Marmot’s Hole)

— Review: “Style” by RaNia (Mixtapes and Liner Notes)

— Review: T-ara’s “Sexy Love” is the sound of the girl group in crisis, and the song’s mock-seductive chorus goes just a step too far (Occupied Territories)

— Nothing like a healthy dose of fangirling (Hangukdrama and Korean)

— This is why you can’t lump “Asia” together (SNSD Free For All)

— How to make sure there are more “Pieta”s for the Korean film business (The Hankyoreh; see also this interview of Cho Min-soo)

(Links are not necessarily endorsements)