Adieu, Korean Gender Reader Version 1.0

(Source)

Some minor changes to announce, blogging-wise.

The main change is that I’ll be completely redoing the format of the Korean Gender Reader posts. Because really, they’ve long been superseded by the blog’s Facebook page and Twitter feed where I first post the stories, and where they seem to generate much more discussion too. Also, although the posts may not look like much work, they actually involve 4-5 hours each week of tedious searching through RSS feeds, then copying and pasting them here. Frankly, I’ve long been tempted to simply stop writing them, but have kept at it for readers’ sakes.

I could also mention that I’d probably lose half of my readers if I stopped writing them too, but let’s not go there.

So, I’ve been looking at ways to automate the process somehow. Unfortunately, my options are very limited because this blog isn’t self-hosted, but one possibility is using paper.li instead, which produces “papers,” or digests of stories on a single webpage (which I could link to). Previously, I’d rejected it because those few examples I read always seemed to be very randomly-generated and unfocused, but I’ve since learned that it’s possible to be very selective with the stories you add, especially if — obvious, in hindsight — you choose your own Twitter feed as the only source.

After doing some experimenting, I’m quite happy with the results. It does have some minor issues, particularly with not being able to choose category names, or which stories go in which, but they’re still all easy to access. And, with excerpts and images thrown in to the mix too, it may well be an improvement.

I’ll roll it out next Friday Saturday, and will use the time saved to be a little more consistent in my production of longer, analytical pieces like this recent one, with translations thrown in here and there. And I have a lot more offline things I’m working on this year too, but I’ll let you know about those when they come up.

In short, my blogging plans for 2013 sound *ahem* suspiciously similar to those for 2012. But I’ll try really hard this time round!

Announcements

— Gay Shorts on Smartphones Screening 1/9 through 1/26 (The Kimchi Queen)

Body Image, Health

— My lucky thunder thighs (Salon)

— Erin Li’s L.A. Coffin School Puts the Spotlight on Mental Illness Among Asian Americans (Mochi Magazine)

— The top 10 most handsome actors as chosen by a plastic surgeon (Netizen Buzz)

— New Online Game Attracts Women Gamers with Free Beauty Treatment Offers (Korea IT Times)

— My Body, My Self-Image, My Self-Destruction (Geek in Heels)

— A new line of confidence-wear for girls (The Ethical Adman)

— Ministry of Employment and Labor denied proposals of NHRCK on Industrial Accident Compensation Insurance Act (South Korean Human Rights Monitor)

— Koreans Are Heaviest Drinkers Among Asian Americans, Study Shows (KoreAm)

— 400 Years of Women Removing Their Body Hair (Jezebel)

— Israel’s New Ban on Super Skinny Models Won’t Fix the Problem (XX Factor; Thick Dumpling Skin)

— Claims ginseng is ‘new Viagra’ just don’t stand up (NHS)

— Woman’s Work: The Ugly Truth Behind the Beauty Premium (Bitch)

— Vogue Italia Breaks Another Barrier With First Asian Cover Model (TIME)

— Top celebrities suing Gangnam cosmetic clinic for using their images and names without permission (Omona They Didn’t)

— Dr. Michi, I’d love to hear your thoughts about whether a heavy consumption of K-Pop can influence a young person toward disordered eating (Thick Dumpling Skin)

— Perpetuating Stereotypes: How Korean high school girls (supposedly) see themselves (I’m No Picasso)

Censorship, Media

— Power of the Korean Film Producer: Park Chung Hee’s Forgotten Film Cartel of the 1960s Golden Decade and its Legacy (The Asia-Pacific Journal)

— BBC World Service considering opening station aimed at North Koreans (The Independent)

— “I no longer use Naver as my primary search engine…because I am fed up with their tactics in manipulating media.” (Arari)

Crime

— Authorities Entering Private Property on Domestic Violence Calls: A Problem? (South Korean Human Rights Monitor)

— Go Young Wook in custody on four counts of sexual misconduct and assault against minors (Asian Junkie; The Chosun Ilbo; Omona They Didn’t)

— Revenge Crimes on the Rise (South Korean Human Rights Monitor)

— Retroactive application of tracking sex offenders ruled constitutional (The Hankyoreh)

Dating, Relationships, Marriage

— [Q&A] Korean wedding customs: do brides give a lot of money for grooms? (Loving Korean)

— Photos: Couples rush to wed on lucky day (Shanghaiist)

— Perfect 10? Never Mind That. Ask Her for Her Credit Score. (The New York Times; see here for the Korean angle, especially the comments {update: also see “Korean Women Marry for Money”})

— Celebrity dating rumors are serious business (Seoulbeats)

— Ask the Yangxifu: On Wealth/Income for Chinese Men + Western Women Couples (Speaking of China)

— Newly registered marriages in Korea fell to an all-time low last year, study finds (Asia Sentinel)

Education, Parenting, Demographics

— Korean police have plan to reduce bullying (Asian Correspondent)

— Family planning official in Fujian busted for infant trafficking (Shanghaiist)

— Michelle Rhee Featured On PBS’s Frontline Program (ROK Drop)

— Without Babies, Can Japan Survive? (The New York Times)

— Preference for male babies has created a gender imbalance among young people aged 9-24 (The Hankyoreh)

— Reliable Student Exchange Programs in Korea (Angry K-Pop Fan)

— Unwed mothers call for Park’s attention (Tales of Wonderlost)

— Blind Stubbornness of Ministry of Health and Welfare is Destroying the lives of Children (The Korean Law Blog)

— Growing pains for foreign academics in South Korea (Gusts of Popular Feeling)

— Harvard students marvel at lonely, hard-studying Korean students (The Hankyoreh)

Economics, Politics, Workplaces, Ladygate

— “There are lots of reasons why Korea is a nice place to live, but endless Tea Party-style nationalism is not one of them” (Asian Security Blog)

— Gender equality key to Japan’s future prosperity (The Japan Times)

— Finnish Critique of Korean Hierarchy (Via Korea)

— Korean military digs itself into a deeper hole with celebrity soldiers (Netizen Buzz; Asian Junkie; Omona They Didn’t)

— Japan needs women power to galvanize economy: party (Reuters)

— Korea: The Tyranny of Titles (Via Korea)

— Defense ministry urges caution about cutting military service period (Yonhap)

— Ministry of Gender Equality Receives More than Initial Budget: Netizens Angry (KoreaBANG)

— Lee Hyori’s lack of plans for marriage garners backlash (Netizen Buzz)

LGBT, Sexuality

— Queer Links from the Week (The Kimchi Queen)

— Teacher Guidebook for Queer Korean Students (The Kimchi Queen)

— Lana Wachowski Opens Up About Her Transition in Korea’s Talk Show (Kstar10)

— Court questions anti-prostitution law (The Marmot’s Hole; Korea Law Today; The Korean Law Blog)

— Foreign Media Perpetuating Stereotypes: “South Korea’s youth are among the most sexually conservative in the world” (VICE)

Miscellaneous

— Think before you say “Korean” before a noun of any kind (I’m No Picasso)

Pop Culture

— Is what’s happening to Block B now similar to what happened to TVXQ? (Angry K-Pop Fan)

— Block B is Going to Court (Seoulbeats)

— Roundtable: Block Bust? (Seoulbeats)

— E.via splits with agency, forced to use new name, chooses Tymee (Frank Kogan)

— New Korean Films: Raising Social Issues With A Musical (Modern Korean Cinema)

— Aegyo Hip Hop: Cultural Appropriation at Its Messiest (Seoulbeats)

— New music video teaches Korea’s young about Gwangju Massacre (The Hankyoreh)

— Any feminist bloggers watching Chinese martial arts period dramas? (The F-Word)

— “Gangnam Style”: Crossing Over in the New World (World Literature Today)

— Teaching Sociology with Music Videos (The Sociological Cinema)

— Video: Who Will Be China’s Psy? (The Asia Society)

— “I am a Failed ABC”: Finding Identity as a Chinese-American K-pop Star (Seoulbeats)

— Interview with Poet Kim Hyesoon (Korean Modern Literature in Korean)

— Best of Korean Music 2012 (Mark Russell’s Website)

— Cross-Cultural Cussing (Seoulbeats)

Social Problems

— At the Front Line of Suicide Prevention in South Korea (Korea Real Time)

— Korea Needs to Stem the Tide of Suicides (The Chosun Ilbo)

— Suicide of Another Celebrity Grabs Koreans’ Attention (Korea Real Time)

— Horses Cure Internet Porn Addiction In South Korea (Business Insider)

— How can Korea improve road safety? (The Korea Herald; Via Korea)

(Links are not necessarily endorsements)