Korean Feminism, Sexuality, Popular Culture
Estimated reading time: 2 minutes. If I was going to misappropriate Rosie the Riveter, I like to think I’d come up with a more inspiring, more imaginative tagline to accompany her than “Home-cooked food, made with a sincere heart and fresh ingredients.” Sigh. Fortunately though, this ad for a local restaurant is not the first … Continue reading We Can…Make 집밥?!
Earlier this month, the Korean media ignored a Free the Nipple event held by Womenlink. This lack of coverage is just one reason why the campaign may struggle to take-off in Korea. But stranger things have happened. Once, men too were forbidden from exposing their chests in public. As Korean summers get hotter and drier, … Continue reading Free The Nipple in Korea? Why Not? Uncovering the history of a taboo
(Revealing the Korean Body Politic, Part 9) (Source, edited: 살구나무 아랫집) Wasting money on frivolous Western things, gaining financial independence, following their hearts instead of the wishes of their families, and not making enough babies. All these criticisms of Korean “modern girls” in the 1930s sound eerily like those of “beanpaste girls” today. In so … Continue reading To Understand Modern Korean Misogyny, Look to the Modern Girls of the 1930s
(Sources: left — unknown; right) As you all know, I’m very interested in women’s S-lin…let me rephrase that. As you all know, I’m very interested in where body-labels like the S-line come from, how they’re used, why new ones appear so frequently in the Korean media, why Korean popular-culture is saturated with them, what role … Continue reading “Making Pretty Women” (예쁜 여자 만들기) — Consumerism, S-lines, and Learning that Healthy≠Beautiful in 1930s Korea
The Grand Narrative 