Category: Announcements

TGN Meetup in Seoul, Saturday September 22nd

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Yes — I’m happy to announce that next Saturday, I’ll be coming up to Seoul for an interview by Nele Hecht, a German documentary-maker based in the UK, when I’ll talk about things like S-lines and the appalling photoshopping in that poster. And, as I so rarely get the chance to come to Seoul (the last time was last summer, also for an interview), it would be great to make most of the opportunity and meet old and new TGN fans while I’m there too.

The plan is, we’ll all meet at Gyeongbokgung Station (경복궁; at the center of this map), exit 3, and take it from there (the time hasn’t been decided yet; probably 5 or 6 Update: it’s 6). If by any chance you miss us or want to join later, just email or tweet me. Hope to see you there!

Meanwhile, here is a short bio of Nele Hecht, who will hopefully also be joining us:

Nele Hecht is a German filmmaker working in the UK. She has made several short films, trailers for books and music videos. She is currently working on a documentary about gender identification.

The documentary will be following few individuals and investigate their struggle with the traditionally set norms of gender. Simultaneously it will feature different voices discussing the issue from various angles, particularly the role of feminism in regards to gender perception.

The aim is to stress and support the individual interpretation of gender, challenge traditional perceptions of male and female roles and portrait a picture of a diverse society outside those boundaries.

This documentary is independently funded. Seoul is the start of the filming progress, which will carry on in London and Berlin.

As it’s independently funded, that means I’ll be paying my own way (about 180,000 won all up), so let me again remind readers (for just the second — and final!— time this year) that any donations towards that, or running the blog in general, are much appreciated, no matter how small. Forgive me for asking, and of course I’ll still come regardless, but unfortunately the reality is that only one person (thank you!) has clicked on those donate buttons since I last asked in April!

(For the record, I’ve received about $190 in donations so far this year, minus Paypal commissions)

Quick Break/Open Thread

Between my insomnia because of the heat, all my other writing projects, and running out of time to enjoy my summer break with my family (I haven’t even taken my daughters swimming yet!), I’ve decided I need a short break from blogging sorry. But just for about 2 weeks, and everyone’s more than welcome to raise and discuss anything Korean, feminist, sexuality, pop-culture etc. related here in the meantime — I’ll still be around to chat, and will be tweeting and posting links on the blog’s Facebook page as per normal.

So, have a good summer everyone, and please say hi if any of you are in Busan!^^

Update — Christal Phillips, a visiting professor at Yonsei University, has asked me to pass on the following:

I am writing a paper on biracial people in Korea and have created a brief survey for parents of biracial children in Korea as well as biracial Koreans. If this applies to you, please fill out the survey and pass it along to your friends and co-workers: https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/LZJNRJB Thank you for your assistance.”

I can confirm that it just takes 5-10 minutes, and participants will be entered into a draw for a $25 Starbucks gift card.

Korean Gender Reader: Slutwalk Next Saturday!

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See here, here, and here for the organizers’ Facebook event page, Facebook group, and blog respectively. Alas, there isn’t any information available in English, but R0boseyo’s excellent write-up of last year’s event gives you a good idea of what to expect.

Update: The “Slut Walk Korea Declaration 2012” has an English translation.

Body Image/Health:

— Do I look fat in this country? A look at beauty ideals in Korean culture (Chatelaine)

— “Rougan”: How My Husband Helped Me Love My Curves (Speaking of China)

— Big Boobs in Korea (Eat Your Kimchi)

— Continued Criticism of Miss Korea Pageant (Korea Human Rights News; scroll down for translation)

— London 2012 Olympics: let’s celebrate sportswomen’s bodies (The Guardian)

— Comic Book Industry Rejects Human-looking Female Characters (Escher Girls)

— Blog Shoutout: Women’s Comic Book Poses in Real Life (Maxi and April)

— Snoop Dogg vs. SONEs: The Tweet Heard ‘Round the K-popiverse (Seoulbeats)

— North Korea Experts Can See a Lot in a Hemline (The New York Times; Asia Times)

Censorship:

— Rolling Changes in K-pop (Seoulbeats)

— China arrests 31 in U.S.-hosted porn website crackdown (People’s Daily Online)

— Bill to ban alcohol ads by young celebrities (The Korea Times, EUCAM; see The Wall Street Journal also)

Crime:

— Girl Posts Picture of Alleged ‘Molesting’ Man on Bus (Korea Bang)

— Teen rape exposes dark side of the Korean Web (Korea Joongang Daily)

— Anti-Trafficking NGO to Set Up Shop in Korea (The Chosun Ilbo)

— “Looking for Pretty Women: Minimum 1 Million Won per Day” (Human Rights Monitor)

— Foreign Ministry engulfed in sexual harassment case (The Korea Times)

Dating/Relationships/Marriage:

— Getting Your Marriage Certificate in China (My Beijing Survival Diary)

— Dating in Korea (Rok On!)

— Ask the Yangxifu: My Boyfriend Doesn’t Understand My Past Child Abuse (Speaking of China)

“The Reality and Twisted Values of Some White Men” Series at Gusts of Popular Feeling:

— Part 8: After the ‘hidden camera sex’ report… victim hurt again through ‘comment terror’

— Who’s Hunting Who? (The Korea Times, The Marmot’s Hole)

— Newspaper Reveals the ‘Truth’ About Foreigners in Korea (Korea Bang)

LGBT/Sexuality:

— LGBT Groups Oppose Reappointment of NHRCK Byung-chul Hyun (Human Rights Monitor)

— Xiyadie depicts homosexual love in Chinese paper-cuts (Los Angeles Times)

— Dance, Mingle, Be Gay (Matt Lemon Photography)

Misc:

— Tokyo’s new Robot Girls Restaurant will bring out your inner cyber-fetishist (io9)

— London 2012: Japan, Australia and organisers face sexism claims (The Guardian)

— China 2050: Caucasians to Become China’s Migrant Workers in the Future? (Chinasmack; Ministry of Tofu)

— Koreans are Individualistic (in Stressful Environments) (Via Korea)

— Is it okay to bar the visually impaired from bath houses? (Ilda)

Politics/Economics/Workplaces:

— How to avoid false accusations of sexual harassment (I’m No Picasso)

— Dreaming of a future where people finish work at 5pm (The Wall Street Journal)

— Solbi shares that she was in a sexual harassment prevention video (Allkpop)

— Problems with Korea’s labor law (this time from an employee perspective) (Korea Law Today)

— Best Places to Work in Korea (Human Rights Monitor)

— Park Geun-hye pledges after-school childcare for working couples (The Korea Times)

— Are Koreans ready for woman president? (The Korea Times)

— Lighting the way to female leadership (The Korea Times)

Pop Culture:

— How To Be The Asian Female TV/Movie Sidekick (8asians)

— Gender and Race: The Relationship Between Same-Sex Couples and Interracial Depictions in US Television (Overthinking)

— Being branded as a K-pop fan (Angry K-pop Fan)

— New drama series “Answer to 1997” to tackle obsessive fans (My First Love Story)

— Why all the English phrases in K-pop? (Angry K-pop Fan)

— Variety Screen Time: An Idol’s Ongoing Battle (Seoulbeats)

— ‘You only like Korean idols because they’re good looking’: the role of visuals in K-pop (Angry K-pop Fan; Part 2)

Pregnancy/Abortion/Childbirth/Demographics/Parenting/Education/Multiculturalism:

— National economy threatened by shrinking population (The Hankyoreh)

— After corporal punishment debate, Korean students still being hit (Asian Correspondent)

— Refugee Rights Movement Finally Takes Root in Korea (Human Rights Monitor)

— Mandatory HIV Testing Policy Challenged at the International Level – Korea charged with violating racial discrimination treaty (Gusts of Popular Feeling, Voice of America)

— Op-Ed: A Need to Better Understand Youth Suicide Issues in Korea (Human Rights Monitor)

— Life about to get enough tougher for migrant workers (The Hankyoreh)

(Links are not necessarily endorsements)

Handmade Korea Fair 2012

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Apologies for the off-topic post, but I thought my more artistic readers would appreciate a heads-up about this. Unfortunately, there’s no English information available on either its homepage, blog, or Facebook page, but I’m sure everyone can find COEX for themselves, and I can at least tell you that tickets are 10,000 won each. Also, see The Constant Crafter and Alien’s Day Out for write-ups about last year’s fair, here for an extensive Flickr gallery of it, and finally below for a quick video:

If anyone does go, please let me know what you thought!^^

Update: Note that the 2nd Seoul Slutwalk is also next week, on Saturday the 28th. I’ll put up a separate post about that tomorrow.

Update 2: See here for Foreigner Joy’s report on the fair.

Update 3: And here for Cute in Korea’s.

Workshop: “U.S. Military Camptown Prostitution in Korea: 1945-Present”

I’ve been asked to pass on the following:

As you may or may not know, the House of Sharing International Outreach Team has recently regrouped under the name, Women’s Global Solidarty Action Network. Our new expanded goals include focusing on issues of sexual slavery, trafficking women and the “comfort women” issue. This Saturday (June 9th), we will be hosting a workshop under the title “U.S. Military Camptown Prostitution in Korea: 1945-Present”. The workshop will be given by Professor Nah Young Lee.

To get to the center, take line 4 to the Sungshin Women’s University Entrance (성신여자대학교입구) stop. Go out exit 4 and a building with a traditional Korean roof (hanok) will be in front of you. Go into the building and up to the second floor. Please note the center is very close to exit 4, and not on the University’s campus.

For more information, email womens.global.solidarity@gmail.com, visit the Facebook event page, or contact Shannon at 010-4534-1553.

Public Lecture: “Sex and Gender Stereotypes in Korean Advertising”

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Apologies for the continued slow posting everyone, but I still have many good excuses, not least of which is my upstairs neighbor’s bathroom virtually exploding last night, suddenly sending torrents of water down the wall next to my computer as I typed on it (seriously, I was lucky I wasn’t electrocuted). On the plus side though, I’m happy to report that one of the guest lectures I’m doing is open to the public for a change, albeit at a terrible time, and that everyone is more than welcome. Please see above for the details, and here (click on “Visiting Us”) for a map of how to get to the building. It’ll last for about an hour, with fifteen minutes for questions.

See you there? I promise to buy you a coffee if you tell me in advance! :)

Radio Interview Tomorrow, 7-8pm

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Sorry for taking so long to return to regular posting everyone, but I have many good excuses. One is that I’m going to be a guest on Busan e-FM’s Let’s Talk Busan tomorrow, talking about Korean gender issues with Ricky Lee, the organizer of the recent V-Men event here in Busan, and Dr. Noriko Sato, an anthropology lecturer from Pukyeong University.

The show starts at 7pm. You can listen to it on the radio at 90.5, or online here (update: it’s available in the archives now). Please note that you’ll have to download Windows Media Player 10 first though, which I’ve just learned won’t work with Windows XP (update: alas, only on my computer sorry!).

Short Break

Sorry everyone, but I’m just flat out this week, and need to catch up on sleep before I can work properly on new posts. Rest assured that I’ll be back next week soon though, and that I’ll make sure the next post is worth the wait.

Oh, the pictures? Well, I had to post something, so I thought I’d indulge myself. On the left is Ministry of Disasters by Julian Pacaud, who appears to be a pop-art version of René Magritte, and on the right is of course Ha Ji-won (하지원), taken on the set of The King 2 Hearts (더킹2Hearts). I think they complement each other really well, as the skyscrapers, plane, and office workers in Pacaud’s work hint much more of (Japanese) development and modernity than anything disaster-related, and, when combined with Ha Ji-won’s army fatigues and Korean background, invite the viewer to ponder the profound connections between militarism and modernity in Northeast Asia as a whole.

Especially when said viewer is on his third Black Russian, in a desperate attempt to get some sound sleep.

And on that note, now I’ll wisely try and do just that. But whether you’re also drunk, sleep-deprived, or otherwise, let me also highly recommend the Tumblr blog Neuromaencer that I found Pacaud’s work on, which I guarantee will get your creative juices flowing!

Help Sought for Pregnant Rape Victim — Update

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Last month, a reader emailed asking for help and information about in-vitro paternity testing, after his wife was raped and became pregnant while they were already trying to have a baby. With his permission, I’m very happy to pass on the following update:

…We got the test results back today and the baby is ours. We are naturally overjoyed.

If, god forbid, you get a similar question from a reader in the future, I can report that Paternity Testing Corporation (PTC), recommended by commenter Maria, came through for us. I would insist that a third party be a go-between between the victim and the company though (or at least the Japan branch) because they don’t seem to be used to dealing directly with victims, and can come across as insensitive. Also they’re not a travel agent, and people should make sure they know what clinic they’re going to and how to get there. We almost missed our chance to get the test done because we didn’t realize the clinic was actually in a neighboring province that took two hours to get to from Tokyo.

The strange thing is, the company says they are opening a branch soon in Seoul, after we were told several times that in-vitro paternity testing is completely forbidden in Korea. So I wonder if the roadblocks we were running into in Korea were more about the people not really knowing the answers to our questions and trying to save face.

Or maybe PTC will be focusing on paternity testing of young children and not doing any in-vitro testing. Who knows…

James — and later in his email, he again thanks Maria especially for directing his wife and him to PTC, and to all the other commenters for their help and support!

Quick Hit: The Grand Narrative in 2012

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Sorry for the slow posting everyone, but my daughters are off this week, and indeed one’s even sitting on my shoulders as I type this (“Whee! Happy woman Daddy! Why’s she smile?”). I’ll start writing again once they return to kindergarten next week.

When I do, every week from then to the end of the year I’ll be posting longer analytical pieces on Mondays, the Korean Gender Reader on Wednesdays, and translations on Fridays, either of K-pop songs or (more likely) gender issues-related news that would otherwise never see the light of day in English. I realize I have a terrible track-record of posting when I say I will, but hey – it is a new year after all, and for a variety of personal and professional reasons I’d really like to stick to my commitment this time.

If anyone would like to help me with that, I’d very much appreciate any donations via the “donate” button at the end of every post, no matter how small. Don’t worry, I won’t be making a habit of asking, and in fact will make the request just two more times this year: when my $17 domain renewal comes up in March, and my $30 no-advertisements renewal does in August. But it’d be really nice if I could break even with those at least! :)

Guess Who’s Going to a Lim Jeong-hee Concert? ㅋㅋㅋ

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Apologies for the rare personal post, but an hour ago I hadn’t even heard of the concert, so I’m feeling pretty pleased with myself right now!

Unfortunately for any readers that are also fans though, it looks like there’s only about a dozen tickets left, but you may be able to get one of them tonight if you and a Korean-speaking friend are prepared to navigate the appalling website (on Internet Explorer). Tickets cost 41,000 won.

But if you’ve never actually heard of Lim Jeong-hee (임정희), then see here for my translation of one of her songs, and thanks again to commenters there for recommendations for more of her music to listen to. As for Ali (알리), by a complete coincidence I heard of her for the first time today(!), albeit in a negative way because of the poorly-chosen name of her latest single. I’ll certainly still give her and her music the benefit of the doubt though, and again would really appreciate any suggestions for music of hers to listen to.

And on that note, let me post this without any further ado, just in case there really any more fans out there. If so, then let’s meet up afterwards! :)

Update 1: I forgot to mention that there’s actually two concerts, one at 4 and one at 7:30. There’s probably more tickets available for the 4pm one.

Update 2: Ali has recently revealed that she is a rape victim.

Liberating Herstories: Art Exhibition in Seoul Starting Tomorrow

But please note that it’s much more than just an exhibition(!):

From December 10 through December 16, 2011, the House of Sharing’s International Outreach Team will host a week-long art exhibition called Liberating Herstories: Art Celebration of Survivors on the issues of sexual slavery, trafficking and violence against women at Cafe Anthracite, Hapjeong-dong, Mapo-gu, Seoul (near Sangsu Station). Over the course of the week we will be displaying art submitted from around the world and hosting educational workshops, film screenings and musical performances on these topics. While entry to the exhibition and all events is free, we will accept donations throughout the week as will be auctioning off donated art works. All proceeds will be evenly divided and donated to the House of Sharing, The Korean Council for the Women Drafted for Military Sexual Slavery by Japan and Durebang.

See here for a press release, schedule, and map (all as one MS Word file), and here for the Facebook event page. Or just click on the image above!

63 Years On: Free Screening in Seoul this Sunday

With thanks to Shannon Heit for letting me know, this Sunday at Jogyesa Temple in Seoul there will be a free screening of 63 Years On, an award-winning documentary about the Comfort Women (with English subtitles). If you’re interested in attending, please see the press release (an MS Word file) for further details, and note that it actually starts at 2pm, not 3pm as stated in the poster (which I’ve confirmed is a mistake).

Everything You Always Wanted to Know about The Grand Narrative…

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Well, not quite everything, but I did indeed just get interviewed about blogging by Gwangju Foreign Language Network (광주영어방송), which you’ll be able to listen to here at 6:15pm on Tuesday (I’ll add an MP3 file when it becomes available). It’s very short, but I’d be happy to expand upon anything mentioned in the interview here, or answer any other questions that readers may have.

For anyone that does listen to the interview, here’s the post about criticisms of Korean female – Caucasian male relationships that I mentioned, as it seemed to resonate with a lot of people.

Update – Unfortunately, WordPress.com doesn’t allow me to upload the WMA file that I was sent. Sorry!

Public Lecture: “Girls’ Generation? Gender, (Dis)Empowerment and K-pop,” Royal Asiatic Society, Tuesday 25th October, 7:30pm

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See here for the details. Alas, it’s not being given by me, but by Dr. Stephen Epstein, my far more capable and entertaining co-author (of this book chapter of the same name).

Unfortunately, work commitments mean I’ll be unable to attend personally. But if you’re in Seoul and free on Tuesday night yourself, then make sure you do!

Update: See here for a follow-up post at Gusts of Popular Feeling.

Free Women’s Self-defense Seminar in Busan, October 1st

See here and here for those 2 links on the poster, and also here for the Angels with Attitude website.

Anybody thinking of going? If so, please report back and let everyone know how it went!

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Open Thread #16

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As this post goes up, I’ll be at Gimhae Airport picking up my father, then taking him and the rest of the family to the Daegu 2011 IAAF World Championships this weekend and next. We’d like to stay there for the entire nine days (he will!), but unfortunately next week we have to move apartments on Wednesday, and then I start teaching again the next day. Needless to say, I’ll be too busy to write again until he leaves on the 7th of September.

Until then, please feel free to raise and discuss anything sociological, gender, advertising, K-pop, and/or athletics-related here, and sorry for not being able to complete any song translations this month. But I do have five that I’ve been working on, which I’ll put up as soon as I’m back!

Update, September 7th: I won’t bore you with the details, but I’m afraid my “comeback” with have to be pushed back to Monday the 12th. Sorry!

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10 Magazine’s New Website Campaign

For more information, go to the campaign website here. Pure donations are very welcome of course, but as an added incentive, free books, art exhibition tickets, and restaurant meals are available for specific donation amounts. I myself bought a 12-month subscription to the magazine for just $27, which I should have done years ago!

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Slutwalk Korea (잡년행진) This Saturday!

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Sorry for the short notice, but I’ve only just found out about it. Still, that might actually be a good thing(!), as like Gomushin Girl put it:

…I’m sure part of the reason lots of expats haven’t heard about it is because the Facebook page and most of the planning has been done by and for Koreans, which is freakin’ awesome.

Indeed. But I’m sure the organizers would still be more than happy for any spectator support and/or even participation by expats, so please contact them via their blog, Facebook page, or Twitter feed if you’re interested (and here’s the Wikipedia page for more about Slutwalk in general). And, with it starting at 4pm in Gwanghwamun, I’m happy to report that I’m actually going to be able to see it myself, as by a great coincidence I’d already just booked KTX tickets to see a friend in Seoul at the very same time and place!^^

(Hat tip to Dating in Korea)

Update 1: Here’s a Korea Times article on the event. More links coming soon!

Update 2: Impossible Black Tulip questions the wisdom of holding Slutwalks.

Update 3: Here’s Roboseyo’s excellent report on the event.

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Sprechen sie Deutsch?

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If so, then let me direct you to an interview I gave last week for Deutschlandradio, on the economic factors behind the sexualization of minors in K-pop (I’m on at about 3:05).

Meanwhile, English speakers never fear(!), for I should have a newspaper article on the same subject coming out either this week or the next. And Part 2 of my translation of the “What did Depraved Oppas do to Girls’ Generation” article will be up tomorrow.

Update – With special thanks to Curtis for translating it, here is the short article that accompanied the radio report:

Economic Factors: Girlbands

Report by Malte Kollenberg and Fabian Kretschmer

(Girl- and boybands are an important part of the economy in South Korea. Source: plynoi)

South Korean boy- and girlbands are also internationally successful. A general music- and dance-style concept is created and from this concept a look is agreed upon.  To acheive this look, the young band members go under the knife ever more frequently.

Pop music in South Korea is a major economic factor for the country.  In 2009 the industry earned 30 million dollars, and according to government statistics, this number doubled in 2010.  The most important market is the country itself, but Japan and the USA are also markets of interest.  Korea’s largest record label, S.M. Entertainment, currently tours around the world with different bands in a Global-Audition-Tour.

Lavish Choreography

Girl- and boybands who present lavish choreography in large shows are typical for K-Pop – for example, the 13-member boyband Super Junior and Wondergirls.  As is usual in the international music market, the bands are cast, and the musical style and looks of the artists are decided by the record label.  Plastic surgery is generally accepted by South Korean society and is a standard in K-pop.  From this arise greatly deliberated and perfectly coordinated images.

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