Gender RolesWomen in South Korea have experienced great social change in recent years. Women’s social status has largely improved over the last 30 years, it was shown that women’s social status has become practically equal to men’s in many social sectors, such as in occupation, legal rights, education, political participation, and many other areas. However, despite all this evidence of official equality, there are still questions raised about the true nature of the improvement of women’s social status and the gender-equality due to the remaining inequality, such as the scarcity of women in professional fields, the prevalent imbalance of housework, the coherent belief of gender differences, and other factors.
Despite the growing Westernization of South Korea, many traditions pertaining to marriage and family life still exist. The role of the wife of an eldest son is to take care of her husband’s aging parents, women are also traditionally responsible for household chores including cooking and cleaning. Word Count: 324 |
Notion/Standards Of BeautyAlthough each culture has its own standard of beauty, the pressure to conform to the national beauty standard is far more intense in for a woman in South Korea. Appearing physically beautiful is a large priority to many South Korean women and is one of their largest priorities regarding their everyday life.
In modern day South Korea, a perfect female face is defined by a combination of the following features: a small face (the measurements for which are actually unknown), big doe-like eyes, pale doll-like skin without any blemishes, and — perhaps the most important —a crease or fold in the eyelids that many Asian people do not have due to genetics. These features combined together is what a large majority of South Koreans deem to be the picture of beauty. Beauty in South Korea is believed to be a measure of success, it is generally believed that people who conform to these beauty standards have a better chance of being employed or finding a wealthy spouse. The belief that physically attractive people are more successful is not exclusive to South Korea but South Koreans seem to concern themselves with this notion more than other countries. |