Diverse Women for Diverse Society
By Kim Ji-soo
Culture Editor
Choi Jin-sil, once the darling of popular culture during the late 1980s through the 1990s, scored another modest triumph on the small screen. Titled ``My Last Scandal,'' the drama that touted hope for ajumma (married woman), wrapped up the final episode marking fairly successful ratings in the 19 percent range. The drama gave ``hope'' that romance can revisit, even for ajumma. Sure, her transition from the mop of hair full of tight curls to a fashionable bob-style haircut was, naturally, unrealistic. But the ratings that the drama garnered reflect that the story found resonance among the viewers.
A well-known broadcaster Heo Su-gyeong recently made headlines for publicly becoming a single mom through artificial insemination. The twice-divorced broadcaster did not hide from the public and shared her story of how she begot her daughter.
Media and marketing industries came up with the idea of calling single women in their 30s ``Gold Miss'' and ``Silver Miss.'' Gold Miss refers to those 30-someting singles who have an annual income in the 40 to 100 million won bracket. Silver Miss applies to those whose annual income is 30 million won and under. The latest name given to women is ``Platinum Miss'' ― professional single women in their 30s with an annual income of 100 million won and over.
And of course there is Korea's first astronaut Yi So-yeon, the 29-year-old female biotechnology engineer who successfully completed a 10-day journey into space.
The above shows us how the lives of women in Korea are changing. Making up half of the population, women were slow to change in this still strongly Confucian society in ``dynamic'' Korea. But looking around us, more and more are taking on new challenges and serving in industries that had once been dominated by men.
The spokespeople of political parties in Korea are mostly women. There is Cha Young of the United Democratic Party; Cho Yoon-sun ― formerly with Citibank ― of the Grand National Party; Lee Ji-an, vice spokeswoman of New Progressive Party; Kim Seung-hee, deputy spokesman of Democratic Labor Party; and deputy spokesman Kim Eun-hye of Cheong Wa Dae, who is a former broadcast journalist. There are also an increasing number of women in the press, an industry famous for being a boy's club.
It's interesting to see women taking more diverse roles in the largely uniform society that Korea is. The low birth rate may mean something. The National Statistical Office recently announced that the birthrate in Korea stood at 1.26 last year, a large decrease from the 1970s when the birthrate stood at 4.53. Perhaps this is in line with the increase in alpha girls or that we are seeing more ``wordy women,'' as Mark Penn identified in his book ``Micro Trends.'' Personally for this writer, compared to some two decades ago when female students at middle and high schools were compelled to take lessons in sewing and cooking, women have at last covered some ground.
But when there are peaks, there will be valleys of shadows. The mothers of the diverse and outstanding women are in some cases still providing free parental services, such as looking after their grandchildren. Another shadow would be, despite their advances, that working married women are required to maintain immaculate homes, cook well and be financially adroit as to increase the family's wealth. If not that, send their children to super elite schools. Platinum, gold and silver misses ― despite their buying power as the labeling suggests ― may be the butt of discriminatory jokes about their aging bodies or asked questions about how they spend their evenings. At work, women are required to be a calming presence; the slightest sign of raising one's voice is interpreted as being too emotional. Nevertheless, these valleys of shadow are richer than the lives of women in other countries who may still die while giving birth and whatnot.
While Korea may be far from producing a Hillary Clinton, the hope lies in the belief that there will be a difference in what we have seen saw far, what we see now and what we will see.