Book reveals unseen sexual discriminations

“Born in 1982, Kim Ji-young” by Cho Nam-joo / Courtesy of Minumsa

By Kim Jae-heun

In 1999, the Korean government approved a bill banning gender discrimination, establishing the Ministry of Gender Equality two years later. The law fought for woman’s rights in Korean society where serious sexual discrimination was prevalent and people did not recognize it. Traditional values _ many stemming from of Korean neo-Confucian ideas _ dominated gender roles in modern society such as forcing women out of work once they are married. Wives had to obey their husbands and their parents-in-law and take care of housework without complaint.

In 2005, the ministry changed its name to the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family. The National Human Rights Commission of Korea took over the task as former institutional strategy to protect women was integrated into a law prohibiting general discriminations including sex, race, age and more.

The world has changed and Korean women do not suffer serious sexual discrimination as they did in the past. However, just like how any other discrimination remains despite laws banning such acts, discrimination against woman in Korea prevails unseen.

When the writer Cho Nam-joo first took hold of the motive of the story, she was a house wife herself. Cho was shocked to witness discrimination against married women in the society as herself, a mother of a daughter attending kindergarten. As a former script writer of a popular investigation TV series, she could not stop questioning how little life has improved for Korean women in the 21st century.

“Born in 1982, Kim Ji-young” depicts a fictional ordinary 34-year old Korean woman Kim Ji-young, who quit her job to live as a housewife after she got married. It had been a year since she gave birth to a girl, presumably, because Kim barely makes time to do the house chores and take care of the baby the whole day.

One day, Kim shows an abnormal symptom of being possessed by her mother’s spirit or her deceased colleague. She complains about hardships she had to endure as a Korean woman cooking for 24 hours a day before Chuseok, or Korean Thanksgiving Day, with her parents and family-in-law. One night, Kim would turn into a her dead university friend, who was also a good friend with Kim’s husband Jung Dae-hyun, and explodes with anger about never-ending house work and infant care.

Taking her abnormal condition seriously, Jung decides to bring Kim to the psychiatrist.

Kim Ji-young is the most common name among girls born in 1982. The writer intentionally chose the name to depict universal life of today’s Korean women in their early 30s.

The story is delivered through Kim’s confessions and it is very detailed as she talks about hardships she could not complain about as a Korean woman.

In the writer’s prologue, Cho says “I feel like this is a story of a real Kim Ji-young living somewhere. Her life resembles very much after that of my friends, colleagues and of myself.

“I truly believe Kim was thoughtful and honest in her choices and did her best and I believe she deserves support and compensation. There needs to be more opportunities and choices for women,” said Cho.