Berkley Center

Korea has yet to go through a feminist “awakening” as many other countries have, so you will not see anything like #YesAllWomen trending on twitter here, but that does not mean that Korea is immune to issues of sexism. In fact, it can be seen in everyday life in Korean homes and on the television. So, why is Korea ranked 111th out of 136 countries in gender equality by the 2013 World Economic Forum Gender Gap Report, when Korea has elected a female president? Simply put, she is not seen as a woman by Korean standards of how women are supposed to act.

One source of sexism in South Korea may be Confucian philosophy, which based all interactions of life on five different types of relationship, four of which, including husband-wife, are considered hierarchical. Most Korean women, when they marry, leave their jobs to be housewives, cleaning, cooking, and becoming mothers—a very difficult job, but it shows that Korean men are usually the sole breadwinners. The representative Korean woman, Shin Saimdang, a Confucian ideal, was a filial daughter, good wife, and biggest advocate for her children’s education. Because there is not a need for women to have careers outside the home, the "trophy wife" is a more common reality in Korea. If a man has gone to one of the top universities, then he is set for the rest of his life, so this also leads to the presumption that he will have a pretty wife, because she will also be able to live on those good prospects.

Female K-Pop stars in Korea have very few choices of the concepts their groups take. Strong and independent concepts are very difficult to find, while sexy and cute concepts are much more popular. Because of this, many Korean girl groups have choreographed dances that focus on showing off their figures rather than featuring dancing talent.

When male K-Pop singers take off their shirts in music videos, fans scream and applaud, but when a female K-Pop star does the ALS ice bucket challenge and the water makes her shirt see-through enough for her bra straps to be visible, it causes a scandal. This double standard for women in the entertainment industry has even been noticed by other artists: Lee Joon, member of the K-Pop group MBLAQ, said on air that when groups do sexy or revealing concepts, that men are deemed cool while women are unfairly labeled cheap and attention-seeking. This is a problem with the entertainment industry, which is already known for exploitation of its stars, and with a society that perpetuates misogynistic standards, even by female fans of these groups and individuals.

Walking alone in Seoul at midnight does not feel dangerous because South Korea is one of the safest countries in the world. Korea has strict gun laws; after adjusting for population differences, homicide is less than half and rape statistics are less than a third of those in the United States today. However, Korean people know that Korea’s sexual assault laws are so weak that most cases never see court, that women bringing the cases to the police are often humiliated by the people who should be helping them, and that those cases that do come to court only put offenders behind bars for short periods of time. Sexual assault is on the rise in Korea, a troubling fact considering that South Korea is considered one of the most highly-developed countries in the world.

Any K-Pop fangirl worth her salt should be able to tell you that Kim HyunJoong, Korean rapper and actor, allegedly assaulted his girlfriend; though there was photographic evidence of battery and the singer even admitted to hitting his ex-girlfriend, the case was mysteriously dropped. Last year, during promotions for his drama, actor Park ShiHoo was brought up on date rape charges and also had the charges dropped. In both cases, fans posted hateful messages on forums toward the woman bringing up charges. Korea carries a stigma about sexual assault and domestic violence that leads to victim blaming and often ends in the victim either dropping the case or never bringing it to police at all.

Similar recent cases in the United States with public figures in the N.F.L. over domestic abuse scandals have been met with outrage through social media by fans toward the perpetrators and even toward the corporate sponsors that haven’t pulled their support of certain offending players.

Ultimately, this sort of misconduct all around the world, not just America and Korea, stems from sexism. Rather than teaching boys not to objectify and sexualize women, women are told to carry pepper spray and cover up so as not to distract or tempt men—this is the basic assumption that we need to challenge moving forward in modern society.