Gender Roles

Korean women once enjoyed nearly equal legal status with men, but that changed over the course of the Chosun Dynasty, especially as Confucianism gained strength. During this period women were not to be seen by anyone outside the family and they remained confined at home. (One of the traditional games wherein young women stand on a kind of teeter-totter would allow girls to catch a glimpse of the world outside the walls of her home). The only time a woman could go out, albeit briefly, was in the evening. A bell would ring, warning men off the streets and women, cloaked from head to toe, would be allowed to run errands, etc.

Today, while Korean laws give women near equal status, they are often neither applied nor enforced. Change is happening, however. The majority of Korean women do go to university, today. However, when they graduate, even if their grades are higher than their male colleagues, they are unlikely to be hired at the same job or pay level. Women are still expected to make coffee and wipe the desks of their male colleagues. Companies still prefer to hire less-qualified males than invest in a woman who will leave when she marries or who will have family responsibilities that will prevent her working late or socializing with colleagues – in other words, she won’t be a good team member. Some Korean companies still pressure women to leave their jobs when they marry or when they are pregnant.

In the case of divorce, custody is still often granted to the father, especially in the case of sons. Although the law recently changed (in the 1990’s) and men no longer have automatic custody and now have some responsibility for the financial well-being of their families, this is rarely enforced.

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