David Jeong
Prof. Paul Chang
Sociology 181
December 8th, 2018
Gender Inequality in South Korea
Introduction
Gender inequality refers to the political, social, health, educational misrepresentation between the women and men in South Korea. Even though gender wars have come in handy in trying to salvage the situation that has caused a lot of mayhem in South Korea which has served to make the women feel as though they are lesser beings in the economic and political setting, women still do not receive equal treatment in some of the aspects that hold the core of the society. The practicality of the struggle has proven to be quite helpless as the women have been elevated from the point at which they were perceived as being useless as far as the contribution towards the stability of the economy and society was concerned and how they happen to hold some of the most honorary positions that sustain even the men ion the economy. Also, they have not only proven that they can hold such posts, but the women have shown that they are in a position to do a better job in driving South Korea’s economy towards the anticipated direction in terms of advancements and profitability.
SOUTH KOREA’S STATUS
Quantification measure of a country’s growth is used as an estimate how much it has developed in the recent decades. The same thought has been used in finding out whether or not South Korea has been growing or dwindling regarding economic, social and political growth the findings are that the country has managed to culminate significantly in pertinence to development and growth within the past decade (Yip 2015). A wrong interpretation of the elevation would be the thought that the song that earned the country’s one billion views on YouTube by PSY entitled ‘Gangnam style’ was behind the rapid and stood at the heart of the nation’s global youth generation cultural exchange which may not be the actual case (Cuddy et al.).
In accordance with the United Nations Human Development Report, South Korea has amassed global soft power by getting ranked position 18th on the report that was compiled by the UNHD in 2016. However, the shocking issue is that the gender inequality gap in the country’s population still stands at an alarming rate which makes it have the lowest placement as compared to any other country that was featured in the report (Cuddy 2015). The significant progress that has been attested to by the state is attributed to women which begs the question as to why the gender inequality gap is still quite high. Connecting the rate of gender inequality to the progress that the women have contributed to in the country, it apparently gives the practical implication that the women are working extra hard just to prove that they can also be crucial to the stability and sustainability of the country (Park 2013). In the recent past, there are steps that have been by the authority in charge to try to reduce the gap, but still, they have much work to do to make a significant reduction in the gender inequality in the nation.
STEPS TAKEN BY THE GOVERNMENT
The recent ranking of the country and the major issue that is still trying to weigh it down do not add up as most of the people reading the report find it hard that even though they have dealt with gender inequality and made known to the country that gender inequality is not a practice that is welcomed in the country, they would still get beaten by South Korea whose gender balance is still dwindling (Cuddy 2015). The government deemed it fit to come up with legislation that would serve to assist South Korea in solving the problem of gender imbalance.
200 Legal Act
The above law was meant to institute a 30% quota that would allow women to run the electoral districts. This would mean that the percentage of men who would b taking part in the electoral process would be seventy which is still at a high rate. However, it is worth giving it the benefit of the doubt as it was the starting point in which the concerned leaders were still trying to envision the strides that the law would assist them to make pertaining to gender roles and inequality (Cuddy 2015). On the same note, the 200 Legal Act made it apparently clear that the percentage of those vying for seats in the National Assembly would be half the same as that of the women. At this point, I can attest that the rule was significant in ensuring that the women would have equal representation in the National Assembly just as the men which is a substantial aspect of gender equality and practice (Yip 2015).
Creation of the Ministry of Gender Equality
The above committee was created in 2001 and was later renamed the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family to extend to the family in general and in tandem to gender roles. The ministry paved the way and provided the state with a legal mandate to promote the equality and empowerment of women (Low 2015). The implication here is that even though some of the members of the country would be against the fact that the state is trying to bridge the gender inequality gap by formulating the department that would be dealing with related cases, the government has an obligation to the women as far as the department, and the operations mandated to it are concerned.
REASON FOR GENDER INEQUALITY
The authority of the country has been in the limelight for trying to solve the most challenging puzzle in the country; there are still many cases of gender inequality in South Korea thus making their efforts not to be seen. The reasons may in other terms be the discouraging factors as to why the issue still has not been solved to date owing to the difficulties they face in the struggle (Yip 2015). On the same note, if the people in the country are not in agreement with the efforts of the government to try to eliminate or instead do away with the problem once and for all, then they would only serve to drag the nation and the authority in question behind thus making their efforts as though they may never be seamless.
Prevalence of Traditional Values
The traditional practices of a country form a crucial part of their culture thus depicting to a greater extent the values they hold dear to them. In most cases, the culture of a country is the pivotal part of the way in which they may be defined when international issues and considerations are concerned (Low 2015). The traditional values and practices that the citizens and other occupants of the country perceive as the basis of their existence would be quite difficult and impossible to forego. The tradition is that the men have a higher stance in the society as opposed to the women and most of them have made it an engraving to keep it that way and are not ready for any changes whatsoever (Cuddy 2015). The government still finds it hard to institute practical measures that would eliminate the problem of gender imbalance in terms of roles.
In most societies, if not all of them, hold the perception that the men are the sole breadwinners of the family and replacing them would be something of a turnabout that would not be warmly welcomed (Low 2015). Despite the efforts that women have contributed in order to gain from the pursuit of their rights and equality in the society, experts and researchers seem to point out and share the thought that traditional values are behind the huddles the country is facing and which also deter it from entirely solving the gender problem. The Confucian ideal emerges from the knowledge that is in pertinence to the societal beliefs that the women are homemakers (Yip 2015).
According to the South Korean's, when the women play their roles that mandate them as being homemakers while their male counterparts play their roles as being breadwinners, then the values they believe in such as tenets, respect, honor, and family would be most importantly upheld (Park 2013). This suffices to make the people develop or rather showcase their need and the importance they accord to gender binary spheres. The underlying traditional values pertaining to Confucianism make it hard for the women to be granted respect equal to that which is given to the men thus stagnating the gender equality and progress in South Korea (Low 2015).
Theorist Ideas
On the same note that the amalgamation of the ancient Roman, Judeo-Christian and the ancient Greek took on developing the thought that was a background to the base that formed the American tradition and the underlying belief related to the fact that male and female gender are proponents of separate spheres is the same effect that the Confucianist thought has on South Korea (Park 2013).
WOMEN’S PROTECTION LAWS
The legislation as mentioned earlier that were instituted by the government are meant to protect the women and put their welfare into consideration. However, the stereotypic gender binary attitudes that are deeply entrenched in the country only serve to weaken the protection laws safeguarding the women and their gender equality roles (Park 2013). The logical explanation behind the problem as mentioned above is that the gender norms of the Korean citizens in relation to factors such as age, sex and the status of employment is the gender wage gap (Cuddy 2015).
GENDER INEQUALITY AS AN ECONOMIC RISK
The economy of South Korea has continuously been growing, but then the issue about gender inequality seems to be a risk for the country's workforce. The recent news from the country shows that the women have been dropping out of the labor market in alarming number due to the inequality they have been facing (Yip 2015). The demographic tipping point at which the country is in at this opportune time makes it rather essential to solve the gender inequality problem sooner than later. The problem has been busy playing a role in discouraging women from holding their workforce posts yet as I had mentioned earlier, the country's sustenance and economic balance heavily rely on the part that women play in making the country develop economically.
Recently in Aljazeera News, there was an astonishing murder of a young woman in the affluent Gangnam district which is in Korea. The death has ignited a public debate that is quite vicious owing to the gender inequality in South Korea that has also received ample barking from the Feminists (Cuddy 2015). This is an apparent display of the entrenched misogyny that would only have a part in culminating in a decline in South Korea’s economy. In the sense that women perceive their maltreatment which is in tandem with gender inequality at their places of work, they would end up choosing to discontinue from the workforce they have been employed thus causing a decline in the nation economically.
Conclusion
Projections show that the country is supposedly meant to undergo a steady decline in the nation’s workforce after the peaking that was witnessed this year. The weak point that seems to be critical for the economy is that of the gap that lies between the participation of the women and that of the men. Currently, that of the men stands at seventy-four and half percent whereas that of the women is at fifty-two which candidly shows the importance of keeping the women in the workforce. The President who was recently elected knows this that is the reason as to why he decided to urge the parliament to approve the plan he had for an extra budget that would be essential in training the women who would agree to get back to their places of work after maternity leaves. Additionally, the funding would come in handy in helping some of the women to start up their companies. The role that women play in ensuring the economy is stable in South Korea ought to be recognized and thus should be accorded respect as they assist in feeding some of the men in the nation. By so saying, the Confucianist ideas should not be tolerated at all as they have shown how diverse they can be in terms of bringing the nation to its knees.
Works Cited
Cuddy, Amy JC, et al. "Men as cultural ideals: Cultural values moderate gender stereotype content." Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 109.4 (2015): 622.
Low, Daniel CM, Helen Roberts, and Rosalind H. Whiting. "Board gender diversity and firm performance: Empirical evidence from Hong Kong, South Korea, Malaysia, and Singapore." Pacific-Basin Finance Journal 35 (2015): 381-401.
Park, Hyunjoon, Jere R. Behrman, and Jaesung Choi. "Causal effects of single-sex schools on college entrance exams and college attendance: Random assignment in Seoul high schools." Demography 50.2 (2013): 447-469.
Yip, Paul SF, et al. "The roles of culture and gender in the relationship between divorce and suicide risk: a meta-analysis." Social Science & Medicine 128 (2015): 87-94.