As South Korea abolishes its gender ministry, women fight back

December 15, 2022

Yuna was surprised by the chores she was given when she arrived for her first day of work as a clerk at a sizable bank. She started by preparing lunch for her crew. Later, she was instructed to bring home and launder the hand towels from the men’s restroom. She was informed that as the newest female employee, these tasks fell to her.

She at first graciously declined. She questioned her employer if the men couldn’t wash their own towels at home, but he responded incredulously, “How can you expect men to wash towels?”

He became really irate, and Yuna says she came to the realization that resisting would just make the harassment worse. As a result, she began washing the towels. She was noted though since she had complained.

She tries to blend in as she tells her story as she meanders around the shadowy aisles of her neighborhood grocery market wearing a black baseball cap, big pants, and a T-shirt. She did something for which she might have been fired in this small town. She recorded everything and notified the bank to the authorities so they could look into it.

Along with the abuse, which progressively got worse, her lack of support from her female coworkers, particularly those in their 20s like her, was what finally sent her over the edge.

They had pleaded with them, “Don’t raise a fuss; it’s like this elsewhere.”

Making lunch for Yuna
Yuna, who made lunch for her coworkers while filming it, reported her workplace to the government.
South Korea may have developed into a global leader in both culture and technology, but while it quickly became one of the richest nations in the world, women were left behind. South Korea has the worst gender pay gap of any wealthy nation in the world since women there are paid, on average, a third less than men. Boardrooms and politics are dominated by men. Currently, women hold just 5.8% of the executive positions in South Korea’s publicly listed corporations. They are still expected to handle the majority of the childcare and housework.

A persistent sexual harassment culture can be added to this. Digital sex crimes, when women are recorded by tiny concealed cameras while they use the restroom or undress in changing rooms, are on the rise as a result of the burgeoning IT industry.

Yoon Suk-yeol, the incoming president of South Korea, has stated that systemic sexism is “a thing of the past” rather than vowing to address these issues. Young males who argue that efforts to lessen inequality have made them the victims of reverse discrimination drove him to power.

President Yoon abolished government gender quotas when she took office and said that merit, not sex, would determine who was hired. Only three women were chosen for his 19-member cabinet. He is currently attempting to dismantle the government’s Gender Equality Ministry, which assists women and sexual assault victims, on the grounds that it is no longer necessary. More than 800 organizations have banded together in opposition to the closure, claiming it would negatively affect women’s lives.

a man in Seoul protesting
Picture source: News 1
Some young males in South Korea claim to have experienced reverse prejudice, as seen in the image’s caption
Park Ji-hyun, a 28-year-old advocate for women’s rights who was chosen to head the liberal opposition party after the contentious election, hoped to combat this. The party told her that in order to represent young women and transform politics, they required her assistance. She had never been a politician, but she agreed nonetheless.

However, she is no longer in her position when we meet at a café outside of Seoul barely six months later. Due to the disclosure of her address and the numerous threats on her life, she was forced to leave her house. She claims that the ones that stay with her are those that make acid threats to feed her or pour it in her face. She acknowledges that these past six months have been the most difficult in her life after directly encountering the bigotry and misogyny that permeate politics.

Park describes her desperation that she would be the only woman in meetings and that no one would listen to what she had to say. They simply ignored me, so I was left shouting into space, she claims. “They would tell me to keep the conversation on women’s issues and sex crimes when I tried to bring up the economy or the environment. I came to the realization that I was being exploited as a puppet in this role to sway women’s votes.”

https://jemi.so/[watchonline-avatar-2-the-way-of-water-2022-fullmovie-free-uhd

https://jemi.so/avatar-2-the-way-of-water-free-fullmovie-online

https://jemi.so/avatar-2-the-way-of-water-2022-movie-download-free-720p-480p-hd-english-sub

https://jemi.so/heres-where-to-watch-avatar-2:-the-way-of-water-free-online-streaming-at-home

https://jemi.so/watch-avatar-the-way-of-water-2022-online-free-at-home

https://jemi.so/avatar-2-:-la-voie-de-leau-681

https://jemi.so/-avatar-:-la-voie-de-leau–

https://jemi.so/regarder-film-complet-avatar-:-la-voie-de-leau-2022-en-streaming-francais

https://jemi.so/[films-voir-avatar-2-:-la-voie-de-leau-2022-francais-gratuit-et-vf-complet306

https://jemi.so/[films-voir-avatar-2-:-la-voie-de-leau-2022-francais-gratuit-et-vf

https://jemi.so/[gledaj-avatar:-put-vode-2022-online-sa-prevodom

https://jemi.so/ver-cuevana3-avatar-2-el-sentido-del-agua-[2022-online-en-espanol-y-latino890