Confronting the Confucian Patriarchal Society in South Korea Through Religion
Women should be in the kitchen and to stay at home. A saying like this is not new, and though it may be considered to be sexist in the United States today that is not necessarily the case for other countries and older time periods. In fact, there are women in South Korea as far back as the late 1900’s who have been forced by their husbands and cultural gender roles to do just that. Korean women have been put under a lot of pressure to marry, bear sons, and support their family from home in what may be a brand new environment(Kendall 34). With no time for oneself, these women turn to an unexpected place for solace and self-expression - religion. This is especially
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It should be no surprise that since this is considered a woman’s tradition, most of the mansin are women. Regardless, male mansin are more highly regarded, and they wear female clothing(Kendall 33). Why a man would become a mansin is slightly unusual, but there are benefits in the job, and he may not always have a choice as is the case for many of the women. But it is more that they wear female clothing, all the way down to the undergarments that is surprising. For such a patriarchal society, one would assume that male clothing be preferred. It goes directly against the gender roles, and his family might even feel the need to disown him should he be a disgrace for embracing something completely feminine. A man was believed to value filial piety and Confucian traditions, but to believe, practice and yet alone lead the “superstitious” beliefs would be outrageous for a man of the …show more content…
Regardless, women have found their own ways to fight the status quo. Religion, as it is unique to each individual, is an inventive way for women to push against the social norms and find necessary solace for themselves whether it be through spiritual possession or small cell group meetings. Both Shamanistic and Evangelical practices serve as an outlet for suppressed women in the shadow of the Confucian patriarchal society helping to ease the stress of marital and family life even if the slightest
Compared to men, women are more likely to express a greater interest in religion, to have stronger personal faith and belief in live after death, and have a stronger personal religious commitment. Also to involve themselves more in religious rituals and worship e.g. they are more likely to attend religious services and they participate more in religious life generally. Bruce also found that women join or involve themselves with new religious movements and new age movements. Religion and religious ideology plays a part in maintaining the male domination over women that is found in many aspects of social life, achieved by religious ideas
The second great force at the turn of the century is itself global: the emergence of women in the public sphere, including the public face of religion. This is in part a function of women's growing economic and political power, but also a result of religion itself coming into the public sphere in new ways. Many aspects of religion have long been considered private and relegated largely to the context of home and family, where women have often been the primary practitioners, though men might dominate in institutional leadership positions. As both religion and women move out of the private into the public sphere, new challenges arise. For example, central facets of family and home particularly love and sex which have more traditionally been the purview of women and of religion have entered the realm
In South Korean culture family, gender roles, and customs all intertwine, in a traditional Korean family your role in the family is determined by gender and age. However, in recent years it seems like the traditional family dynamics and gender roles are being redefined by the newer generations. South Korean families are leaving behind the traditional family practices, gender roles inside the Korean culture are traditional male and female roles, and lastly customs are hugely influenced by Confucianism.
In many shops, there seems to be an obvious separation between boys and girls items, for example, the birthday cards, books, clothes, and toys. This is shown in a variety of ways the boy's items are mainly the color blue and the books have pictures of either action figures, superheroes or tools. Whereas the girl's items are mainly the color pink. The books show pictures of fairies, princess, and Bratz. The cards also have the theme of the color pink for girls and blue for boys. The girl's cards have a lot of sparkles and pretty pictures whereas the boy's cards are covered in camo kind of illustrations and also have action figures on the covers. The children's clothes are separated into sections where there are labels for the boy's clothes and labels for the girl's clothes. The girl's clothing is all pretty and pink, it is covered in sparkles. Whereas boys clothing has camo patterns, blue colors, and pictures of action figures.
181). Religion was integrated into their life. As the Industrial Age progressed, the strong religious values weakened through generations. “Female education should be preeminently religious” (p.182). The woman was the primary teacher of her child and was expected to teach themselves religion and be able to teach their children as well. “One reason religion was valued was that it did not take a woman away from her “proper sphere, her home.” (p. 181) Women only completed grade school and had many opportunities to read the bible so they were also able to preach family values, help the poor and contribute to stopping slavery. Devotion to religion was expected. Welter explains that a woman’s brain is capable of comprehending religion even though it is not visible. As the Industrial Age progressed, the strong religious values weakened through generations. Submission, another principle, kept women from voicing her opinion when having a discussion with their husbands or telling their husbands to terminate an annoying idiosyncrasy. “Wives were advised to do their best to reform men, but if they couldn’t, to give up gracefully. If any habit of his annoyed me, I spoke of it once or twice calmly, then bore it quietly.”(p. 186) She would reinforce her submissiveness by wearing tight corsets which would limit her breathing and physical mobility and remain uncomfortable. They were expected to be subservient to men as well as homemakers. “In Women of
In all areas of life and society the treatment and well being of women have always been challenged. In many religions the role and status of its women are usually overwhelmed by the actions and roles of its men this inequality of religions between male and female allows these feelings and ideology of which sex is superior or inferior to bleed into a society’s culture thus shaping their treatment of their men and women.
The role of women in society has been a controversial one. Most religions see women as being inferior to men and are of the view that women were created as a companion for men. A lot of our social morale stems from religion; hence this help to shape the view that woman is inferior and is to be submissive to their male counterpart. Society has set roles which each sex is expected to play. Gender role is a theoretical construct in the social sciences and humanities that refers to a set of social and behavioral norms that, within a specific culture, are widely considered to be socially appropriate for individuals of a specific sex (Princeston.edu). Women are expected to be docile and agreeable, while men are expected to be head strong and
Throughout this chapter there were eight major woman-centered religions discussed. Afro-Brazilian Religions; which seems to incorporate elements of Amerindian religions, African tribal religions, Catholicism, and Kardecism. Public rituals in which a female medium would be possessed by spirits was a main feature of this religion. Black Carib Religion; This religion had some of the same main features as Afro-Brazilian religions such as communicating with spirits and instead of female mediums contacting the spirits in this case the older women would be the spiritual leaders. A majority of Black Caribs are Roman Catholics as well. The next religion discussed was the Burmese Nat Religion; they have a lot of the same beliefs as the previous two religions. Most rituals were preformed by women and almost all of the shamans are women. Burmese Nat Religions coexists with Buddhist Practices. Christian Science was created by Mary Baker Eddy in the 1800s. They basically believe that self healing happens after a balance of prayer and study. This religion in the most different so far. It doesn’t seem to have the same spiritual beliefs and rituals. Korean Household Religion is where Korean women give up offerings for the well being of their homes to the gods. They also call upon female shamans for advice. I’ve noticed that so far, Women are expected to grow spiritually through themselves and they rely on other women for guidance. I wonder why men and women can grow in spirituality together?
Gender Constructs Through Prophecy in The Saga of the Volsungs The Icelandic sagas often stun historians with their realistic accuracy - they describe real people, real places, and real events. However, the sagas also contain an element of mysticism that permeates stories of this time, a fantastical undercurrent that carries over from the ancient mythology still influencing the saga writers. One of the most prevalent fantastical elements is that of prophecy, especially in dreams.
The values of Confucianism such as collectivism, conformity to norms, shame, patriarchal and hierarchal family systems, and rigid gender roles have a strong impact on the structure of and roles within the KA immigrant family (J. Lee, Wachholtz, & Choi, 2014; Postmus & Hahn, 2007). This philosophical and cultural idea maintains the husband’s authority and dominance over his wife and reinforces the wife’s submission to her husband’s governing role (B. Kim, Titterington, Kim, & Wells, 2010; J. Lee et al., 2014; Postmus & Hahn, 2007). Obedience, subservience, quietness, and purity represent the virtues of good Korean women (Moon, 2005; Tran & Des Jardins, 2000), and suffering and perseverance are valued virtues in Korean culture (Song & Moon, 1998;
Religion can be seen to act as a social control over women to a large
Society today places many ideals when it comes to proper behaviours regarding gender roles. These are considered societal norms that are widely debated and controversial. Society has created a norm, which encompasses specific expectations and rules that change the daily lives of men and women, giving them specific tasks and behaviours to abide by. These standards are known as gender roles, which are defined as distinguishing actions, thoughts, and feelings of males and females. Gender roles are said to be a result of nature, which is a natural process, every male or female is to follow. On the other hand it can be a result of nurture, which changes ones way of thinking and adapting their lifestyle to fit their environment. Either way gender roles are a part of someone’s life from the moment of their birth, as they develop, and long after that, this proves that gender roles are influential to a person’s life and development. This essay examines how media such as music, family life, and different parenting styles encompass gender roles and teaches behaviours regarding them. Therefore, gender roles define males and females are a result of nurture and not nature.
When a child is born, it does not know anything about the world. As it gets older, the child learns morals and values from the people around it. One concept children learn is the role of gender in their lives. Young boys and girls are given different messages about what they are and are not supposed do in social situations, causing them to act and dress differently from one another. Gender is not something tangible that happens; it is something perceived by American society. Only by teaching children that there is no difference between men and women can the world have true gender neutrality.
The diversities within North Africa, the Middle East, and Southeast Asia (cultural, religious, political, etc.) play a crucial part in the status of women and the key features of gender roles in these particular geographic regions. The Middle East and North Africa share commonalities through Arabic and Islamic culture. Establishing equalities for women amongst the current social and political changes of Middle Eastern and North African societies stands as a difficult obstacle to overcome, but in spite of this, women’s rights efforts are still being made. While Islamic culture is dominant in Southeast Asia, the culture of Southeast Asian nations is diverse. Islam and gender in Southeast Asia have contributed to the continuing debate over Islam, feminism, and gender rights in the region. The cultures of North Africa, the Middle East, and Southeast Asia are male dominated, but this cultural dominance might not sustain in the future. This essay will compare and contrast the current status of women and the key features of gender roles in North Africa and the Middle East with those of Southwest Asia. Examples will also be provided to justify any arguments that are made.
Today we live in a world that continually stresses to us that, "All men are created equal." While this sounds great at face value, further inspection tells us that this is far from realistic and sadly may never be. One can examine any aspect of society whether it be race, religion, language, level of education, sexual orientation or economic status and notice that there are numerous characteristics and factors of identity that enable others to treat others differently. This truth may not be pleasant or make one feel all warm and fuzzy inside, however it is our society’s reality, however dismal it may be. Even if the statement above as to the equality of all men were true, how about women? Clearly women have made tremendous strides towards