Episode 16: The Workplace & Women
- UBC
- Nov 23, 2018
- 3 min read
By Dustin Coones
Episode Synopsis
Hwang Simok sets out to meet the one he believes is the real murderer. He gets his hands on a bag that will determine the futures of many people.
via Netflix
Discussion
Ending this series, one of the particular points of interest for me was how women were portrayed in Stranger. Since Stranger has both a female and a male lead, we can compare and contrast how each character is treated and what this potentially reveals about Korean society. On the surface, both characters seem to be relatively equal in terms of where they are in their lives. Both have successful careers, appear to be single, childless and generally unconcerned with meeting the expectations placed on them by society. The fact remains, however, that while Stranger presents a somewhat liberalized view of modern Korean women, this is hindered by (a) a lack of women represented in leadership roles and (b) sexist assumptions, actions, and ideals Han Yeojin is subjected to throughout the drama.
Ranking a combination of economic participation, educational attainment, health and survival, and political empowerment the 2014 World Economic Forum Gender Gap Report ranked South Korea an average of 117th out of 142 countries surveyed. Further, it was reported that South Korea has one of Asia’s lowest levels of females in leadership roles (as cited in Cho et al. 2015: 521). This is very clearly reflected in Stranger: there is zero female representation in any high-level positions. The males in Stranger are consistently promoted to senior positions throughout the drama, while Han Yeojin’s promotion in the final episode was emphasized as “one-rank up.” While not intending to diminish her accomplishments, it does seem to nonetheless demonstrate the existence of a glass-ceiling in Korea.
Patterson and Walcutt point to the “marriage bar” as being a major block for the advancement of women in Korea (2013: 86). Women, shackled to the patriarchal belief that they are to get married and have children, are thus held back from advancing in their careers or have a tougher time securing full-time, highly-skilled positions. We can see how this type of thinking then plays out in Stranger. There are a few points in the drama where, primarily men, assume that her judgement has somehow been clouded by an attraction to, or interest in, Hwang Simok. Hwang Simok, on the other hand, does not face a similar sort of scrutiny by his colleagues. This is important for two reasons: (1) the underlying message that women are only concerned with finding a man and starting a family and (2) that even if a desire for companionship exists on her part that this would somehow impede her ability to conduct herself in the workplace.
On the surface, it appears that Han Yeojin reflects a change in attitudes towards women in the workplace. While this is partly accurate, we can still see a clash of tradition and modernity play out in Stranger.
Word Count: 452
Discussion Questions:
Do you think that by not addressing the fact that Han Yeojin is not married and has not indicated interest in raising a family that this perpetuates the idea that working women cannot have it all? In other words, is this indicative of the idea that Korean women must either choose between having a career and having a family?
Besides Han Yeojin, what do you think of the portrayal of other women in this drama? Did anything stand out to you? For those that are fans of Korean dramas, does Stranger do anything differently in their portrayal of women?
As briefly mentioned, Korea has some of the lowest number of females in senior/leadership positions in Asia. What do you think is contributing to this? Further, what do you think would help reduce this gender gap?
The "mens-rights" movement suggest that the feminist agenda in Korea is not about equality, rather it’s an attempt by feminists to tip the balance of power from men over to women. Do you agree or disagree with this notion?
Bibliography
Cho, Yonjoo, Namhee Kim, Mimi Miyoung Lee, Jae Hoon Lim, Heeyoung Han, and Hye Young Park. "South Korean Women Leaders’ Struggles for a Work and Family Balance."
Human Resource Development International 18, no. 5 (2015): 521-537.
Patterson, Louise, and Brandon Walcutt. "Korean Workplace Gender Discrimination
Research Analysis: A Review of the Literature From 1990 to 2010." Asia Pacific Business
Review 19, no. 1 (2012): 85-101.
Hey everybody,
Super proud of this group - your participation and discussion demonstrates great intelligence and sensitivity talking about these issues. I’m particularly interested by Daniel’s assertion of women starting smaller businesses; I’m curious to know how many SME owners in Korea are women, and how the prejudices they face are similar or different to those working in a conventional office setting.
1) Do you think that by not addressing the fact that Han Yeojin is not married and has not indicated interest in raising a family that this perpetuates the idea that working women cannot have it all? In other words, is this indicative of the idea that Korean women must either choose between having a career and having a family?
I think the fact that Han Yeojin is not married at her age, and has not been presented with interests in raising a family, perpetuates the idea that working woman cannot have it all to a large extent. Firstly, being a female homicide detective is already rather “rare” in Korea as there is a common standard that risky occupations are…
About the gender gap: Yes, Korea is notorious for not having females in high social positions. I believe this is due to the stereotype of "Oh, women shouldn't be allowed in the workplace, men are way better than women at working". Even in 2018, I think that many people believe men deserve to be leaders more than women, even though this is entirely not true. Also, women are usually more pressured to leave their jobs when they have a child or a family, while men or pressured to stay at the work force and continue to work. Because companies see this as a disadvantage to them, the perception of "women shouldn't be allowed in the workplace" only grows stronger. In…
1. I don’t think Han Yeojin’s example necessarily perpetuates the idea that women can’t have both a career and family. It’s always possible to have a family and career as a woman in Korea (if they REALLY want it), but it’s extremely hard to find a balance/opportunity in such a high-demand location (specifically Seoul). There are a lot of possible reasons to justify Yeojin and other women without families: wants to focus on her career to establish a good foundation, so she can start a family in low-stress times; she simply doesn’t like kids; or just isn’t ready to date, marry, etc. I say it’s a combination of the first and last.
3. Like Kirin said, you mentioned that women…
Do you think that by not addressing the fact that Han Yeojin is not married and has not indicated interest in raising a family that this perpetuates the idea that working women cannot have it all? In other words, is this indicative of the idea that Korean women must either choose between having a career and having a family?
-I feel like this is a problem in Korea as many employers think women are temporary workers, like Dongjae said. We also discussed in class how it is very common for employers to favour men as they assume all women will marry at some point, become pregnant (maternal leave) and take care of their children, which results in a loss of…