Episode 5: To Be a Working Mom
- misaengasia
- Oct 14, 2018
- 3 min read
Episode 5 of “Misaeng: An Incomplete Life,” shows the realities of being a female in corporate Korean. The corporate world in Korea is already a very brutal place to work in the sense that the work environment is hyper-competitive. In this work environment, there is something that is extremely noticeable that goes on in the office. There are not many women in the office, and if there are, they are usually looked down upon by their male counterparts. The women are often treated very poorly, as is evident with the treatment of An Young-Yi. Due to the way that females are perceived at workplaces, there is a disparity in the number of women working in these Korean offices, especially in managerial positions. However, as the cost of living has gone up in South Korea, more and more women are now working more in these offices. This has also attributed to the lower birth rate since women want to prove themselves, as being worthy of working at the office, to their male counterparts. They end up working longer and more hours while delaying marriage and having children.
Women working in South Korea have a very hard time with work-life balance. They feel obligated to work more hours, as in go to work earlier than everyone else and stay later than everyone. They also feel obligated to take on more work, to prove that having women working is beneficial. The long-standing belief in South Korea is that women should only be housewives. However, this is no longer a thought that South Koreans can afford to have. As life gets more expensive, and especially so if a couple wants to start a family, then the couple must both work in order to maintain their lifestyle. However, gender discrimination is so prominent in the workforce that even government attempts at social reform regarding working families have not been fully embraced. Misaeng, does a very good portrayal of what the life of a working mother is like with the introduction of the character Sun Ji-Young. Ji-Young and her husband are both busy office workers and both take turns when it comes to parental responsibilities with regards to their young daughter. The viewer sees her struggle to juggle between her work responsibilities and her duties to her daughter. The daughter’s drawing of a mom without a face is very telling of what kind of relationship Ji-Young has with her daughter. The viewer also sees Ji-Young staying up very late to finish more work at home, on top of her doing her housework. Unfortunately, this is the sad reality of what it is like to be a working mother in South Korea.
Gender discrimination is prominent in South Korean work society. This particular episode of Misaeng, provides such a great example of gender discrimination in the workplace.
Written By: Rebecca Lai
words according to WordCounter
Here are some discussion questions..
1. How did you feel when the Resources Team started discussing how annoying it is for their coworker to be pregnant again? And when Assistant Manager Ha Sung-Joon said that women were the issue?
2. Is the animosity towards female workers one of the reasons why there is such a wide gender gap in the workforce in South Korea?
Bibliography:
Gress, Douglass R., Paek, Jeeyon. “Differential Spaces in Korean Places? Feminist
Geography and Female Managers in South Korea.” Gender, Work, and Organization 21,
no.2 (2014):165-186. https://doi.org/10.1111/gwao.12028
Jang, Soo Jang, Park, Phokeun, Zippay, Allison. “Family leave for employed women: interaction effects of gender discrimination and household responsibilities in South Korea.” International Social Work 59, no.1 (2016): 99-115. https://doi.org/10.1177/0020872814531306
A bibliography DOES NOT MEAN ANYTHING if there aren't citations in the text. Most of the Romanization is wrong (also in the comments below the Romanization is wrong). The essay is good, but it really needs to interact with the readings, or some readings you found on your own, to interject additional facts and theories-- when I read this essay it felt like you were making a focused synopsis.
Hey everyone,
Just a reminder to stay conscious of your romanization.
I think Jonathan’s brought up some incisive points about the discrimination against women being used to maintain the patriarchy. It’s okay for the male colleagues to diss women, because there are a ton of qualified male candidates for unrealistically competitive job openings anyway. And for the women who are “more sincere, responsible, and detailed”, as Chanhee says, they have more hurdles to overcome to be given the same consideration as men, and there are even more if they get in, because of this animosity. The people on top will always make it easier for themselves, and those who aren’t are always the ones who go an extra mile to…
I was infuriated by the statements the Resources Team started making about female workers and their pregnancy. They showed no respect for women who go through all the labour during pregnancy and showed no concern about the time and effort they have to put into it. As a matter of fact, women do not get pregnant on their own. It is also the husband’s responsibility to go through the maternity process and take care of his wife and the baby. He is the one who got her pregnant after all. But of course, the male workers in the drama do not have the empathy because it is none of their business. It is so unfortunate that people think pregnancy i…
Yuxin. I was shocked and full of anger watching that scene.. Especially when they were saying how they should not hire women because "they will be leaving because they get married and will be asking for maternity leave leaving all work to them men." Honestly, good for them for not spending times with your family. They say they are working for their family but as we can see through Sang-Sik's family, what their family really want is the time with their father. Before being a good worker, try to be a good father or simply a good man.
As Korean, I honestly do not understand why Korean men are so sexist especially when it comes to work; they have to…
I felt shocked at that remark against the pregnant lady. It is worthy to note that Korean society’s extremely competitive nature leaves little opportunity for these sexist views to be changed. I would argue that it is too late to change Korean society’s patriarchal ways due to the structural nature of the discrimination against women and the conformist nature of society.
Being competitive means taking any opportunity to gain an advantage over the next person/company, in order to do that, a company would minimize the impact of losing a female employee due to maternity leave or the decision to be a homemaker; therefore creating a barrier for women to rise up the ranks within the company.
Also, since conforming…