Hello! My name is Erin Chon and I am a freshman at HSU,
majoring in Wildlife Conservation and Management. I am from Paso Robles,
California, which is a small town, on the central coast. I am 100% Korean, and
grew up with many traditions and morals based off of the Korean culture because
of my parents. However, since I was born and raised in the US, I would consider
myself to be a Korean-American, mainly because I am more in sync with the American
"beliefs"/culture more than the traditional Korean
"beliefs"/culture, but all the while still having many beliefs
pertaining to my Korean heritage.
So, growing up in America, with parents that grew up in a
totally different place along with different expectations, was extremely
challenging. As I grew older I started to realize the difference in the Korean
culture and the American culture, especially with gender related issues.
It seems
like in the Korean culture, as with many other cultures, the women of the
household are strictly designated to stay home, catering to all of the members
of their family. Although it may not be as apparent in more recent generations,
in past generations, the roles of gender were deeply rooted in the culture.
From my observations, in the Korean culture, men are highly dominant and have
been dubbed the “shot callers” from day one, while females’ roles are purely to
be housewives, tending to the needs of the men and children. This is
indefinitely different than American culture in my opinion, whereas children
are assigned chores and are taught to be more independent, and the husband also
contributes to household chores as well. I often wondered as to why females’
roles were the way they were in the Korean culture, and why it was so much more
different than other households that I had experienced.
Throughout my blog posts, to the best of my understanding
and from personal opinion, I will discuss regarding both the Korean culture and
the American culture, as to how and why the roles of women have come to be the
way they are today, what the initial roles of genders were or seemed to be in
both cultures, what made things change, what made the role of females like that
in the first place, and why the role of females is different in every culture.
I had been contemplating on how I was going to go about my
research. Who was I going to interview? As I thought about who would be the
best to interview, the first person that came to mind was my mom and my aunt.
My mother who was born and raised in Korea, moved to the states about 20 years
ago, so who better than my own mom to ask about this very topic? How different
was gender roles in Korea than America, and how did the difference impact her
life?
As with
my aunt, she was born in Korea as well, but she moved to the states when she
was a teenager, so in her perspective, it must of have had a totally different
impact on her, seeing as how she grew up in the states, but originated from the
Korean culture from a young age.
Through
my research I would love to gain more knowledge of my Korean culture and how
different it is than it is here in the US. I feel and hope that with interviewing
both my own mother and aunt, I can obtain more of an understanding of both
cultures along with gaining more of an appreciation for different cultural
views, more specifically with gender.
I had asked both my mother and aunt the same set of questions;
in their opinions if they thought there are specific gender roles in both the
Korean culture along with the American culture, if they did believe there were
set roles, how it impacted or influenced them after moving to the states, if
the number of years living in the states influenced their outlook on gender
roles in the Korean culture compared to American culture, and what they think
about gender roles in general.
Both my mom and aunt had similar answers regarding the
roles of females in the Korean culture. But in many aspects, their responses
were very different at the same time.
Question: In your opinion, are there specific gender roles in the
Korean culture? And if so, what are they?
Mom:
“Yes, of course there are gender roles, aren’t there specific gender roles in
every culture? But in Korea, women have always been the ones to stay home and
take care of things like cooking, cleaning, taking care of the kids, basically
being a housewife. While the men are the money makers, and are more like the
protector of the entire family, along with taking care of the family
financially. So, that’s the general gender role in my opinion for Korean
people, and that’s how it has been for as long as I can remember.”
Aunt:
“Well yeah, I mean it’s always been, you’re the female of the house, the
mother, so you cook, clean, take care of the kids, and make sure everything is
set in the actual house. That’s how we all grew up, in one house, but the older
girls in the family would also follow along with our mom, helping her, and
learning the ways of the house, so we could do the same when we were older.”
Question: What are the main differences in gender roles in Korean
culture and American culture? And if or how the differences between the two
cultures impacted you at all?
Mom: “I
think the main thing that is so different with Korea and America is probably
the status of genders? In Korea at least back then, men are at the top, so it’s
almost like women are not as important? No, not as important, but woman have
less authority. After moving here, I noticed women did what they wanted, and
didn’t have to get ‘permission’ to do things. So hell yeah its different.”
Aunt: “I
mean I grew up working, I had to, and so do women in America. In Korea it’s
probably more like back then women of the household were stuck with set things
to do, but they just did what they had to do.”
Question: Do you think the number of years you’ve lived in America
changed how you see gender roles? And what do you think about gender roles now?
Mom: “Yeah,
you can say that. I don’t think I should have to do certain things just because
I’m a woman and I’ve always thought that! With living here, after raising you
and your sister in a different culture, my mindset changed. I’ve learned I
don’t have to be submissive, I’m stronger and I can stand up to things I don’t
agree with. I’ve changed, and I can tell, I don’t think that roles have to be
set in stone, along with anything else; there is room for change anywhere. Your
dad isn’t in charge of me, just because he is a man and I’m a woman! That’s not
right. Don’t let a man tell you what you can and can’t do. You have equal
opportunity, no man has higher authority over you, just because he is the
opposite gender, you know? You can do whatever you want, and you can take
things from both cultures and make it what you want!”
Aunt:
“I’ve been here since I was a teenager! But I’ve always thought the same way; I
don’t need to slave over some guy. My husband can fend for himself, but I’m
still going to take care of my family! Women can do whatever the hell they want
to do, don’t let some man dictate your life! But women should be in charge of
taking care of everyday household tasks, that’s how it’s always been; it’s a
part of the culture.”
I got interesting results from interviewing my aunt and
mom. I expected my aunt to be more open-minded, but it was the complete
opposite. Her views were much more traditional than I expected. She seemed to
be more close-minded, and more in the mind set of “this is how it has always
been, and that’s what’s right”. Compared to my mom, where as she has always told
my sister and I everything is open to interpretation, my aunt has always said
things are a certain way and that’s just the way it is, sticking to tradition. I
had always known my mom never liked the roles of females in the Korean culture,
but she had gone along with it anyways. Oddly, I want to say my mom is less
traditional compared to my aunt. My mom is more open to understanding the
American culture, since my sister and I both grew up with both Korean Culture
and American Culture. Which I applaud her for, because it is hard to look
outside from what you grew up being told, and trying to understand other views
of life. She tries to change things up when it comes to gender roles in my
family, which I really respect her for. She has spoken up for herself much more
now than ever before, and has come to an understanding that she doesn’t have to
stick to traditional ways of the Korean culture.
To be completely honest, going into Anthropology 104, I had
no idea what to expect. I had no idea what I was getting into, and I had no
idea what this class had to offer me. Despite my initial thought of this class,
I am actually really stoked because I feel like I have learned and come to more
of an understanding of myself and my beliefs especially with the roles of
gender as well my roots. After doing my research, along with reading everyone
else's blogs, I became familiar with different points of views on gender, which
is awesome, because looking at things from different perspectives allows me to
be more open-minded. As I had previously mentioned in my first blog post,
growing up in a small town, where there were less than 20 Asians altogether, it
was hard to understand the ways of my parents. Especially with gender roles,
seeing as how in the Korean culture, men are extremely dominate. Growing up,
from observing my household, my dad was in charge of everything. Despite what
my mom would say, nothing was ever "right" if my dad didn't agree.
But as I grew up I realized that not every household was the same. Observing
friend's families, I came to a point in my life where it became hard to agree
with the way of how we were being raised. Here I am, the only Korean in my
school, with different traditions and whatnot from all of my friends, it was
inevitable that my Korean culture was going to clash with growing up in Paso
Robles (hickville).
In Korean culture, men have always been extremely dominant.
Women's roles were simply to cater to their families, being housewives, and
taking care of the family, while men were the main providers when it came to
money and protection. It was really apparent growing up, not only with my
immediate family, but also with my dad's side of the family. From my earliest
memories, my grandma along with my aunts would always be doing things for the
men, and constantly reiterated that women need to make sure they take care of
the men in the family. And like in many cultures, men in the family whether it
was my uncles or cousins, they were important, because in the end, the men
carry on the last name of our family. So, to say the least men in the Korean
culture are really just put on a pedestal.
Throughout this whole assignment and through my research, I
have learned a lot about the Korean culture and the American culture, and the
role they play in my life. The Korean culture is still dominant in my family,
but I've noticed a change in the family dynamic. My parents have come to an
understanding that my sister and I had grown up as Korean-Americans, different
than how they grew up. So, they have become more understanding of our views on
life because they know we are a part of two different cultures.
I am thankful to have grown up in the states being Korean,
because it has taught me a lot about different perspectives of life. I had
always in a way looked down on Korean culture, because it seemed unalterable,
but after this assignment, I’ve come to an understanding that you can interpret
things and make it your own. Now, I am more understanding of different
cultures, and have become more proud of being Korean. I know I can keep Korean
traditions in my family in the future, but that doesn't mean I have to stick
with every aspect, like the gender roles that have been a part of the Korean
culture for generations. I can take bits and pieces from both cultures and
still stay true to my roots. So, to say the least, anthropology has taught me
that all cultures are different, and no one can say which is right or wrong,
all cultures are unique and can be interpreted differently by anyone, and the
only thing we can do is learn to appreciate the differences of what we think is
normal or right.
