Korean Job Discussion Forums

[peppermint]

Nomad-ish, defending herself against Jinju's flashback to the summer said

[Johnwayne]

I think your average person associates feminism with lines of thought like, "the world would be better off with less men" or Sally Field's comment, "If mother's ruled the world, there would be no wars". These kinds of comments tend to drown out the other more positive and more agreeable aspects of feminism and tend to turn people off to the idea of feminism in general.

[giovanni]

Because one of the things I truly like about Korea is its women, who generally don't have that holier-than-thou (feminist) attitude us male-expats-in-Korea find so... irritating.

[jajdude]

Seems like that word, like others, got surrounded by the paraphernalia of associations beyond its real intent or strict meaning. It became stigmatised. It fell into a bad crowd, like communism. Some words just conjure unpleasant images, thanks to media, government propaganda, and other nonsense we all fall in the trap of following.

[cdninkorea]

A few months ago there was a proposal for men who did their military service to be awarded extra points on the civil service exam to offset the two years spent out of school and work. Women's groups took issue with this, saying it gave men an unfair advantage.

If these groups were really about equal rights and responsibilities, shouldn't they lobby for women to serve a mandatory two years as well? Then they could get the points too.

I think the problem many have with feminism is the unequal treatment many of them demand. I'm with you on voting and property rights. I'm with you on not treating women different at the workplace, but this means no affirmative action, which treats women differently.

[Missihippi]

"Havn't you heard of the Women's Movement?....Put on something cute and MOVE it into the kitchen" -AC Slater

[The Bobster]

I agree with peppermint, but it's not so much a matter of being grateful to those who have gone before and made things possible that weren't in the past - I think it ought to go beyond that, and women really ought to be looking seriously at what the future holds for both genders. And I say women ought to be thinking about it because men are just not likely to, and there is already an intellectual and societal discipline in place.

I think one problem for a lot of young women today is that, say back in the 70s - and to some extent today - there was a preponderance of influence from lesbians within the feminist movement. Gay rights is an important thing, but it's separate from the goals of the advancement of women in general. A lot of heterosexual young women found feminism an occasion to yawn because it wasn't speaking to who they were and who they aspired to be.

Not entirely up to speed on the exchange pep is referring to, but I do agree that any woman who wants to vote, go to college, have a career and be treated as an equal with the men around her ... well, she's a feminist, and she'd do well for herself and other women to say so and not be shy.

And for the guys, the same thing. If we want to live in a world where the women around us - lovers, friends, sisters, mothers, etc - can do the kinds of things I just described ... well hey, dude, you're a feminist, too.

[peppermint]

[The_Eyeball_Kid]

[Young FRANKenstein]

[princess]

[princess]

[rjrs0510]

Gender discrimination is, in my opinion, a byproduct of class distinctions. Working class men are not particularly envied by working class women. They are equal. Stop tweaking branches, start tackling the roots.

[Petey Wheatstraw]

Whoever the eff wrote:

"The above is a deliberately ingenuous question"

Any inkling why this is oxymoronic?

But yeah, bigots who imagine that women have it easier and ask for more than they're entitled to are hard to figure out. What are you missing? Women STILL make less for the same jobs and STILL face glass ceilings in professional and public life. [/quote]

[Scotticus]