Korean Job Discussion Forums

[peppermint]

Saw this article today in the Joong Ang Daily this morning.

[just because]

That basically mean that all women in Korea are sexually harrased. Another law that will never be implemented but if it is, then all the men are in jail.

PARTY TIME

[maxxx_power]

I wonder what the rest of the story is. There is definately more going on, and that went on at that dinner, than is being written. Maybe she was insulting his pen is size by not complying or somehow lessening him as a man. I mean, the horror, of having a woman subordinate tell you no!

I imagine the situation was completely fucked up and turned into some male dominance/face BS that occasionally happens here. Personally I would tell most people who forced me to do something that silly just because they were older or a man, or in some supposed power position to go *beep* themselves and pour their own damn drink. But if it would cost me a decent job I guess I would just suck it up and do it. Culturally, I imagine working dinners here are unbelievably tense and hierarchical - *beep* that shit. It's nice to be American sometimes.

Good for her for filing a complaint. I can't imagine the shit she has to deal with now but it's refreshing to read about someone taking a stand against outdated cultural bull shit.

If the behavior created a hostile working environment then it would fit a legal definition (by American standards) of harassment. There may also have been a pattern of harassment against this one woman. Who knows really? I say yes, good for her.

[peppermint]

I'm pretty sure that I mentioned it here before, but my students said something along the same line- that pouring drinks was harassment. At the time I thought that the men kept pouring them drinks, and they couldn't refuse because of the culture. Men going out of their way to get a woman drunk could be viewed as harrassment, sorta.

But I thought that being forced to pour drinks for someone who's both older and a man was simply part of the culture. At home I'd just laugh and tell him to pour his own, and one for me too.

[Butterfly]

I agree that it is wrong to continuously expect women to pour the drinks or whatever, but I worry that too many things come under the umbrella of sexual harrassment, which still implies groping, or lewd comments of a sexual nature. I think abuse of women's status should come under a different label.

Thus I voted no.

[dogbert]

[yoda]

I guess we don't really know the whole story, but the image of GiSaeng, Tabang girl or DallonJuJom girl comes to mind. So I would say that it probably does constitute some kind of harassment. I am by no means convinced, but I do remember the small university that I worked for in the country (KangWondDo) about 4 years ago:

There, the English Department professors kept two 20 something hot young things on staff as secretaries/personal assistants. These woman were toted around to all of their drinking parties and were often told when to drink and when to pour drinks. True, they never complained about it, but I wonder if they would have gone to all of these drinking parties if they really had the choice and their jobs didn't depend on it.

Besides the image of sex-industry women pouring drinks for men is just so prevalent that even if the principal intended no harassment, I can see why a respectable female high school teacher would want to avoid doing that. The choice should be hers if she feels uncomfortable with it.

[Corporal]

[weatherman]

The whole culture says that young serve the old, and an old man getting a young woman to pour out his drink would seem very natural. The whole thing is sexist, but when a whole society is sexist, where, in this example is the harm to the woman? Maybe she doesn't know her own cultural and needs to learn to respect older men... Dae-han-min-guk!!!

[kiwiboy_nz_99]

It's wrong, but I voted not sexual harassment, because sexual harassment needs to retain it's status as a very serious offense. I call that sexual discrimination.

[peppermint]

Alright, most people here don't consider this harassment, just discrimination at worst. What are those stats on sexual harrassment and abuse in Korea again?

[yoda]

Sexual Discrimination VS Sexual Harassment

Alright. Several people are arguing quite convincingly that it should be put under another label (discrimination). I'll buy that.

[schwa]

The same behaviors are demanded of junior male staff as well, which muddies the connotation of 'sexual' harrassment.

[tsgarp]

Welcome to the new age of Korean Femi-Nazism.

[just because]

what about ageist - harrasment if it is male???