Yet another condescending article lacking in sources, dealing in stereotypes about Korean women in the workplace. Now I'm not sure if this is the Chosun Ilbo Korean as well as the Chosun English (pretty embarrassing if this is the premium content that they've chosen to translate, in putting their best foot forward for the international English speaking audience), but whatever the case, articles like this sure won't help Korea shake off its reputation for being a rigidly uber-patriarchal society.
A while ago it was that "alpha women" have no life skills - Girlfriendoseyo (who is a professional herself, and manages her life quite well, thanks) and I had an interesting conversation about it.
Now it turns out nobody wants to work as a subordinate to a female, (if by nobody you mean 64% said they preferred working for males, when we don't know what questions, or how they were asked) because of some generalizations that sound to me like gender stereotypes, along with results of a survey that includes no information whatsoever on how the statistics were gathered, or how the questions were asked.
I'm sure other bloggers could give this article a much better read, but the fact remains, articles like this are are a drop in the bucket, and nothing more than symptomatic, of a society that keeps plummeting towards the bottom of the world gender gap rankings... with a millstone (that's the opposite of rising with a bullet, I guess). 92nd in 2006 (embarrassing enough for a country with a top 15 economy), and a startling 115th in 2009. 18th from the bottom. For a bit of perspective on that, many of the countries ranked lower than Korea are countries where female genital mutilation is still practiced.
For shame, Korea. For shame, Chosun Ilbo.
one expat's life in Korea
4 comments:
What a shitty article... I find it hard to believe there's a direct link between a woman's ability to function in the workplace and a complete lack of care for her home and her family.
Ricetarded. I fucking hate stupid sexist newspaper articles. Don't they realise people outside of Korea can read this stuff, too, and that it helps earn Korea a horrible reputation?
I know a lot of women who don't want to work with a female boss and it has little to do with Korean sexism (which is real and more prevalent than it is in the USA).
http://www.news.com.au/couriermail/story/0,23739,24392395-23272,00.html
"University researchers say women who have to answer to a female supervisor feel more stressed than if their superior is male. They suffer from far more depression, insomnia, headaches and heartburn than if their boss is a man.
But for male workers, the sex of their manager makes no difference.
The Canadian team, which studied 1800 workers in the US, believe it could be the Queen Bee syndrome, in which successful women do not like to be surrounded by competitors of the same sex."
Thanks for the comment and the link, Tamar.
KRD: my grandmother reads this blog. Please write comments here with that in mind.
Sorry, Oma.
"Bosses might think they are being thoughtful, but to subordinates, paying too close attention may feel like nagging."
That one's my favorite. Because everyone knows that male bosses in Korea never nag or bother their subordinates.
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