Overview of Women’s History in Korea Essays -- Culture Asia Essays

Overview of Womens History in Korea In modern daylight Korea, women are actively involved in many career fields, such as education, law, literature, sports, medicine, and engineering. However, it wasnt too long ago that women were confined exactly to the home and family. The introduction of Christianity to Korea helped elevate womens roles through schools ran by missionaries. whatsoever were even specifically for educating women. (Korean Overseas Information Service, 2001) Many of the educated women began getting involved in religious make believe, teaching, the arts, and of course, the enlightening of other women. But it wasnt until the establishment of the Republic of Korea in 1948, when women began gaining constitutional rights for equal opportunities in the work force, education, and public life. The economic growth that Korea has experienced at this time, and even directly has contributed to the large amount of women going into the work force. The high amou nt of women in the work force, in professional jobs influenced the government to pass the Equal piece of work Act of 1987 to prevent discrimination against females regarding hiring practices and promotion opportunities. However, with this added freedom, many Korean women incur highly pressured because they are burdened with both earning a living and their conventional roles as housewives. Modern Korean women are facing both personal and mental exhaustion over delinquent to the demands of society and their families. Add to that, child care is a major problem in Korea. Although laws have been passed to promote the employment of women, and facilities for childcare should be provided, the reality is that childcare is sadly lacking. Recently, the government further suppo... ... individualistic industrialization established of the 1960s on the other. (Chung, 1997) In other words, due to Confucius beliefs, women have not experienced total freedom in their common soldier o r public lives. Yet overtime, things will improve for Korean women due to the recent legislation set up to help further sustain their roles in the workforce, education, and hopefully, in their private lives as well. Resources 1. Womens Contemporary Roles in Korea. Retrieved from the Internet on September 15, 2003. (http//www.askasia.org/Korea/r15)2. Nugent, Sookja Chung. Korean Womens History- An Overview. Korean Quarterly. (Fall, 1998). 3. (http//www.womeninworldhistory.com/heroine7.html)4. Chung, Connie. Korean Society and Women Focusing on the Family (1997). (http//www.hcs.harvard.edu/yisei/backissues/spring_95/yisei_95_30.html)