|
|
|
|
|
GOLDSEA |
ASIAMS.NET |
POLL & COMMENTS
COREAN MALE/ COREAN FEMALE RELATIONSHIPS
(Updated
Tuesday, Apr 1, 2008, 05:23:19 PM
to reflect the 100 most recent valid responses.)
This poll is closed to new input.
Comments posted during the past year remain available for browsing.
CONTACT US
|
ADVERTISING INFO
© 1996-2013 Asian Media Group Inc
No part of the contents of this site may be reproduced without prior written permission.
|
|
|
|
WHAT YOU SAY
[This page is closed to new input. --Ed.]
And then there are families like mine that defy odds and have 3 male children naturally. My mom wishes she had had at least one daughter.
KM, 24
Sunday, April 07, 2002 at 21:01:37 (PDT)
so_it_goes
The last numbers I saw was 112 males for 100 females. This is probably far greater now, as it has been getting worse every year. Under "natural" settings, usually more females are born, marginally. I think this is due to human developement cycle, but you'll have to ask some biologist or doctor. Right now, this number is probably far more skewed. I remember, Korea had more skewed ratio then China, Singapore, and Taiwan. Another thing to remember is that Korea for a long time was the chief "exporting" nation for adoptions. I presume that Korean people put up female infants up for adoption more readily then male, thus the actually ratio is even more skewed. Also, in places like China, there would be under-reporting of female births, due to the 1-child policy. I assume that in rural places, Chinese people would register their sons and "hide" their daughters--but this is just an assumption.
This gender inbalance is a serious threat to the stability of Korea. Already Korean men are "importing" Chinese of Korean ancestry as well as women from other parts of the world. Imagine Korea unified--all the southern richer men, would take wives from the north, and there will be a serious dirth of marriageable women for north koreans. This is a ticking time bomb for Korea. (afterall, men from other parts of asia will become hostile to Korea when this should happen, I assume.)
But I'm not sure what to make of the rape statistics in Korea. Rape is statistically difficult crime to measure especially in a country where the victim is so stigmatized. It is difficult to extrapolate how many "hidden" victims are out there. Even with regular "healthy" sex, if you talk to a typical Korean, male or female, you'd think no body is having sex in Korea. But then you do a count of all the video-bang(make out places), love-inns, and hostess bars, and you have to think twice. The problem is probably further compounded by the blurring line of date rape--in a culture where a sexually liberal women is classified as a whore, women have every reason to deny consentual sex.
I'm mortified at how Korean parents instilled such strong ethnic pride in their children that even when it is wrong, they are defensive about it. Look at the postings on this site. Somehow gender imbalance is loveable Korean trait? I think the real Confucious would be mortified at how far Chosun dynasty twisted his writings.
I think the "Korean Neurosis" if you will, is well talked about. Especially Korean mother-in-laws/daugher in law relationship is infamous. The traditional Korean marriage is a bad hazing process for women it seems. We see the same pattern here.
Well, going back on topic, I think we need to loosten up a bit.
ka
Friday, April 05, 2002 at 11:32:19 (PST)
ka:
Just out of curiosity, how great is the gender imbalance in Korea? I've never been there so I don't know, but I hope to go there this summer.
I agree with you that family life is a big factor in shaping a typical Korean life. I think a lot of the problems such as high suicide rate stem from this value. When one strives to bring prestige to the family, the idea of the individual itself is lost. Thus, those who conform to the pressures of maintaining family prestige can't help but feel smothered by these pressures, which in turn creates unhappy individuals. And when these unhappy individuals grow up and establish their own families, they too will demand their own children to conform to their wishes because they had done so themselves; after having sacrificed so much, the next stage of their life essentially begins when he/she establishes his/her own family. Consequently, the parents of the unhappy individuals will slowly lose their grip on their children (since the unhappy individuals have their own families now). And so these unhappy individuals become parents, and now they hold the power in the house. With this new sense of power, they will try to keep anyone from tampering with it, and the only ones who can do that really would be their kids. Hence,they will try to deter their kids from ruining their "paradise". So it is a vicious cycle--they'll keep producing those doctors and lawyers who make big money, with their faces plastered in magazines, and the "bitch-goddess of success" (love that phrase--from D.H. Lawrence) possesively at his/her heels.
Just wanted to say, ka, that I see where you are coming from, and ultimately I am glad you have facillitated a fascinating topic. Hope to see you posting soon :-)
P.S. You forgot about rape--Korea has the highest incidence of rape in the world.
so_it_goes
Thursday, April 04, 2002 at 21:39:48 (PST)
MORE RECENT COMMENTS |
EARLIER COMMENTS
|