Dear penpal,
When this letter reaches you tonight, I have aged one more year. Yes, March is my birth month. Also, my favourite month for a reason. Because it’s Spring, the time between winter and summer- little chills in the air with a warm undertone. It’s a recipe for disaster if you are allergy prone like me who suffers from colds in every weather changing season. But I still like it.
This month I participated in a readathon hosted by my friends on Instagram. We read Korean literature, webtoons and watched Korean drama shows! Now that was fun.
And not mention that march is also Women’s History Month so how can I not hype up women writers and women-centric media?
Thus -
I read this book. Or more like re-read. I remember reading news articles last year that in early 2023, women of South Korea walked down the streets in protest of their patriarchal societal culture, that makes them “baby making machines” in the society.
Ms Chung Hyun-Back was South Korea’s gender equality minister in 2017-18, tried unsuccessfully to raise the country’s plunging fertility rate. Among the obstacles she says are to blame is the country’s “patriarchal culture.” President Yoon Suk-Yeol, elected in 2022, has suggested feminism is to blame for blocking “healthy relationships” between men and women. (source: The NewYorkTimes)
Thus, this book opened up to a new horizon upon my eyes. Because it is based on all those real life problems South Korean women were going through.
The story revolves around a woman named Kim Jiyong who was born in 1982.
𝐈𝐧 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐫𝐭𝐢𝐞𝐬, 𝐊𝐢𝐦 𝐉𝐢𝐲𝐨𝐧𝐠 𝐡𝐚𝐝 𝐚 𝐛𝐚𝐛𝐲 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐥𝐞𝐟𝐭 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐣𝐨𝐛, 𝐚𝐬 𝐬𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐞𝐱𝐩𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐝𝐨 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐲 𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐰𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐧 𝐭𝐨 𝐜𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐛𝐚𝐛𝐲 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐛𝐞𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐚 𝐟𝐮𝐥𝐥 𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐞 𝐰𝐢𝐟𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐦𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫.
Jiyong has seen her mother doing housework as well as extra work for some money as well as caring for her mother-in-law who always had things to say.
Always, her behavior is policed by the male figures around her. Her elementary schoolteacher says girls should strictly adhere to “proper” uniforms. Her male coworkers install hidden camera in women’s restroom to take their photos secretly. Even her father says it’s Jiyong’s fault for getting sexually harassed.
Jiyong thought that she was happy being a mother, taking care of her husband and baby but she keeps hearing passing judgements from people whom even don't know her- her looks, her attire and how she is like a parasite living off of her husband's money staying at home and 𝐝𝐨𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐧𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠.
Soon Jiyoung acts weirdly as she impersonates the voices of other women—alive and even dead, both known and unknown to her. As she plunges deeper into this psychosis, her discomfited husband sends her to a male psychiatrist, and that man was another level of misogynist.
Kim Jiyong is an archetype to show you the reality. And in the process she will go mad. Navigating the life of Kim Jiyong, I could find many similarities seen in my society, a country a few thousands miles away from South Korea.
Women in South Korea are fighting against the spycam scandals, for not making them baby making machines in the excuse of decreasing population, they had their own #metoo movement. Jiyong is a part of that, passive yet glaring. She doesn't take part in the protest but is present everywhere like a ghost ; a constant reminder to the humanity how cruel they are towards women.
Some of the sources about South Korean Women and their struggles-
Women in South Korea Are on Strike Against Being ‘Baby-Making Machines’
South Korea’s women planning nationwide protest against gender-based violence
As anti-feminist ideologies spread like wildfire in society, people would start harming people who may express themselves as feminists, both online and offline. South Korean men may take it to another level though.
So dear penpal, it’s a good time to learn what feminism is and why the movements started and stop people like Andrew Tate from putting poison in the ears of young generation.
And let us pray together that women in South Korea take their lives at their hands living as they want.
I meet you again next month.
Take care of yourself. Bye.
Yours only
Veenita
Letters From Veenita is a unique bi-monthly newsletter with a mix of personal stories and curated reviews, recommendations and resources. I talk about books, manga, anime, films and more literary goodness.
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Damn, this was a terrific read. I'll add the book to my TBR for sure!