What did you think about the two drama clips? One sees a shift now from a purely metrosexual identity to one that embodies physical fitness, which falls into the rationale of neoliberalism of producing individualized cells through diet, fitness, body management and cosmetic surgery fostering self-development or what Koreans would call ‘well-being’. These kinds of lifestyle changes have certainly affected the ways both men and women now think about their bodies and debates over who can afford certain identities or groups pejoratively known as tribes or ‘joc’ in Korean. A recent study conducted by the Institute of Health and Social Affairs in Korea examined the Spoon Class Theory, Hyo Sujeo, which classifies people based on their assets they inherited from their parents. The spoons range from a gold spoon to silver, bronze, and at the bottom dirt, for those who were born into poor families, who have had to earn their places in society rather than to inherit it. The dirt spoon was first mentioned by the actor Hwang Jun Ming in his acceptance speech at the Blue Dragon Award in 2005 for his role in ‘You Are My Sunshine’, when he stated, all I did was add a spoon to a dinner table that had already been prepared by others. This phrase became popularized ten years later and now refers to the difference between those raised in wealthy families who can attain entrance at top universities and secure jobs because they have been born with gold spoons in their mouths. The Spoon Class Theory has resulted on the rise of various social groups or tribes such as FOR ME or an acronym for: Four, Health, One, Recreation More, Convenience, Expensive or adding the bugs suffix ‘-Chung’ to a particular group which can be a pejorative for those for not good at some things such as the ‘Mom Chung’, socially insensitive mothers. ‘Ilbe’ those who are a part of a controversial online community aligned politically with the far right, followed by ‘Geumsik Chung’ students eating school lunches. ‘Chulgeun Chung’, those who have to go to work every day, and ‘Baeksu Chung’ are people who are out of work or literally bums and so forth. The Washington Post recently published a very interesting article on the effects of being part of a particular tribe in what Koreans now call ‘Hell Joseon’, the current malaise in South Korea where people feel deeply alienated in a stratified society. In this very stratified society, one thing to critically think about are the idealistic images and types of bodies and notions of beauty proffered by a strong cultural industry tied to a neoliberal rationale and the economic realities of South Korean society, who can use particular spaces or partake in consuming these new trends in images. It is important to examine these changes and the standards of beauty from the historical perspective. For a growing number of millennials, South Korea has become a living hell. Those fortunate enough to be born with a golden spoon in their mouths mirror the entrenched hereditary caste system in the chosen feudalistic dynasty that determine people's lives such as entering the elite high schools and universities or securing gainful employment. However, those lacking these unearned entitlements and conferred dominance and born with a dirt spoon must work long hours and low paying jobs or accept their fate as ‘Edu-poor’, a neologism derived from education and poor, harking back to an era where there was no social justice. Perhaps, the most disadvantaged group in this Hell Joseon are those categorized as ‘Ji Yeoh In’, or ‘from the countryside, woman and humanities majors in college’. I want you now to watch several news clips on the pressures of men and women who don't fit certain beauty and physical standards, and extremes to which they attempt to change their bodies and looks. The sad reality is that, if you are from a disadvantaged group, one can compensate for it with looks. What did you think? These are little older links, but they are quite telling about beauty standards in contemporary Korea, and its connections to employment and success. To conclude this course, we would like to discuss gender equity in contemporary South Korea. Starting with the IMF Crisis in 1997, which came at high financial, social and psychological cost, witnessing the rise of every social ill, rising employment, high suicide rates, falling birth rates, and government and corporate corruption and malfeasance. The statistics are alarming. In 2013, South Korea had the highest suicide rate among the 30 OECD countries, averaging 43 deaths per 100,000 or roughly 15,000 deaths a year outpacing Hungary and Japan. It ranked first in the rate of female suicides with 11.1 per 100,000, more than the double OECD average of 5.4. South Korea also has the lowest fertility birth rates in the world, slightly below 1.1%, compared to the 6.16 children per woman in the 1960s. In addition, according to the 2014 global gender gap report by the World Economic Forum, South Korea ranked 125th out of 142 countries in the category of equal pay for similar work. In other words, South Korea had a 37.4% gender wage gap, which was the largest gap among OECD countries. Why has it been so difficult for South Korea to bridge the gap?
