Breaking Stereotypes: Challenging Gender Roles in Korea
By: Ashton of KIS
SDGs: Good health and well being, Gender equality, Reduced inequalities
Throughout the year, I was very interested in researching and initiating a project related to relationships between people. At first, my focus revolved around investigating the generational gap between people of different age groups within families. However, as I realized it was difficult to tackle that issue, especially within the community around me, I decided to shift my topic to focusing on the issue of gender roles, especially because I realized that gender expectations strongly influence the way people interact, communicate, and understand their roles within both families and society.
In Korea, gender roles have been shaped by traditional culture and social systems. Confucian ideals often emphasized men as leaders of the household, while women were expected to focus more on caregiving and family responsibilities. This belief was reflected in the Hoju system, which legally placed the male “head of household” at the center of the family until it was abolished in 2005. Gender roles were also reinforced in schools through gendered uniforms, where boys and girls were expected to dress differently based on traditional ideas of masculinity and femininity. These expectations still affect Korean society today, as shown by the fact that Korea has one of the largest gender wage gaps among OECD countries, highlighting how traditional gender roles continue to influence workplace equality.
In order to tackle this issue, I thought it would be best to educate the younger population in Korea, as older generations were already more used to Confucian ideals and traditional roles of men and women. My approach was to start with students as young as 4th or 5th graders, as that is the age when people begin to recognize gender norms and gender differences. My project began with the goal of educating 4th and 5th graders, starting with the community around me. Therefore, I was able to create lesson slides with various interactive activities that students could participate in and naturally realize the unconscious biases they were forming or the traditional gender stereotypes they already had inside them.
Additionally, not only did I try to tackle the school community around me by targeting elementary school students for a lesson, but I also created a Google Form survey to survey the school population, identify their opinions on this topic, and ask what their households are like. I asked questions such as, “To what extent have your parents actively shaped your views on gender roles and gender inequality through discussions or expectations?” and “How do broader cultural traditions, such as Confucian values, religion, or societal expectations in Korea or your home culture, shape gender expectations in your family?”
In the end, unfortunately, I was not able to initiate the lesson for the elementary schoolers due to schedule conflicts toward the end of the year. However, reflecting on this project, I learned that creating social change requires not only strong ideas but also careful planning, flexibility, and the ability to adjust my work for a specific audience. I learned this despite certain challenges, such as having to revise my slides multiple times. One of the biggest challenges I faced was matching the difficulty of the slides and interactive activities to the elementary schoolers’ age and proficiency while also making the activities fun and engaging for them.
In Korea, gender roles have been shaped by traditional culture and social systems. Confucian ideals often emphasized men as leaders of the household, while women were expected to focus more on caregiving and family responsibilities. This belief was reflected in the Hoju system, which legally placed the male “head of household” at the center of the family until it was abolished in 2005. Gender roles were also reinforced in schools through gendered uniforms, where boys and girls were expected to dress differently based on traditional ideas of masculinity and femininity. These expectations still affect Korean society today, as shown by the fact that Korea has one of the largest gender wage gaps among OECD countries, highlighting how traditional gender roles continue to influence workplace equality.
In order to tackle this issue, I thought it would be best to educate the younger population in Korea, as older generations were already more used to Confucian ideals and traditional roles of men and women. My approach was to start with students as young as 4th or 5th graders, as that is the age when people begin to recognize gender norms and gender differences. My project began with the goal of educating 4th and 5th graders, starting with the community around me. Therefore, I was able to create lesson slides with various interactive activities that students could participate in and naturally realize the unconscious biases they were forming or the traditional gender stereotypes they already had inside them.
Additionally, not only did I try to tackle the school community around me by targeting elementary school students for a lesson, but I also created a Google Form survey to survey the school population, identify their opinions on this topic, and ask what their households are like. I asked questions such as, “To what extent have your parents actively shaped your views on gender roles and gender inequality through discussions or expectations?” and “How do broader cultural traditions, such as Confucian values, religion, or societal expectations in Korea or your home culture, shape gender expectations in your family?”
In the end, unfortunately, I was not able to initiate the lesson for the elementary schoolers due to schedule conflicts toward the end of the year. However, reflecting on this project, I learned that creating social change requires not only strong ideas but also careful planning, flexibility, and the ability to adjust my work for a specific audience. I learned this despite certain challenges, such as having to revise my slides multiple times. One of the biggest challenges I faced was matching the difficulty of the slides and interactive activities to the elementary schoolers’ age and proficiency while also making the activities fun and engaging for them.