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Listening to a talk by #오은실 (U of Wisconsin-Madison) on declining son preference in Korea and realizing how often media (like the webtoon I'm reading now, or most K-Dramas) reinforce a perhaps outdated (but still stereotypical) idea of Korean social interactions.
Although there are dramas/webtoons and other media that do really push back against these ideas sometimes, the stereotypes are still being reproduced, which gives them power (it justifies preferring a son if you're seeing media that shows that other people also prefer a son).
Many people making these stories (for example drama writers) may be expressing things from their own generation, which may not be the same as young women having children today. Dr. Oh's research is quite convincing and corresponds with what I hear from my own friends.
Now that K-dramas/ webtoons are spread widely outside Korea (I found two weeks ago that all my students seem to have more experience reading manhwa and webtoons than I do), if media still shows stories with strong son preference, then that also becomes accepted truth outside K.
One of the really interesting points in the lecture was Dr. Oh explaining how women who were more elite/ graduates of SKY schools and so on were able to negotiate better in regards to relationship w/ the maternal relatives. For example, living close to their own mother, visiting
often and mutually supporting each other, instead of the more traditional situation where women almost cut ties upon marriage. But that w. without the status advantages found that harder to do.
All in all a very stimulating talk and I regret logging on a bit late.
All in all a very stimulating talk and I regret logging on a bit late.
