It is that deeply entrenched national attitude that makes the story so personal to me. From the ineffable pressure to have a son that forces Jiyoung’s mother to undergo a sex-selection abortion, to the legal precedence men enjoy over women, to the unending drudgery of a housewife’s chores (which include preparing three elaborate meals a day), Cho paints a bleak picture of the average South Korean woman’s life. While the story is recognizable to women the world over, it is a damning portrait of South Korean society in particular. Though the granular details may be particular to Jiyoung (born in Seoul, the second daughter in a middle-class family), the milestone events are universal: Gender stereotyping starting from birth in ways both subtle and overt sexualization victim-blaming thwarted ambitions and pressure to stay at home and raise children while fading into ladylike irrelevance.
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