Assignment2.docx

Assignment2.docx

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Assignment2

SouthKoreanFamilyStructure:

RoleofWife

FangHong

NewYorkUniversity

Abstract

ThispaperfocusesonthecurrentfamilystructureofSouthKoreaandthemainfactorsthatcontributetoitsstructure.Itintroducesthewoman'sroleinaSouthKoreanfamilyandexplainsthekindofqualitiesawomanshouldpossestobeagoodwifeaswellastheirimpactonthementalhealthofwomen.Inaddition,itanalysestheoriginsofthesequalitiesbyusingaecologicalsystemanalysis,suchaspatriarchy,Confucianism,socialsupportnetwork,witnessingparentsandschooleducation.

Keywords:

SouthKoreanculture;familystructure;goodwife;mentalhealth

SouthKoreanFamilyStructure:

RoleofWife

1,CulturalBackground

ThefamilyisconsideredthebasiccomponentofSouthKoreansociety,andhenceitexertsperpetualinfluenceonthedevelopmentofeconomyandcultureofthecountry.Simultaneausly,thegeneralculturalbackgroundalsoworkstowardstheformationaswellasbringingchangetothisfamilystructure.

SouthKoreanfamiliesaregenerallytraditionallyoriented.Eventhough,SouthKoreansocietyislargelyinfluencedbywesternculture,itstillmaintainsmanytraditionalnorms,festivalsandceremoniesthatareconsideredthesymbolsofSouthKoreancultureandmakeeverySouthKoreanpeopleproudoftheircountry.Thefamilystructureisanextendedoneanditstressesupontheimportanceofharmony,collaborationandsharingamongthesocialnetworkofthefamilymembers.

Historically,Confucianismhasplayedakeyroleindefiningthemoralofpeopleaswellascreatingtheorderwithinthisfamilystructure.ItwaschosenasthenationalorthodoxteachinginChosendynastyin1392（Berthrong&Berthrong,2009,p.169）.Itmadeadistinctionbetweenwoman'sinnerordomesticsphere（ying）andtheman'souterorpublicsphere（yang）,andemphasizedthesubordinationoftheinnerspheretotheoutersphere（Kim,1993,p.70）.Woman'sliveswerecharacterizedby"theroleofthethree-foldobedience（samjonychildo）-"obediencetothefatherinchildhood,tothehusbandduringmarriage,andtothesoninoldage"（Y.Kim,p.44）SuchConfucianismteachingsputwomeninsubordinateroleinafamily.However,afterWorldWar

SouthKoreanexperiencedrapideconomicdevelopment,duringwhichthewesternculturebeganimmersinglocalSouthKoreanculture.Increasingly,peoplebegantosubscribetotheideasofwesternculturewhichencouragedindividualism,chasingabetterlife,creativethinkingandscience.ThesenewmotivationsforlifepushedConfucianismideastotheback,andemergedanewstructureofthefamily.Today,morewivesareabletoenjoyequalityintheirmarriage,pursuetheirdreamandfreethemselvesfromthepatriarchalinfluencesofthepast.

2,DefinitionofAGoodWife

Asapatriarchialsociety,basedonConfucianismprinciples,SouthKoreansocietywasorganizedaccordingtotwosetsofprinciples:

firstisthatmalesshalldominatefemales;second,eldersshalldominatetheyoung（Kim,1993,p.71）.Andthough,incurrentKoreansociety,peoplenolongerfollowthesetwoprinciples,wivesarestillexpectedtosupporttheirhusbands'careerandsethusbandsasthecenteroftheirfamilies.Loyaltyandrespecttofamilyishighlyvaluedvirtuesforwomen.Typically,womenwillquitetheirjobsiftheyaregoingtomarrysoon.Thereasonissimple,inSouthKorea,peoplebelieveitisthemanwhoisfinanciallyresponsibleforthefamilyandanyhusbandwhowantshiswifetoworkoutsideisnotreallyaman.Thisnormmakesitverydifficultforpoorwomenwhowanttoworkoutsidethehometosupporttheirfamilies,butdonotwanttobringdisgraceontheirhusbands.

Howcouldwivessupporttheirhusbands'career?

Onecriticalskilliseffectivelymanipulatingothermenthroughtheirskillsandstrongpersonalitiestomakeitpossiblefortheirhusbandstoacquiremorepoliticalpowerandgreatercontrolovereconomicresources.（Park1985）.Bymanaginghomefinanceandbeingakeydecisionmakerfamilymatterscanawifesupportmaleprestigeaswellasguaranteethepresperityofthefamily.Forexample,inupper-middleclassfamilies,wivesoftendoadministrativeworkfromhome,helpoutduringlaborshortagesandmanagetheirhusbands'secondbusinesses（Kim,1993）.Somestayathomewivesalsoengageinlucrativeinformaleconomicactivitiessuchasprivatemoney-lending,stockinvestment,landorhousingspeculation.Inthisway,theycontributetothefamilystatusbyspendingtheirearningsonitemsofstatussuchasbettermodelsofcars,brand-nameclothes,andimportedfurniture（Kim,M-h,1992）.Inaddition,awoman'seducationalbackgroundisalsoviewedasanimportantindividualattributeforthefamily.Thereisakeydistinction,itisnotfortheirpotentialwageearningcapabilityorindependence,butforthesocialhonortheybringtothemanandtheincreasedsocialstatustheylendtothefamily.ThatiswhymostSouthKoreanparentsaresoeagertosendtheirdaughterstohighqualityandcompetitiveschool.Theywanttheirdaughtertobewell-educatedandknowledgable,sothattheycanhelptheirdaughtersinfindinggoodhusbands.

Traditionally,agoodSouthKoreanwifeisresponsibleforallthehouseworkandisexpectedtoplaythemainroleineducatingchildren.ThisisagreatresponsibilityasSouthKoreanmothersoftenaretheoneswhomonitortheirchildren'shomework,extratutoringandattendalltheparent-teachermeeting.WhilespeakingwithmySouthKoreanfriendsaboutthistopic,theyallseemedtoagreethataftertheygotmarried,itwasquiteacceptableandreasonableforwivestodomostofthehousework.Itwastheybelievedthatman'sworkwasintenseandshouldnotbeinterruptedwhilewoman'shouseworkwasmuchmoreflexible.Theyemphasizedthatthehomewasawife'sspaceandherworkshouldbeseparatedfromherhusband'swork.

Thesecond,andanotherimportantaspectofawife'sresponsibilityistheeducationofherchildren.Itisalwaysmother'sdutytotakecareofchild'sschoolissues.Agoodwifeisobligedtomakesureofthesuccessofherchildreninschool.Fathersarenotusuallyinchargeofchild'sdailyhomeworkandschoolinvolvement.However,whenchildrenfacedifficultiesatschool,suchasfightingotherstudents,fatherswillstandouttoprotectoreducatetheirchildren.

Thethirddefinitionofagoodwifeissuccessfulmaintainingaharmoniousrelationshipwithrelatives,especiallyherparents-in-law.Amongallherhusbandrelatives,herhusband'sparentsarethemostimportantrelationstowhomwivesshouldshowtheirrespectandreverence.Theyaresupposedtotreattheirparents-in-lawastheirownparents.Recognitionandrewardsarebestowedonthewomenwhotakeexceptionalcareoftheirparents-in-law.Awifewhocansuccessfullybuildagoodrelationshipwithherparents-in-lawhasabetterchanceofbecomingpowerfulmembersofthefamily.Tofacilitatethisharmoniousrelationshipandtoreapitsrewards,womenwillfrequentlyvisitthem,talktothemanddiscussfamilyissuesorfigureoutwaystoresolvefamilydifficultiestogether.Asafamilyfinancialmanager,wivesrecognizetheimportancetosetasidesomemoneyforherparents-in-law,eventhoughtheymaycurrentlynotwantthemoney.Thissmallspendisastrongsymboltoindicatethattheirchildrenarerespectfulandcaringtowards.

3,Reason:

EcologicalSystemAnalysis

Micro-system:

wittnessingparent;schooleducation

Bronfenbrenner（1979,1986,1994）describesthemicro-systemasapatternofactivities,socialrolesandinterpersonalrelationsexperiencedbytheindividualinagivensetting.FortheSouthKoreanfamily,andtheroleofwife,theserolesareinlinewithConfucianprinciplesandmethods.Theserolesareconveyedandacceptedbypeopleinmanyways.Educationplaysavitalroleinfinishingthistask.Alotoftextbooksinformgirlsaboutwhatitmeanstobeagoodgirl,whatkindofwomenarehighlyvaluedandwhatkindofcharactersqualifyawomantobeagoodwife.Theseideasareingrainedinbothgirlsandboyssinceelementaryschool.ThistransmissionofideasbecomesevenmoregenderspecificbecauseinSouthKorea,single-gendereducationisstillconsideredthebestwaytoteachchildrenanddominatesthecurrentKoreaneducationsystem.Itisbecausepeoplethinkthedifferencesbetweenboysandgirlsshouldbestbeaccentuatedbyseparatingtheirinstructionandlearningenvironmentbygender.Underthissingle-sexsettings,genderexpectationareeasilyandmorepreciselytransmittedtoboysandgirls.

ThesecondfacetinthedefinitionofgoodwifeinSouthKoreaisbylivingwitnessingagoodandwelladjustedlife.Itisbelievedthatchildrendevelopintogoodpeoplebecausetheyareraisedwell.Sociallearningtheorytellsusthatindividualslearnbyobservingandmodeling（Bandura,1997;Mihalic&Elliott,1997）.Whatchildrenobserveathomehasasignificantimpactonwhattheyconsideracceptableoreffectivebehaviorsinlateryear.Awomancanlearntobeagoodwifebyobservingherownparents'marriageandhermother'sroleasawife.Shewatcheshowhermotherhandleseverydayhousework,balancessocialrelationshipsandlistenstohermothersandgrandmother'sadvicesabouthowtobeameffectiveandhelpfulwife.Gradually,shegetsagoodcommandonthoseskillsaswellastakingheadoftheadviceshereceivedandincorporatingitinherpersonalphilosophy.

Meso-system:

SocialSupportNetwork

Ameso-systemiscomposedofinterrelationshipsbetweentwoormoremicro-systeminwhichtheindividualissituated（Kim,1993,p.74）.Experiencesinonemicro-levelsystemorexperiencesinvolvingadirectinteraction,suchaswithrelatives