“Gold Miss”: Single successful women in work force in Korea

Two articles that were discussed in class touched on matrimonial women in the work force in Korea, Taiwan and Japan. All of these articles examine the changes in matrimonial womens employment that industrialized society face. Higher intimacy of married womens employment comp bed to the recent can be explained by higher(prenominal) labor append and demand caused by industrialization, social structures, changes in womens role in family, and higher womens education. These changes not sole(prenominal) affect married women but also private women in Asia.I would like to go delve to a greater extent(prenominal) into and also go beyond the readings and look more into the single women in general, with specific focus on Korea. Particularly, even sots regarding women at work has led to the rise of the amber miss in Korean culture recently has created substantial cultural shifts in the way the largely Confucian society views women and how these women do business. Korean Culture Korea is home to a deeply Confucian society. Under such(prenominal) a system, women argon relegated to a lower position, wherein they fool to follow the wishes and dictates of the head of the family the father, then the husband and then the grown sons.There are strict dictates that has get over over to national laws on succession. Korean norms lead been blamed for the lack of opportunities for women (August and Tuten, 2003, p. 118). Women handed-downly stay at home after wedding to take tutelage of family. Children usually live with their parents until they are married and the eldest son is left to care of the aging parents. Women in the Workforce In their study, Rachel August and Tracy Tuten laments that further 48% of women participate in the Korean workforce.The countrys labor market is exceedingly-segregated with jobs that are meant only for men exclusively. Korean men also switch a virtual monopoly on managerial and executive level jobs, where only 7% are held by women (Augus t and Tuten, 2003, p. 109). In contrast, women in the United Kingdom pretend a 66% participation in the labor force, charm 33% of employed women hold managerial and executive level jobs (August and Tuten, 2003, p. 109). The pay between men and women is different likewise, with women getting only 60% of what their male counterparts get (Yoo, 2003, p. 367).Most Korean women had to fight a patriarchal society where in everyone from employers policymakers, and even fellow employees prefer males over females. As such, they get jobs that pay less(prenominal) (Brinton, et. al. , 1995, p. 1101) The dismal situation of women is due to the fact that workplaces in Korea lack protection like laws against gender discrimination, harassment and new(prenominal) alike laws. Korean women are also facing challenges in terms of getting their education that would have equipped them with the skills and knowledge needed for higher level positions (August and Tuten, 2003, p. 17). This has changed in recent historic period, however. With the advent of industrialization in Korea, more and more women had married later and the fertility rate fell. Korean women had more time to participate in the activities of the labor market. Korean women also gained more education, and consequently more work experience, which in turn makes them more attractive to employers (Brinton, et. al. , 1995, p. 1100) Married Korean women are less likely to be involved in formal employment, as many companies also encourage women employees to resign after brotherhood (Yoo, 2003, p. 384).Shift in Korean Culture The increases in the descend of running(a) married women and single woman households both represent a significant way out from the traditional Korean family structure. Women are now choosing to keep their jobs even after marriage and many grown-up children are moving out of the family home to live alone and choosing to postpone marriage. More and more women are also getting higher education compa red to women in the 70s and 80s. These grown-up daughters that have successful careers postpone marriage and enjoy their single-blessedness and economic independence.In the past in Korea, marriage used to be only institution frame work for women to secure stability in their lives. But now that social conditions have changed greatly and women exert more power in economic activities women are increasingly taking charge of their lives. Thus, in recent years, more and more women are staying single, compassing more, and fleck societal pressures that dictate when they should settle down. They have been termed gold misses, a play of words and a corruption of Old hightail it.Gold misses are highly successful single women who are way above the traditional marrying age of the late twenties and early thirties. According to the Chosun Ilbo, an English language Korean newspaper, the typical gold miss has a college degree, a professional job that pays at least KRW40 million (around US$43,000) annually. A gold miss go for edification both in looks and image (Gold Miss Among , 2007, para. 2). More than changing their looks and living upwardly in society, gold misses are changing Korean society.Whereas before, women above 30 are frowned upon as spinsters who failed to catch a husband, with all the attendant stereotypes against it. Now gold misses are seen to enjoy their independence both personal and economic (Gold Miss Among , 2007, para. 1). They are also breaking through stereotypes that unmarried women in their mid-thirties have something wrong with them, or have been through a difficult experience, or just plain stubborn. These are women who do not rely on a husband to keep them alive, and they are enjoying it.For Ham In-hee, a sociologist at Ewha Womens University marriage for a gold miss is a choice, instead of a desperate and only means to be stable. Ham relates that women who are financially capable, have a tendency to marry late (Chosun Ilbo, 2007, para. 3). T he view is shared by Lee Woong-jin, chief executive officer of a dating company. Ms. Lee says that gold misses figure they can continue living alone because they earn enough to support themselves (Gold Miss Among , 2007, para. 2). Other changes are evident. Gold misses are known to be fashionistas, and have influenced trends in Korean fashion and food (Kang, 2008, para. ). Gold misses, though a relatively new development in the conservative Korean culture, are increasing. Kang In-sun, opus for the Chosun Ilbo, reports on data released by the Korea Employment Information Service that says that there were 27,233 gold misses in 2006, an increase of almost twelve-fold from around 2,000 just five years before. The report also says that gold misses are now found in a growing range of industries and profession, securing top jobs in private institutions, filmmaking, theater, writing, broadcasting, medicine, design and management, among others (Kang, 2008, para. ).The number will rise, as 68% of women in their twenties and thirties surveyed indicated that they would like to remain single (Kang, 2008, para. 5). Meanwhile, an overwhelming 90% of girls aged 10 think that marriage is a choice, instead of a must (Kang, 2007, para. 7). The prevalence and impact of gold misses is so widespread that Korean marketers have taken note of them, and have even come up with spin-off labels like silver miss or single women in their 30s who are earning less than KRW30 million, and platinum miss or women who earn more than KRW100 million annually (Kim, 2008, para. ). As more women become more economically active and more financially-independent these days and as views on marriage have changed dramatically, these single professional women, in their thirties and forties without pressure to get married, enjoy the feeling of accomplishment at work and gain more throw overboard time for themselves, rather than doing housework and caring for children as housewives do. Having no husbands an d children also increases their autonomy on spending.Gold misses are willing to and can spend on anything they want, especially on their self-development, looks, health, skills and on leisure, their changes in lifestyle and spending start to have impact on various industries such as tourism, fashion, art and unison business, interior design such as kitchen appliances, and matchmaking business. As a result, the purchasing power of singles makes them an important consumer group.Kim Ji-soo, a culture editor at the Korea Times, writes that while Korean women had been slow to change in a strongly Confucian society, they are now taking on more and new challenges and working in professions that used to be male domain. The causes for the rise of the gold miss are varied, and touches a spectrum of economic and social factors including (but not limited to) higher labor supply and demand caused by industrialization, changes in womens role in family, higher womens education, and increase in vo ices advocating gender equality and equal opportunities at work, among other things.The Korea Times, however, proposes another cause. Bae Ji-sook relates that the cost of marriage, including childrearing, housing and education, could be the main reason why a progressively increasing number of women are opting to stay single. With the shift in Korean thinking with regards to the convention of women getting married in their late twenties or early thirties, there is less pressure to get married and risk acquiring these costs (Bae, 2008, para. 6-8). In fact, a recent survey found that 22% of Korean singles found marriage costs too prohibitive and cited that as one of the reasons not to get married.Other reasons were the prevalence of divorce, and the idea of enjoying the single life. Almost a quarter said that they havent found the even out one yet. The survey had 1,826 respondents, 70% of them were women (Kang, 2007, paras. 1-4). Traditional values of family and harmony influenced by Confucian philosophy are disappearing, new values of individualism and independence are new inflow, and women are reacting to this change by choosing to work and marry late. On to of these changes in social values, higher cost of marriage and raising children causes further departure from traditional roles for single women.Additionally, womens success in their career will continue to emerge as a valuable consumer group in the future. With such changes in conventional idea, their economic and social power, and consumer market towards them, they seem to have less reason to get married and the increase the number of unmarried women in their thirties and forties is likely to continue. * * * The rise of the gold misses can thus be seen as a natural consequence of the Korean womans progress in the countrys labor market. It is an evolution that took years to unravel.With the change in Koreas business climate and labor environment, women became introduced into its labor force, an outlet wh ich led to further changes down the road and created a cyclical cause and effect. As women became more active in their participation in the countrys labor force, the more opportunities opened for them to further their education and chalk up their work experience, which in turn made them more attractive to employers and opened the doors to more jobs. The pressures of society and culture, however, remained.In time, Korean women learned that having their best interests in mind and following the norms do not necessarily go together, and thus the evolution comes to its menses form the gold misses. Combined with this realization are the changes in the countrys norms and governance that allowed for more gender equality. It can be argued then that gold misses are the daughters who are reaping the benefits that have been set up for them by women of the past. They are also blessed to be working at a time when Korean society and culture had eased and changed.But as mothers can differ from the ir daughters in a lot of ways, so does todays gold misses and the traditional married working women. Married working women of the past were at most followers of societys dictated norms of how they should act and when they should act, and at the very least, they were trammel by their culture. Career women felt the urge to get married at an age that is largely dictated by society, at a time when they should have been at their peak, professionally speaking. These women may be doing the deals in the corporate boardroom, but they come home to cook for their husbands and care for their children.Gold misses eschewed that role, and by ignoring societal dictates, they have become progenitors of a new culture. By refusing to be tied down, they have gathered enough power to create a unique culture that briefly became more and more mainstream. They became a force to be considered, if only for their collective purchasing power. Without responsibilities to take care of a family, they have the l uxury of thinking only for themselves. Instead of being dictated by culture, gold misses have turned the tables and are now dictating what the culture should be.More and more gold misses are stepping into roles that women of the past have not even dreamed of. The arena for male-dominated fields is shrinking as more women are invading the work force. Whereas traditional married working women were contented in defining their value by the men in the lives, and anchoring their stability on their marriage, gold misses are challenging the patriarchal traditions and Confucian hierarchies. Women in the workplace are also changing the business culture away from alcohol-inspired karaoke fests into something more transparent and above-board.These women are also discouraging blind loyalty towards superiors (Asiaweek, 2001, paras. 3-4). stableness is no yearner anchored to the thickness of their husbands wallets, but their own. Culture and society are two very dynamic forces, and they affect on e another. While it is evidently a much better time to be a single work woman in Korea nowadays more than ever, there is still a long way to go to achieve more independence from and equality with men. The gold miss phenomenon is a clear indicator, though, that women in Korea are on the right track.