“Wise Mother, Good Wife”: A Transcultural Discursive Construct in Modern Korea

Abstract

The article investigates the genealogies of “wise mother and good wife,” arguably the most influential gender ideology in modern Korea. Approaching it as a product of transcultural encounters in turn of the twentieth-century Korea, the article examines the ways in which Korea’s Confucian-prescribed gender norms were refashioned and reconstituted under the influence of the ideology of domesticity promoted by American Protestant women missionaries and the Meiji gender ideology of ryōsai kenbo, which transpired through Japanese colonial policies in Korea. I argue that the modern construct of “wise mother and good wife” ideology was the latest form of patriarchal gender arrangements designed to meet new challenges in the modern era. I further argue that this modern ideal of womanhood was both oppressive and liberating in the sense that it continued hierarchical gender practices of the past, and yet it also enabled women to carve out new space for power and authority within the circumscribed conditions.

The gender ideology of ‘Wise Mother and Good Wife’ and Korean immigrant women’s adjustment in the United States

“…In simple historical terms, women were confined to the home without educational or career opportunities and expected to follow 'womanly virtues' of compliance and wisdom. In contrast, men dominated in economic privilege and political leadership (Choi, 2009).…”

“…This traditional gender role and ideology was retained and practiced relatively unchanged in Korea until the Korean Empire ended in 1910 (Moon, 2002). Since then, various sociocultural events, including Japanese colonialism, the influx of Western religion and modernity, Korea's nationalist movement, and socioeconomic changes through industry, have reshaped this ideology to its current form in contemporary Korean culture (Choi, 2009).…”

“…In modern Korean society, as industrial capitalism began to grow and higher education was seen as an important enabler of upward social mobility (Moon, 2002) (Choi, 2009;Moon, 2002). Moreover, although contemporary Korean wives and their parents-in-law do not usually live together in the same household (Moon, 2002), the WMGW ideology in conjunction with the patriarchal ideologies dictates that Korean women carry out their filial duties and take active roles in managing relationships between their own nuclear family and in-laws through ritualized visits, gift-giving, and labor exchange (Kim, 1996).…”

Drug Use and Suicidality Among Asian American Women Who Are Children of Immigrants

“…Poor family communication stems from differential cultural gender role expectations between parents and daughters (Rumbaut, 1996). As children, Asian American girls are expected to not only excel academically, but also fulfill cultural ideals as a daughter, and as a future wife and a future mother (Choi, 2009; Goyette & Xie, 1999). According to traditional gender norms, Asian immigrant parents often expect their daughters to assume the brunt of household chores (Pyke & Johnson, 2003), preserve an image of chastity by pressuring their daughters to limit socializations with men until they get married (Kim, 2009; Zia, 2001), and only date men who the family approves of as suitable for marriage (Chung, 2001).…”

Gender and Superstition in Modern Chinese Literature

“…Folklorists argued that women harbor primordial sentiments-unscathed by politics or education-and sought to study tales and folksongs which featured female figures to flesh out an understanding of national character (Lee 2005). Reformers promoting the ideal of "good wife wise mother-" immensely popular in East Asia in the end of the 19th century-defined women as the pillars of the nation: responsible for rearing national citizens and maintaining a wholesome household (Uno 2005;Choi 2009a). Others viewed women as parasites: benefiting throughout history from male labor without contributing to the household economy (Liu et al 2013).…”