When I was about 4 or 5 years old, one of my favorite things to do was dress up as a Disney princess. I had a collection of outfits all the way from the tiaras to the slip-on heels, and the whole assortment from Snow White’s poofy-sleeved, long dress to Jasmine’s belly-button-exposing genie pants and Ariel’s glittering fin and seashell bikini top. Of course, I began to read the fairy tales and watch the movies, as well, and soon began to believe that a successful life was waiting for a prince to come and rescue me from danger. However, as I matured over the years, certain glitches in the Disney world view slowly began to bother me, like how ALL of the earlier Princesses are thin, Caucasian, young women, most of them with long hair, with the one exception, of course, being Snow White––although there is quite an emphasis on how white her skin is. Not to mention that, despite that she is the title, the Sleeping Beauty was hardly the star of her own show, just lying there for most of it, and appearing for a mere 20 minutes––a little at the beginning and a little at the end. Things began to improve as the years went by, with more diverse role models such as Middle-Eastern Jasmine, Chinese Mulan, and, more recently, African-American Tiana. And, I have to admit, I have a great respect for Belle from Beauty and the Beast, because, even though she is one of the earlier princesses, she is intelligent and reads, and she saves the Beast, and not the usual other way around. But the more I thought about it, I realized how the 3.5 billion ‘girls’ living on our planet today could have, potentially, been exposed to these Disney “fairy tale” themes and images in one way or another, all of them believing, like I did, that one day a prince would come rescue me from whatever perils the world placed in my path. Outside the world of Disney, however, growing up as a young girl in South Korea, I also observed the different roles between men and women playing out in society, fand especially during family gatherings and events. And I noticed that the reality in Korea was even worse, at times, than the Disney stereotypes. The more I observed, the angrier I became about the unequal gender dynamics of my own culture and my own country. For example, during holiday meals, I would see all the women gathered in the kitchen, preparing and serving the food, while all the men sat in the living room watching sports on TV. Having grown up in the United States, though my mother participated in the Kitchen, she did not seem very happy on the way home. And the division of labor and duties that I was exposed to time and time again just didn’t seem fair to me at all. So when I was able to better express myself, possibly sometime around the age of 8, I decided to try and make some changes. For one, I asked my grandfather why only the women were toiling to prepare the dinner that everyone would enjoy later, and he would kindly shuffle me away, quickly starting another conversation about the game on TV with another man seated on the sofa. So I switched my strategy to my slightly younger uncles, trying to get them to do certain tasks like taking out the garbage or washing the dishes, but I didn’t have much success there either. They would laugh and approach the kitchen, with expressions like ‘how cute is she?’ but then, would quickly find an escape route back to the sofa. And this state of affairs continued for much of my young life. I know that gender inequality, and the social ills it causes, is not unique to my native country of South Korea. Even though the United States and other more advanced democracies have been the pioneers of equal rights, just watching the news this past year will tell you how much progress every part of the world still has to make, especially in the areas of equality in the workplace and the right of women to feel safe from assault, which has been brought to the cultural fore by the recent ‘Me Too!’ movement. It is my hope, however, that my generation can turn the tide and achieve true equality between the sexes. Currently, a record number of women are entering races for political office in the upcoming 2018 US elections. I believe that once women hold more positions of power, or even the majority of such positions, true change will not only become feasible, but inevitable.
So, young girls and the future women of IMS, listen up: wherever our journeys take us from here, let’s take charge of our destinies, and not wait for a man to solve our problems. Let’s not let any man tell us what we should be, like my grandfathers still do every time they see me. Let’s not feel apologetic for who we are or what we want to do with our lives. And let’s have the courage to stand up and demand change when we see something that is not fair. And finally, let’s never be afraid to be WHO WE ARE. This I believe!