Tuesday 26 March 2013

Korean Paradoxes

South Korea is a very paradoxical country. In some ways it is uber conservative, where women are still expected to obey their husbands, following Confucian ideas. Then, there is this decision by a court regarding transgenders:

Seoul Western District Court ruled in favor of accepting requests from five female-to-male transgender individuals to have their family register listing altered to be classified as male. None of the five has undergone operations to surgically alter their sex organs.

Now keeping this ruling in mind, try to wrap your mind about what President Park (South Korea's first female president) did recently when she signed a law making it illegal for women to don clothing that is too revealing. Many believe it to be aimed at the popularity of mini-skirts and "hot pants" often worn by Korean women.

It is baffling to me to think that a country could be liberal enough to accept transgender people, yet so conservative that it frowns upon mini skirts.

If I had the time I would have loved to start a new blog called "Korean Paradoxes".

No comments: