Introduction

Korea has undergone a rapid transformationfrom an agrarian society, through industrial mod-ernization, to its current place in the postmoderninformation age. These changes have created newsocial problems, which are having a great impact onthe daily lives of individuals. As a consequence, theKorean family is reshaping itself.

This study focuses on one of the main charac-teristics of Korean family culture – patriarchy. Itreveals how the patriarchal system is changing, howthe power of the patriarch is wielded, and how fam-ily relationships are being affected.

Patriarchy is defined as a social structure andsystem of customs where a male, superior in hierar-chy, dominates, oppresses and exploits the female(Walby 1990). In this system the rights and benefitsof the family members are subordinate to those ofthe patriarch.

The female/wife performs her duties as a sub-ordinate producer. She engages in domestic laborunder the patriarchal production structure for thebenefit of the entire family (especially for the patri-lineal stem family). The male/patriarch uses thewife for a variety of duties and obligations with noremuneration in exchange for her contribution tothe financial maintenance of the family. Therefore,the husband becomes the exploiting class and thewife a subordinate producer (Delphy 1984).

As many aspects of everyday life were main-tained through reciprocity with the agnatic kin intraditional Korean society, agnatic kin relations wereemphasized. In order for the patriarch to function as

the representative of his family connecting them toother members of the agnatic line, and to ensurecontinuation of that line through patrilineal descent,his power had to be absolute.Thus, the patriarch, inhis position of absolute power and authority at theapex of the family power structure, controlled allthe members of the family. In contrast, the status ofthe wife who married into the man’s family from anexternal group was relatively low. The same wastrue of a daughter who as a member destined toleave the group upon marriage could not contributeto the continuation of the patrilineal line. Inequalityin status produced inequality in the everyday activi-ties within the family, which traditionally has beencontinuously reproduced through the male/patri-arch-oriented ideology in Korean society.

Many scholars consider dissolution to be one ofthe distinguishing characteristics of the modernfamily. Viewed from the outside, the Korean familycannot yet be seen to stand at such a critical junc-tion. However, due to changes in the social environ-ment and efforts within families to explore newrelationships, the Korean family is undergoing tur-moil. The diverse living conditions and changingsocial values in recent decades have brought achange in the value and demands put on the familyby the individual family members. The result is arejection of the traditional family structure that pur-sued the benefit of the family with the patriarch atthe apex. In other words, other family members,except the patriarch himself are rejecting theauthority of the patriarch and the patriarchal sys-tem. This has increased tensions within the family,thus contributing to its disintegration.

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Patriarchy in Korean Society:Substance and Appearance of Power

Boo Jin Park

BOO JIN PARK

From this perspective, a discussion of the patri-arch and his position as the leader, representativeand controller of the family cooperative, and ananalysis of male and female status in the family willbe helpful in analyzing the changes and discord themodern Korean family is experiencing.

Method of Study

A discussion of the power structure of theKorean family and the status of each memberinevitably must begin with the traditional patriar-chal system. The power of the Korean patriarch isatypical in that it operates predominantly but incon-spicuously in unofficial daily activities and thereforecan be approached through the relationships thatconstitute everyday life. By analyzing the spatialorganization in domestic life, the division of domes-tic labor, and other factors, this paper assesses theexistence and substance of the present patriarchalsystem, the changes underway in family relation-ships and the relative status of men and women.

As patriarchal oppression is not limited towives but also extends to other family members, Ihave surveyed children as well as wives. Since chil-dren are more likely than wives to resist patriarchalpower, they are an important part of my analysis.

The study of children was conducted throughdistribution of a questionnaire on images they haveof their fathers and interviews discussing theireveryday relationships with their fathers. The ques-tionnaire, collected from a total of 434 individuals,consisted of middle school (male – 42, female – 66),high school (male – 99, female – 123) and univer-sity (male – 33, female – 71) students from theSeoul area. Interviews were conducted with 20 ofthe 434 based on convenience of approach.

For wives, I surveyed 12 middle class womenin their 40s and 50s residing in the Seoul area. Thesurveys were conducted in a descriptive interview

format, so that the subjects could freely share theirexperiences and perceptions while the interviewercould listen and organize their thoughts onto paper.1

Changes in Everyday Life and the Status of the Patriarch

Status in Domestic SpaceSpace is ordered to represent authority, power,

and relationships, and the space each individualoccupies is determined by his/her status.Among theenvironments humans create, the space shared bythe family members – the home – has the closestconnection to their daily lives.The structural layoutof the home and where each family member isplaced in the home by their age, sex, roles and sta-tus are determined by the overall cultural practicesof the society. Therefore, changes in this spatialorganization signify changes in family culture.

1) The Absence of Space for the PatriarchTraditionally it was common for married cou-

ples to dwell in separate rooms called the sarangbangfor the husbands and anbang for the wives. Thesarangbang was the space reserved for the patriarchand other male members of the family, and it waswhere the patriarch dwelled and greeted outsideguests. Due to a lack of space, married couples fromthe lower class were often separated according tosex, with family members of the same sex sharing asingle room.

By the 1970s, as family size started to decreaseand families consisting only of the married coupleand their unmarried children increased, space dedi-cated to the couple and separate rooms for the chil-dren emerged. Generally, surveyed couples used thelargest room, or anbang, while the son used theroom closest to the entrance or where the windowwas facing the street, and the daughter used theroom further inside the home or adjacent to the

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kitchen. The positions of the son’s and daughter’srooms were based on the notion that a daughterneeds to be protected but it does not matter if theson’s room is located near the entrance where peo-ple come and go.

In private residences, the anbang is often opento the entire family. Even for apartment resi-dences that have a living room, the anbang is spacewhere family members can freely spend time.Although the anbang is dedicated to the couple,the wife, not the patriarch, is generally regardedas being responsible for it. The wife spends moretime in the anbang than the patriarch and most ofthe equipment and furniture for her use are locat-ed there. For the majority of men who return latefrom work and spend relatively less time in thehome, the anbang is merely space for sleeping.According to my survey, there were hardly anycases where private space was reserved in thehome for the patriarch.2 Together with industrial-ization and the separation of occupational spacefrom the home, the family space has graduallybecome female-oriented. As the functions of thesarangbang of the past have been taken over by theliving room, the space of the patriarch has becomea space for the entire family and the space for thepatriarch no longer exists. Such loss of space forthe patriarch can also be seen as narrowing thepatriarch’s domain in the home.

2) Changing Status in Semi-fixed Space“Semi-fixed space” gives each member of the

family an area to occupy by placing furniture orthe person within a fixed space. When the familycongregates in a single area during meal hours orafter dinner to watch television, each family mem-ber generally sits in the same fixed position. Thisorganization of “personal seats” is determined bythe family’s power structure, and the acknowl-edgement by each family member of his/her “per-sonal seat” has cultural significance, reflecting the

changes in the family status and consequently inthe socio-cultural concept of the family.

The meal customs in rural areas up to the1950s took several possible forms. In one arrange-ment, although the entire family ate in the anbang,the men ate at a table from individual rice bowls,while the women ate on the floor from a largescooped wooden bowl called a hamjibak. Sometimesthe men ate in the sarangbang while the women atein the anbang from the communal hamjibak or onlythe men ate in the anbang while the women ate theleftovers in the kitchen from the hamjibak. In otherwords, men and women were distinguished throughroom/kitchen and table/floor oppositions duringmealtimes, reflecting the strict hierarchy betweenmen and women.

By the 1970s, the display of position at meal-times had changed drastically. In rural areas today,although the entire family usually gathers and eatsaround a large table in the anbang, the patriarch andhis parents sit nearest the heater while the childrenand mother sit on the other side. Furthermore,although all family members have individual ricebowls, there is a tendency to make a distinctionbetween positions through the quality or price ofthe rice bowls.

In urban areas, with increased residence inapartments, spatial structure has changed signifi-cantly. “Personal seats” at the dining table no longerrepresent the authority of each family member butrather corresponds to the functional aspect of eachindividual’s kitchen duties. To elaborate, the wifeand daughter who are in charge of the kitchen dutiesand who provide services sit near the sink andrefrigerator, while the husband and son who receiveservices sit on the opposite side. In general, thepatriarch’s seat is the most stable, in a sense that itrequires the least movements away from the tableduring the meal, and is closest to the living room;and if a television is placed in the kitchen, his seat iswhere television viewing is the most convenient.

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The tradition of the entire family congregatingduring mealtime has weakened with the acceptanceof the variations between each individual’s personallife. Due to the differences in bedtime, rising time,departure for and arrival from work/school limitingthe opportunities for the entire family to gatheraround the dining table, the tradition of the rest ofthe family members waiting until the patriarch takeshis seat at the table before beginning the meal is notoften observed.

When the family gathers around the diningtable during mealtimes, the placement of the dishesis determined by the value placed on the dishes andthe position of the individuals sitting at the table.The meat dishes, valued over vegetable dishes, usedto be placed in front of the high-ranking elder ormale and were not accessible to the female familymembers.3 Such rules were strictly adhered to untilthe 1960s, when economic conditions improved.However, today, conditions have changed so thatalthough the “good dishes” are still placed in front ofthe elder or male, all family members have compar-atively free access to them.

With the dissemination of western culture andthe inflow of western cuisine and fast food, there isa divergence of tastes in food between the oldergeneration accustomed to traditional fare, and theyounger generation accustomed to the new dishes.The divergence can be seen at the dining table by thedifferent foods favored by the different generations.The younger the wife, the greater the tendency isfor the dishes to cater to the tastes of the children.Among the college students surveyed, 28%answered that the dishes were “mostly those thatthey like” in comparison to the 57% who answeredthat they were “mostly those that father likes.”Among middle school students, 34% responded thatthe dishes were mostly those that their father likedwhile 42% responded that the dishes were moreadapted to their tastes. These results show that theyounger the patriarch or the wife is, the more like-

ly the dishes center around the children’s tastes.However, when the patriarch or son is absent fromthe dining table and only the wife or daughters aredining, the types of dishes that are served are differ-ent and most often are leftovers, rather than freshlymade ones.

Although the patriarch’s authority is stillacknowledged in the structuring of semi-fixedspace, it is not as strictly adhered to as in traditionalsociety. In general, all the family members enjoy acomparatively equal spatial placement,but in cer-tain areas male-oriented placement standards arestill being applied.

Status of the Patriarch in Ancestor WorshipTraditionally women could not participate in

dongje4 or myoje.5 In accordance with individual fam-ily’s customs, some women were permitted to par-ticipate in kijesa,6 a rite practiced at home.However, most women were relegated to the dutiesof preparing the food offerings in the kitchen, whilethe men prepared everything else from setting upthe sacrificial table to carrying out the ceremony.The role of the patriarch, who represented the fam-ily, was absolute in the patrilineal ancestor worshipceremonies and through such ceremonies, the patri-arch’s authority was reaffirmed.

In recent times, when myoje is performed,the level of women’s participation from preparingand transporting the sacrificial meal to carryingout the ceremony itself is as significant as that ofmen. This has come about because most of theeldest grandsons and male heirs of the lineagehave moved into the city while most ancestralgraves are still near the home villages. And sinceduring the ceremonial period the men have to goto their offices, the women are sent instead tocarry out the ceremonies with those descendantswho have remained in the villages. As the womennow participate in such ceremonies from whichthey were once strictly excluded, the male-domi-

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nated aspects of the family domain which recog-nized and reproduced the patriarch’s absoluteauthority have disappeared.

Shift of Economic Power in the Family and the Weakening of the Patriarch’s Status

Economic power in the family is largelydivided between the right to manage assets andthe right to handle income and expenditure.Housing and agricultural land, the main assets ofthe family in traditional Korean society, wereentirely under the ownership and management ofthe patriarch. That is to say, the purchase of thehouse, moving, disposal of assets, etc. were all car-ried out according to the patriarch’s wishes.7 Inaddition, the management of the family’s mainincome was the patriarch’s domain.8

However, industrialization brought largechanges: the home and office were respectively clas-sified as women’s and men’s spaces with mostdomestic duties distinguished as women’s work andprofessional duties as men’s work.As husbands wereseen to be responsible for production and the wivesresponsible for consumption, the management ofincome and decisions about expenditures wereincorporated into the wife’s role. Since the partici-pation of the patriarch in the family’s economicactivity is now widely perceived as “unmanly,” thefamily’s economic power has been securely trans-ferred to the wives.

Advertising for sales of residential propertypredominantly focuses on how convenient thehouses are for the housewife, depicting her in astate of bliss in her new home. This targeting ofwomen shows that when it comes to the decisionabout purchasing a home, the housewives have alarger role than the patriarchs. We can see thisgeneral trend by looking at the 12 housewivesinterviewed in the survey – 8 of the 12 answeredthat they had the strongest influence on the deci-sion to purchase and move into their current

home. However, only one woman had the houseregistered under her name giving her legal propri-etary rights, and this was because her husband hadonce acted as guarantor to someone else’s loan andhad lost all the family’s property. That is to say,though the proprietary rights to the assets are stillheld by the husbands, management and expendi-tures are the wives’ domain.

The social background of this shift in econom-ic power is the change in the salary payment system.Previously, husbands directly received monthly cashpayments and in turn gave a portion to their wivesto cover living expenses. With the establishment ofon-line banking, the majority of companies depositsalaries directly into the employees’ accounts. Theaccount is generally managed by the wife, as is thecase for all 10 families living on a husband’s salary inmy survey. She is further responsible for budgetingthe income. The wives give a portion of the livingexpenses to the husbands as an allowance andthough the money has been earned by the husbandsthemselves, they still have to pick the right time,that is when the wife is in a good mood, to plead forextra money apart from their allowance.

The Impact of the Information Age on Changes in the Patriarch’s Status

1) Children Educating ParentsEducation was passed on from the old to the

young in traditional times but with the advent ofinformation technology, especially the computer, ithas become common for the young to teach theold.9 The education of the older generation by theyounger generation weakens the older generation’sauthority and is a factor in the insecure status of anolder generation that had enjoyed absolute superior-ity until now.10 Some older respondents/inter-viewees showed their insecurity saying, “every timethe subject of computers comes up, I feel like anidiot in front of the children” and “when I told myson I had to go and reserve train tickets, he laughed

47PATRIARCHY IN KOREAN SOCIETY

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at me and told me that it is more convenient to doso on the Internet, and I should learn how to do it.

This reversal in the direction of education nev-ertheless has a positive effect on family life.The edu-cation of the older generation by the younger gen-eration works to alleviate one of the negative traitsof Korean family culture – the rigid power struc-ture. Several young interviewees described thischanging relationship:

After seeing an advertisement where amother was downloading recipes from theinternet to use in making her children’ssnacks, my mother commented it would benice if she could do so as well. She wantedto learn how to explore the internet so Itaught her and she really enjoyed it. Sincethen, she often asks for my help and I feelmuch closer to her.

My father was appreciative when I taught himhow to apply for civil documents from thecity offices using the Internet. With my helphe has broadened his use of the Internet andcan now collect all kinds of information fordaily needs, make Internet deposits andreserve rail tickets by himself. Although ourinterests are different, I feel close to myfather when using the Internet together.

As the patriarch, my father has alwaysemphasized his authority and tried to con-trol his children. However, after learninghow to use the computer from me becauseof his business needs, our conversation timehas increased and he has become moreopen-minded in understanding and helpinghis children.

Through these examples, we can see how aparent-child relationship that used to be vertical

under the strict patriarchal-oriented authoritystructure is changing to an equal relationship ofmutual assistance.

The Korean family structure of the past wasfocused on the transmission of the family’s blood-line and patriarch’s status through the father-sonrelationship.This relationship was hierarchical witha clear delineation of superiority and inferiorityand a strong emphasis placed on the importance offilial piety.The younger generation, which is adapt-able to new information technology, has beengiven more authority in the power structure andthe clear delineation of superiority and inferiorityhas become blurred to form a more balancedmutual relationship.

2) Change in the Information Channels and the Fall of the Patriarch’s Authority

In an information society, the variable thatdetermines social mobility is the ability to gathernew information. This can be applied to the family.Traditionally, the channels used to attain informa-tion from the external society were the patriarchsand the men of the older generation.With the use ofthe Internet spreading among the younger genera-tion, the channels that the family utilizes to receiveinformation have changed, bringing with themchanges in the power structure. If the family powerstructure is now determined by the ability of eachfamily member to approach and evaluate informa-tion, it is highly probable that the position occupiedby the younger generation, with their strongerinformation gathering abilities, will improve.

The traditional marital relationship was basedon the husband’s control of the wife, and her subor-dination to the husband. Such extreme inequalitywas maintained through the unequal valuation ofworth between men as economic producers andwomen as consumers devoted only to domesticlabor, unequal exercise of power giving patriarchalauthority only to the male offspring through the

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social principles of patrilineal descent, and theunequal social structure where the men monopo-lized the information from and about the society.With the general use of the Internet, the tradition ofpatriarchal dominance of information and its chan-nels has been overturned and replaced by a pluralis-tic form shared by other family members. It is like-ly that the discrimination based on sex and rankwithin the Korean family will decrease and theauthority of the patriarch will continue to weakenwith these sociocultural changes.

Status of the Patriarch as Recognized by His Children

Position of the Patriarch/Father in the Eyes of the ChildrenIn traditional society, the relationship

between the father and his children was a verticalone where the father, as the patriarch, strictlymanaged the education of the children. However,cultural changes have been transforming this rela-tionship. An important factor underlying thechange in the father’s authority is the separation ofthe workspace from family space following indus-trialization. Under a social culture that encour-aged the aspiration to succeed and to advance intheir careers, the patriarchs concentrated on theirprofessional lives as the sole method of fulfillingtheir filial obligations and responsibility for earn-ing the family’s livelihood. Faced with an excessiveworkload and burdened by stress in the work-place, the patriarchs became distant from theirfamilies and their role in the home decreased.

Another factor weakening the father’s authori-ty is the decrease in his property rights, the founda-tion of the father’s authority in traditional society(Demos 1986; Stearn 1991).The economic value ofland, the basis for agricultural production, declinedwith the advent of an industrial society that broughtdiverse occupations, activation of the market econ-

omy, and the collapse of the traditional village coop-eratives due to urbanization and increased socialmigration. Furthermore, as the income of childrenwho moved to urban areas for work has surpassedthat of the patriarch, which is based on agriculturalproduction, children are less likely to submit to thefather’s authority.We can easily assess such changesby analyzing the survey results of the middle school,high school and college students.11

1) Intimidating and authoritative fatherThe father is still an authoritative and fear-

inspiring figure. Roughly half of the survey respon-dents regard their father as authoritative, includinga higher percentage of college students (56.1%)than middle school students (37.5%). Although thefather’s authority over the younger generationseems to have decreased, we can interpret from thisresult that critical views of the father increase as thechildren become older.

2) Father who insists on his own valuesOf the respondents, 22.8% saw their father

as an autocratic figure and 37.3% said they werenot able to have a conversation with him on equalterms. The children stated that their father must“change his attitude of regarding the children (mybrother and I) as his creation” or “ignoring almostall other opinions except his own.” Such com-ments show how dissatisfied the children are withtheir “self-righteous,” “inflexible,” and “stubborn”fathers.12

3) Interfering and nagging fatherAs the children become older, the perception

that their fathers interfere with their lifestyledecreased (middle school – 40%,high school – 39.3%,college – 24.9%). This shows that as the childrenmature, their autonomy increased. Similar resultswere found when the respondents were questionedabout the father’s nagging.

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4) Father who loves his children but cannot show his affection

93.1% saw the father as an unaffectionate fig-ure who loves his children but cannot show thatlove. They were frustrated that “the family atmos-phere was in large part determined by the father’smoods” or that because the father “does not knowhow to express his affections, he cannot maintain acomfortable relationship with the family.” Theserespondents could understand their relationshipswith their fathers, but they did not like them.

5) Alienated father18.4% in the survey had negative emotions

toward their authoritative, interfering and unaf-fectionate father and 15.1% believed their fatherwas alienated from the rest of the family. Thefather was more negatively regarded than themother, as only 11.3% did not like their motherand only 6.3% believed that their mother wasalienated from the rest of the family.

The variables that had a stronger effect on thechildren’s respect toward their father or wanting tobe with him were the father’s authoritative attitudeand degree of interference rather than his educa-tional level or occupation. However, as the chil-dren are increasingly judging their father’s patriar-chal attitude in a negative way, other variables areneeded to “earn” children’s respect. Hence theemphasis on the father’s financial status. At thesame time, the fact that children continuously lookfor a reason to respect their father shows a glimpseof the children’s desire for a warm father withwhom they can maintain an emotional relationship,in contrast with their unwillingness to submit totheir father’s one-sided authority.

Existence of the Patriarch/Husband for the Wives13

The direct influences of social change thatweakened the patriarch’s authority are the increase

in national income, the growth in educationalopportunities for women, and the female employ-ment rate.With the increase in national income andthe consequent improvement of the family’s finan-cial conditions, rather than focusing solely on man-aging the family economy to make ends meet, thewife can afford to focus on herself and her socialexperiences attained through education andemployment, enabling her to become more self-aware. Through gaining employment, women havecome to adopt a more critical perspective on theirlife and to question the unequal tradition of bearingsole responsibility for domestic and child-rearingduties. In other words, the fundamental dichotomybetween domestic and professional life and the tra-ditional notion of sex-specific roles are being chal-lenged.The wives have become critical of their hus-bands, the patriarchs.

The organization of the classic industrial socie-ty has the distinctive feature of assigning responsi-bilities that are mutually exclusive, with a strict divi-sion between male roles in the public arena andfemale roles in the private arena. Women areexcluded from the men’s responsibility for the fam-ily livelihood, while the men are excluded from thewomen’s domestic and child-rearing duties. Due tothis strict division, all household affairs in thedomestic arena were imposed on the wives and theyhad no choice but to become dependent on themen’s economic ability. In contrast, men becameuninterested in family affairs and limited their focusto external affairs, solely concentrating on theirprofessional success and judging themselves accord-ing to their achievement of it. The patriarch wasresponsible for the family’s livelihood through hisprofessional activities, and whether or not he wassuccessful in the professional world became the crit-ical standard for determining his masculinity. In thepast, though his family may have criticized a patri-arch for being unable to carry out his “externalaffairs” for the family’s livelihood, absolute authori-

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ty was assigned to the position of the patriarchitself. Today however, the patriarch is respectedaccording to his personal ability or criticized forhis lack thereof. Especially with the emphasis onthe value system of capitalism, the patriarch,responsible for the family’s livelihood, secures hisauthority according to the position of his profes-sion and earned income and the wife has gained theright to demand satisfactory accomplishment ofthe patriarch’s economic duties.14 Therefore, apatriarch who cannot guarantee a sufficient incomebecomes the object of criticism, is seen as incom-petent, and occasionally gets asked for divorce.

Despite far-reaching social changes thedichotomy of sex-based roles in domestic workremains largely unchanged and puts a dual burdenon working wives. The following comments illus-trate the critical perceptions the wives have of hus-bands who ignore the housework: “though we are adual income couple, my husband doesn’t help at allin the home. Rather he nags that the house is amess. I’m trying to make the marriage work butharsh ideas run through my mind and I even thinkI’d rather live alone;” and “when I return fromwork, though I’m just as tired as my husband, myhusband rests while I have to rush around to get thehousework done.” Despite the reality of increasedfemale employment, the patriarchal standardsdefining domestic work and child-rearing as femaleduties are still strong in Korea and can become areason for discord between the couple.With morewives obtaining employment and contributing tothe family income, they are demanding that theduties they were solely responsible for be equallydivided and carried out. Domestic duties were thewomen’s domain and asking for men’s assistancewas not socially permissible, but with the increasein dual-income couples, the expectations of shar-ing domestic and child-rearing responsibilities haverisen, and husbands who cannot meet such expec-tations are being criticized.

The traditional division of duties, that definedthe male and female roles as mutually exclusive,limits the patriarch’s knowledge to “external affairs”and renders him incompetent in the domestic space.It becomes difficult for him to adapt to domesticlife.Wives I interviewed claimed: “my husband, whodidn’t even know how to make a cup of coffee forhimself, retired and is staying at home. I just go outbecause I can no longer stay at home and be at hisbeck and call;” and “my husband cannot do anythingwhen I’m not around.When I’m unexpectedly late,he waits for me starving. I get angry but he doesn’tmove a muscle. I get depressed when I think of howI’m tied by the neck to my husband.” In theseaccounts the patriarchs, who are responsible for thefamily’s income, value their professional life overdomestic life and do not accept domestic responsi-bilities, thus becoming alienated from their families.Upon retirement or unemployment, the patriarchsreturn to their families after having solely concen-trated on their professional lives, but there may beno place for them at home.

As the family representative, the patriarchheld the power to control the decision-making forall the family members in the past.This traditionalideology allowed the patriarch to regard himself asa “king” who can do “whatever he wants” at home.Some patriarchs act imperiously, using crude lan-guage and speaking and yelling in commandingtones to other family members according to thetraditional notion that “a man’s spirit will die if hedoes not receive proper treatment at home.” Suchbehavior also prevents the wives from viewingtheir husbands favorably.

With the responsibility of satisfying the family’semotional needs imposed on the wives, all the fam-ily members are emotionally dependent on them.The patriarchs raised under an ideology that empha-sized strong male chauvinism cannot emotionallyexpress themselves to other family members. Suchpsychological isolation has resulted in self-exclusion

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by the patriarchs from their families’ emotional rela-tionships. Criticizing their husbands as being “abore,” wives in their 40s want to plan and enjoy a“pleasant life with no concern for their husbands.”

The more the husbands wield their patriarchalpower and dominate their families, the more thewives, who aim to construct their own hidden terri-tory under such patriarchs, ostracize them.15

Conclusion

In traditional Korea, the family was maintainedunder a strict power structure with the patriarch atthe apex.The family members had no choice but tobe dependent on the patriarch, the representative ofthe family, responsible for the family’s livelihood andthe flow of information from society. Further, thefamily structure revolved around the succession oflineage and status through the father-son relation-ship. Since this relationship, a clearly defined verti-cal power structure, provided the son with the basisfor participating in social activities, the father exer-cised absolute power over him.With Confucian ide-ology functioning through ancestor worship tomaintain and reproduce the power structures with-in the family, the legitimating of the patriarch’s con-trol and oppression was guaranteed.

However, while undergoing the great socialchanges of industrialization and the informationage within a brief period, the Korean family hasfaced many transformations in its value system andway of living. Important changes in the global con-text have included a new consciousness of ourindividual rights arising from the civil rightsmovement; the sexual revolution, the spread ofthe computer, the inflow of diverse informationdue to developments in information technology;and the rise of postmodern ideas, all of which haveoverturned the old relationships between the gen-erations and sexes and created new discourses.

Korean society cannot remain unaffected by suchglobal trends.

Power that is not based on common consenthas only superficial authority, and is unable to exer-cise actual authority. Social authority is acknowl-edged and reproduced by society when social struc-ture and ideology support it. Likewise, the patri-arch’s authority in the family can be exercised whenthe family structure and ideology support it.Today,with concerns about the dissolution of the familyand even the existence of the family itself beingdenied, the assertion of individual rights by all thefamily members is further decreasing the ground onwhich the patriarch can stand.The family membersno longer fully accept the patriarchal structure sanc-tioned by tradition. In the same vein, the patriarch’sactions that were not considered major problems inthe past are now regarded as sufficient grounds fordivorce, and the patriarchs are being ostracized bytheir own children.

Conservative discourse defines the family asthe basic unit in a natural and stable social order;the family is where the individual’s emotional,sexual and material desires are fulfilled and wherethe responsibilities of rearing and socializing chil-dren lie. However, the myth that the family is ashelter for emotional stability is dissolving, andfamily members themselves are criticizing theoppression and conflict that were hidden in thefamily power structure. More family membersnow resist the notion of an individual controllinganother individual and hope to construct horizon-tal relationships to replace the vertical patriarchalpower structure.

Power structures are not universally fixed;rather they have always changed and will continueto do so. Yet many patriarchs, continuing to per-ceive themselves as holding the power of repre-sentation and ultimate authority, still try tooppress other family members. This desire toexercise patriarchal authority to which other fam-

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ily members have not consented is causing conflictwithin the family.Though the patriarchs in the pastwere the holders of vested rights protected by tra-ditional ideology, they are now at a juncturewhere they must give up these rights.

NOTES

1 Although the findings presented in this papercannot be regarded as definitive, they showsome new trends in the Korean patriarchalfamily system. As I was conducting the sur-veys and interviews, I realized how muchthe exercise of patriarchal power was alien-ating the patriarch from the rest of the fam-ily and turning him into a figure of superfi-cial authority. I chose the examples includedin this analysis to demonstrate this point.

2 In an elementary school in the Kangnamarea, a relatively well-off district in Seoul,48 children were asked to draw their homes.17 of those children described the anbang as“Mom and Dad’s room,” 22 as “Mom’s room”and 9 as anbang. The kitchen was seen asspace for the mother and the living room asspace for the entire family, while only 3identified a father’s space in this study. Thisreflects the weakened position of the father,the patriarch, in the familial space.

3 In the survey, the women in their 70sresponded that, during their younger years,the meat dishes regarded as the “good dish-es” were placed on the elder’s (especiallythe male elder’s) table, and it did not evencross their minds that they could taste anyof these dishes as the leftovers were savedfor the elder’s next meal.

4 Dongje is a ceremony dedicated to the vil-lage guardian deity. The patriarch of eachhousehold participates as the family repre-sentative, while the women only participateas spectators.

5 Myoje is a ceremony for worship of ancestors

in the preceding 5th generation and beyond.The eldest son, who inherits the headship ofthe family from the father, and other agnatemale members of the lineage go to the ances-tral grave plots to carry out this rite.

6 Kijesa is a ceremony for worship of ancestorsup to the preceding 4th generation. It is prac-ticed at home on the anniversary of theancestors’ death dates.

7 According to a study of farming families inthe 1960s, important documents were inthe safekeeping of the husband – the patri-arch – in 78% of conjugal families. In stemfamilies, the documents were kept by thehusband (67.1%) if he was not senile, butif he was very old, they were kept by theson (18.7%) who would continue the patri-archal line. The purchase and sale ofimportant assets showed similar patterns;the decisive power was held by the hus-band in 75.5% of conjugal families, whilein stem families, the sum of the powerheld by the husband and the son was81.7%. These findings show that the tradi-tional system of having the family assetsmanaged by the patriarch was maintaineduntil the 1960s.

8 According to a well known study, the divisionof roles according to sex in economic activi-ty was as follows: purchase and sale of live-stock: male - 87.0%, female - 6.5%; purchaseof foodstuffs: male - 28.4%, female - 60.6%.It is interesting to note that, unlike todaywhere the wives are responsible for the pur-chase of food, in the past there were a con-siderable number of men who were respon-sible for buying the family’s food.

9 When asked whether they have assisted otherfamily members in their use of the computerand the internet, 62.3% (154 students)answered that they have done so. Among the62.3% who answered in the affirmative (multi-ple answers were possible), 61% answered thatthey taught their parents, 23.4% answered that

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BOO JIN PARK

it was an older sibling and 33.1% answered thatit was a younger sibling.

10 When asked why they believe they havesuperior ability over their parents, 74% (183students) answered that it was “their abilityto adapt to the information age.” Theyounger generation believe that they areinferior to their parents in terms of financialabilities and life experiences, but that theyare superior in terms of their ability toacquire information and that they are in aposition to teach the older generation.

11Those surveyed were students from the Seoul(Kangnam - 45.8%, Kangbuk - 40.8%) and Kyonggi(13.4%) areas. The parents were generallyhighly educated and middle-aged. The com-position was as follows: 92.7% of fathers intheir 40s-50s with 37.5% having a collegeeducation or higher and 39.2% a high schooleducation; and 87.4% of mothers in their30s-40s with 27.4% having a college educa-tion or higher and 52.5% a high school edu-cation. Most described themselves as part ofthe middle class (71.9%) and 83.3% belongedto a nuclear family.

12 There were circumstances where the fatheralone decided on the place and day for thefamily move and simply notified the rest ofthe family, and where a father forced hischildren to eat only the foods that hefavored. There were also many cases wherethe father “decided on and forced thefuture direction that the children shouldtake according to the father’s standards.”

13 The cases under this subtitle are from theinterviews conducted with housewives andthe clinical records of the Korean MaleTelephone Consultation Services. The sub-jects of the 4,147 consultations initiated bymen in 2000 can be summarized as follows:(1) infidelity by the wife - 885 cases; (2)marital problems (divorce and remarriage) -800 cases; (3) sexual problems - 620 cases;(4) leaving of the home by the wife and sep-

aration - 582 cases; (5) children and familyproblems - 371 cases; (6) difference in per-sonality between the couple - 227 cases; (7)physical violence inflicted by the wife - 111cases; (8) debt and financial hardshipsbrought on by the wife - 109 cases; and (9)problems arising from the wife’s alcohol andgambling activities - 76 cases.

14 In most cases, wives who are regarded ashaving brought up the children well, earnsolid positions in the family. (An importantmeasurement is the admission of the chil-dren into good universities.)

15 According to a 40-year-old wife in a dualincome family, "the children do not like theirfather and there are many secrets betweenme and the children that my husband doesnot know" because the husband not onlyinterferes and nags in all matters, but alsoresolves everything the way he pleases.

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Delphy, Christine. 1984. Close to Home: AMaterialist Analysis of Women’s Oppression.London: Hutchinson.

Demos, John. 1986. Past, Present, and Personal:The Family and the Life Course in AmericanHistory. New York: Oxford University Press.

Foucault, Michel. 1981. The History of SexualityVol. 1: An Introduction. Harmondsworth:Pelican.

Hartman, Heidi I.1979. “Capitalism, Patriarchyand Job Segregation by Sex.” In CapitalistPatriarchy, ed. Zillah R. Eisenstein. NewYork: Monthly Review Press.

Harvey, David. 1989. The Condition ofPostmodernity: An Enquiry into the Originsof Cultural change. Oxford: Blackwell.

Janelli, Roger L. and Janelli, Dawnhae Yim. 1982.Ancestor Worship and Korean Society.Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press.

Stearn, Peter N. 1991. “Fatherhood in Historical

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Perspectives: The Role of Social Change.” InF. Bozett and S. Hanson. eds. Fatherhood andFamilies in Cultural Context. New York:Springer Publishing Company.

Walby, Sylvia. 1990. Theorizing Patriarchy.Oxford: Blackwell.

Webster, Frank. 1997. Theories of the InformationSociety (The International Library ofSociology). London; New York: Routledge.

Boo Jin Park is an associate professor in theDepartment of Liberal Arts and director of theInstitute of Woman and Family Life at MyongjiUniversity in Seoul, Korea.

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