The popular “How Are You Doing” posters ignited a youth movement with a simple question: “Are you all right?” Recent handwritten posters put up at Korea University ask the same question but to a different audience–the “Kimchi girl.” These posters ask, “Are you all right with being called a Kimchi girl?” This is the second post in a series on the controversy surrounding the “Kimchi bitch.”
Original article from Kyunghyang Sinmun:
A hand-written poster at Korea University asks, “Are you okay with being called a Kimchi Girl?”
At the rear entrance to the Korea University School of Politics & Economics, there is a poster titled, “Kimchi Girls, Are You Alright?” The word “Kimchi Girl” has been used in a variety of contexts to criticize women. The poster strongly admonishes society’s disgust for women.
On the afternoon of the 16th, five handwritten posters addressing the issue of ‘Kimchi Girl’ were put up. They were accompanied by the first posters put up on the 15th with the title, “Are you really alright with being called a kimchi girl?” The poster shows a Kakao chatroom named “Kimchi Jar.”
In the chat room, a user named “cabbage kimchi” says, “You’re called fermented kimchi for whatever reason- if your educational background and wages are lower or higher compared to men, if you prefer to date foreigners, if you have a lot of sexual experience, if you decide not to have sex when in a relationship, if your ideal type is a tall man, if you have many male friends, if you go to a women’s university, if you act innocent or not, if you are pretty after getting cosmetic surgery, if you are ugly and have never got any cosmetic surgery, etc etc.”
The poster next to it reads, “On many different websites, all kinds of people come together to set the standard for defining a kimchi girl. No Korean woman can escape becoming one. Individuals shouldn’t be censoring themselves to avoid the “Kimchi girl” label. I want to ask all Korean women if they are really alright in a society that is hostile to and critical of women.”
Furthermore, “Hateful, coarse language that describes women like “kimchi girl” and “bean paste girl” have become a part of everyday speech. Women in this day and age have to constantly prove they are not such women. The standards applied for women are arbitrary and abusive unlike the standards applied for men. Fat and ugly women are laughed at and belittled on public television, but one woman who said men shorter than 180cm are losers was fired from her job and ostracized by society.”
The poster’s title, “Is your kimchi alright?” is also the name of a Facebook page (facebook.com/kimchicantbeok) that collects stories of those who say they do not feel alright as a woman. The page aims to help women judged and stigmatized by names such as “bean paste girl”, “kimchi girl” and so on, to release the stress of ‘not being all right’.
Five posters were also written as a response to the first, which asked kimchi girls if they were alright. Among them was one written by “fellow student Min-kyung” , with the title, “I have to give up so many things to become a sensible woman, so I am not all right.”
She writes, “I thought that since I didn’t like designer bags, I didn’t drink Starbucks, and I made fun of those bean paste girls with the guys, that I was a good woman. But my personality has to be good too. I can’t be too close with other women, but if I’m not close enough with them, that’s also bad. I can’t be close with too many male friends, but if I’m not close with any guys, it seems too arrogant so that’s also not okay. If I act innocent, that’s not okay, but if I act too much like I don’t care what people think, that’s not good either. I have to have sex if I’m in a relationship but on the other hand, I have to be a virgin. Really, now I don’t know what I have to do to be a sensible woman.”
It’s impossible to fit into the narrow definition of a ‘sensible woman,’ so I’ll give up on that and live how I want, how I feel. If by living how I want to live, I am called a ‘kimchi girl’, then I will gladly accept the label.”
“Worrisome female student, Ms. C, of the 2010 freshman class” wrote a response titled “I am not all right, since there is nothing else but to become a kimchi girl.” In her response, she says, “In the job market, the best qualification is to be male. If a female wants to survive in the workplace, she has to be more manly than a man. The successful female? If she wants to become president, she has to be the daughter of a president. Successful female businesswomen are the daughter or wife of the head of the company.”
“Any normal woman would get cosmetic surgery, or wear makeup, to maintain her beauty and youthfulness. This is all to meet a man with a stable job, who will help her feel ‘alright’ in society. So this is how we little by little all become kimchi girls. Adhering to the identity of a woman without any distortion is incredibly difficult. For Christ’s sake, in what way could we live to make you stop cursing at us?”
Here are also posters put up by male students, showing support for the hand-written “Kimchi girl” posters. This one, titled, “Not disgust, rather we ask for respect for personal preference,” brings up the criticism that society puts pressure on women.
Comments from Naver:
popo****:
Two hundred million won compensation for prostitutes who died in a fire accident. Fifty million won compensation for the casualties from the battle with North Korea in the Yellow Sea. Need I say more?
[The families of fallen soldiers received more than the prostitutes’ families did for each diseased individual. Also, the national compensation for the prostitutes’ death was due to the indirect responsibility of police corruption.]
qlql****:
If you want to get rid of Kimchi girl hate or misogyny, remove the Ministry of Women and the quota system for female lawmakers. Relieve the burden men have to support the family and establish a culture of splitting bills. Equally share the marriage costs and punish flower snakes as sexual offenders. You should stop whining and start taking action. Is it possible?
reli****:
I’ve never seen an article that leaves more room for refutation than this.
qmpz****:
Reverse discrimination by the Ministry of Women + mandatory military service for men + poor compensation for military service + women’s expectations for men to pay for them = maximized misogyny
보지털에비듬이:
The poster’s conclusion: I will never split bills with men. Out with penises!
0107****:
Kimchi girl?? It’s more proper to call them luxury-loving vanity girls. They are picky about men’s car, wealth, income and house while they don’t offer much themselves.
yagk****:
You try to take advantage of being a woman when it’s beneficial but when it works against you, you complain it’s because you’re a woman. Be fair. You don’t think there might be problems with yourselves when sexual discrimination happens? Try to think about whether you’re just using the gender card to seek security.
국가안보:
What are you talking about? If you just had common sense, you wouldn’t be called Kimchi bitches. Common sense~!!!
mysa****:
There are 25 million men in Korea. If you just combined every opinion from them about who the Kimchi girl is, of course, there probably would not be a single woman who could escape the label. And if some guy makes fun of ugly and fat women on TV, he will be buried alive. Just look at how much women comment on articles about dramas. Are you talking about comedy shows by any chance? Then, that’s the very victim complex. Why do you ignore the fact that there are many skits that make fun of male comedians’ looks?
wolf****:
Did the not-okay Kimchi girls fail to understand? Or are they being sarcastic? At the workplace, for example, women should try to do something instead of saying “how can a woman carry it?” when we have to carry heavy stuff
wlsa****:
Hello, Kimchi girl????
ysg1****:
Then you guys should do something about those girls who say the military service should be longer, say men should go to the army because women suffer from menstruation, say soldiers are housekeeping dogs, leech off men for money, or cosplay as victims after consensual sex…. I feel cosmetic surgery or cosmetics is necessary to a degree for women living in this age.. And do something about the double standards for sexual crimes. Why is it a crime for a man to enter a woman’s washroom by mistake while the opposite case is just a mistake? Why is physical contact with handsome men acceptable when cheering for sports while some other cases are criminal? This is all because of the Ministry of Women ㅡㅡ
leem****:
Go do military service first. If we fix problems one by one, you will eventually become human.
khyf****:
This comment section will soon become a battlefield.
zdsw****:
In fact, it is proper to just call them insensible or selfish people. There are many insensible or selfish men, too. But when women do something wrong, is it okay to label them as Kimchi girls or bean paste girls just because they are women?
Comments from Daum:
주홍님:
That’s cool, Korea University students! I hope we think about the online misogyny that is especially prevalent on sites like Ilbe.
beyond님:
They made false claims. It is not wrong to date foreigners. But it is wrong for them to put down Koreans while putting foreigners on a pedestal. It is not wrong to prefer tall guys. But it is wrong to insult short guys. It is not wrong to be friends with many men. But isn’t it wrong to manage a men fishery to leech off men? That’s why some foreign ESL teachers began using the nickname Kimchi girl to ridicule them and it has become what it is today. I see their bad habit of distorting the truth to make an argument again!
[There are multiple theories about how ‘Kimchi girl’ was first coined, none of which have been confirmed.]
감자그라탕님:
After some life experience, I realize that those who call women Kimchi or bean paste are mostly Ilbe bug types who can’t date girls because they are pathetic losers. Successful cool men don’t bullshit like that….
파란님:
Men don’t call any woman Kimchi or bean paste girl.
내차좋아 님:
You can like designer bags and Starbucks coffee. How you get luxury goods is what matters. We’ve been hearing about girls who steal their dad’s credit cards to buy a designer bag. The problem is the mentality that they have to get what they want by any means even without using their own money and men have to pay for them at places like Starbucks. Is anybody telling you to live like a nun or a monk? Pathetic. They put up such half-assed posters using the poster fad. Did they usually pay that much attention to school bulletin boards?
혀니님:
The social atmosphere that promotes Kimchi girls is also the problem. However, I don’t think it’s good to pour out personal complaints in those posters.
들이대님:
“I don’t want to try my best but I just want to live like a female lead [in a movie or drama].” Is that what they are saying?
ZEROZone님:
What loud farting sounds the Kimchi girls are making. Are they arguing that they can leech off men because society condones it???? I despise such Kimchi bitches. Voice your opinion when you have no shame. Don’t make excuses when you make guys buy you everything.
행복한여자님:
That’s cool. Although there are insensible women, many men these days try to make women “censor” themselves by shaming various types of women who are labeled as Kimchi girls. I’m a woman who never tries to make men buy me meals. If they pay for me, I try to pay for them next time. I take pride in the fact I haven’t been doing anything shameful but lately, I get annoyed when I find myself wondering whether I will be called a “Kimchi girl” by some men if I behave a certain way. I’m afraid I will end up meeting a pathetic guy who writes comments about Kimchi girls on the internet.
한군님:
Kimch b*tches’ double standards really deserve bashing.
Hoon님:
Do you know why there is such backlash from guys these days? Because there are many women that treat men like pushovers. According to them, it’s natural for men to pay for women. Men should be well-mannered for women. Men should be responsible for women….all while women do not acknowledge men’s authority. There are many cases where women use men just like they use male students who returned from the army for school projects. Do you know why companies prefer men? Men just do most of the tasks they are told to do. Women complain and whine. Do you know why female superiors prefer male subordinates?
악플왕님:
When Korean women date Korean men, they make men pay for everything. But when they date white men, they pay for everything. F**k, that’s why they are called Kimchi bitches.
월기욤님:
You should realize that Korean women’s mentality is the problem before you blame the society. They want to follow anything foreign, yet when it comes to marriage or dating, they still want their men to take care of the costs. Why don’t they try to follow the [mentality of the] women from Europe or the US that they like so much? That’s why there are words like “Kimchi girl” and “bean paste girl.” What about at work? Is it just a few women who bail out when hard situations occur? Just how prevalent do you think it has been for those words to be coined? Then those words’ usage has been expanded to disparage Korean women in general. Wake up.
