Extended-Western Perspectives of Feminism vs. Feminism in Korea

Extended-Western Perspectives of Feminism vs. Feminism in Korea

This paper examined two perspectives of feminism constructed by historical, cultural, and social conventions each in its own society, in terms of the Western versus the Korean. For the western, I researched through the literature of Spivak, el Saadawi, Simone de Beauvoir, Morton, etc. For the Korean, I reviewed my lived experiences first, and then Korean news articles, Korean feminists’ interviews, and societal phenomena related to feminism as well. In sum, the western has started to move toward a paradigm of feminism with more extended perspectives as Spivak and el Saadawi suggested rather than staying at the feminism with the essentialist debate based on sexual difference. However, the Korean feminism perspectives still focus on ‘sex discrimination’ mainly focusing on goals such as the women’s equal pay, reproductive rights, and equality in the work place.