Language is one important medium utilized to render biases against women in human society. This paper examines how pejorative naming is used to abase contemporary Korean women, focusing on the newly-coined words (sinjo-eo) that are generated to ridicule them. This paper shows that pejorative naming serves as Korean men’s rhetoric against a Korean woman who acts or behaves differently from the “archetype” molded out of a particular set of expectations. In addition, such derogatory naming reflects the Korean men’s hegemonic response to the growing social status of Korean women. The contemporary Korean society therefore provides another case wherein language serves as a significant force used by a society in a patriarchal order to maintain or perpetuate the supremacy of men.
- Author: Aldrin Lee
- Publication Date: 2014, January 1
- Publication Type: Conference Proceedings Paper
- Published In: 3rd Philippine Korean Studies Symposium
- Link: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/323537542_The_Pejorative_Naming_of_Contemporary_Korean_Women_Expressing_Gender_Bias_Thru_Language