Reviews with content warning for Pregnancy - Kim Jiyoung, Born 1982

I found out about this book through social media.

The character I like is Kim's mother. She had to give up her dreams for her family and supported her daughters unconditionally to achieve their dreams. And even though she was a stay at home mom, she tried to contribute financially by taking part-time jobs. This is another fact confirming how great she is and how hard she tried. Regarding the women in the story and the reality, I admire the strength of them all because they shouldn't have to experience all these horrible, degrading things while not even being able to complain since it's considered to be normal.

This book focuses on women in South Korea and the injustice between women and men influenced and in a way caused by Confucianism. It covers many large themes and dogmas such as the commonness of women leaving their work positions after giving birth, bullying being a compliment (better to have attention than to be ignored), preferring men over women in every part of life, and, most importantly, things always being the women's fault. Did you get harassed on the subway? How long was your skirt? Were you acting seductively? No one ever points out the simple fact that men shouldn't do such things even if the woman was acting seductively and wearing a short skirt. Also, the moment a housewife takes a break she's a so-called mamčchung – a housewife who justifies her arrogance with a child in the stoller and all she does is spend the husband's hard-earned money... There's one reaccuring thought, women losing trust and feeling hatred towards men. Because in such a society as a woman it's incredibly difficult to not feel negative emotions toward the other gender. The author captured all this marvellously and even included some data with resources on one of the last pages of the book. Great work!

Page 27, the family's hierarchy.

Bylo naprosto samozřejmé, že čerstvě uvařenou teplou rýži si nabírali v pořadí tatínek, mladší bratr, babička. Stejně tak bylo přirozené, že zatímco pravidelné kousky söjového tvarohu, povedené masové taštičky a placičky mizely v bratrových ústech, nejstarší sestra s Kim Čijong pojídaly rozpadlé zbytky. (...) Malou Čijong ve skutečnosti ani nenapadlo, že by se s jejím mladším bratrem nějak zvlášť zacházelo, nebo že by mu měla závidět. Bylo to tak odjakživa. (...) Matka je pořád chválila, že na brášku vůvec nežárlí (nejspíš díky velkému věkovému rozdílu) a pěkně se o něj starají. A protože Kim Čijong slyšela samou chválu, tak na něj opravdu žárlit nemohla.

Page 44, male supermacy.

Bylo to zkrátka tak nějak přirozené a normální, že muž je číslo jedna, že je na začátku, že má přednost. Chlapci stáli první ve frontě, jako první se přesouvali, první prezentovali, první předkládali úkoly ke kontrole. Děvčata se mezitím trochu nudila, trochu to považovala za štěstí, ale vůbec jim to nepřipadalo zvláštní, jen tiše čekala až na ně příjde řada.

Page 92, women can never win.
Když je žena neschopná, tak to nejde, protože je neschopná; když je schopná, tak to nejde, protože je schopná, a když je něco mezi tím, tak to nejde, protože je moc průměrná?

Page 135, something to keep in mind.

Podobně jako to, že někdo kvůli práci svěří dítě do cizích rukou, neznamená, že dítě nemiluje, tak to, že někdo nechá práce, aby mohl pečovat o dítě, neznamená, že by neměl dost pracovního zápalu.

The end of the book wasn't really special however the epilogue is well-written.

I am grateful I found out about this book and read it. I believe it's a great way to learn about this topic while also having fun.

Content Warnings

sarahsbooklife's review against another edition

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informative reflective sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

Content Warnings

sorcha's review against another edition

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reflective sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character

4.0

Content Warnings

blazing_orchids's review against another edition

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challenging emotional informative reflective sad fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5

I really liked this book. I learned a lot about what life has been like for women in Korea the past 40 years. The final chapter was really unexpected for me and absolutely bleak. I really felt for Jiyoung throught the whole book and was so sad I couldn't cry at all. Highly recommend

Content Warnings

dijada's review against another edition

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emotional informative reflective sad medium-paced

Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

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hanghuhn's review against another edition

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informative

3.0

I don't know anything about Asian, especially Korean culture. I knew that women are treated differently, but I didn't know to what extend. It's not that misogyny, sexual harassment etc. at the work place (or in other situations) doesn't exist in the western world. Or that some men view women as less equal or that women don't get paid as much as men even if they do the same job. But in my world family members aren't sad or disappointed if the newborn is a girl (at least I've never experienced it or heard of it in the same amount I read in the book; it still is possible. In every culture there are people with old views). So, what I meant to say is, that the book is an eye-opener and discusses a very important topic.
Why the three stars then? The writing style is what bothers me. It's felt like a non-fiction (well, I think it's not entirely fiction, because the topic is real and not imagined). But every now and then there are facts about women or society in Korea which were cited with footnotes, like in an academic article. It felt out of place for me.
At the end, I didn't know what exactly happened to Jiyoung. The book left me confused.

Content Warnings

moonbin's review against another edition

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challenging emotional informative reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? N/A
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.5

Content Warnings

miyothecat's review against another edition

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challenging emotional informative reflective sad tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

Content Warnings

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