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A review by tiareadsbooks25
Kim Jiyoung, Born 1982 by Cho Nam-joo
5.0
•recently read•
4.5/5⭐
❝'So why didn't you become a teacher?'
'I had to work to send my brothers to school. That's how it was with everyone. All women lived like that back then.'
'Why don't you become a teacher now?'
'Now I have to work to send you kids to school. That's how it is with everyone. All mothers live like this these days.'❞
—Page 26-27
❝The world had changed a great deal, but the little rules, contracts, and customs had not, which meant the world hadn’t actually changed at all.❞
—Page 119
❝You said don’t just think about what I’ll be giving up. I’m putting my youth, health, job, colleagues, social networks, career plans and future on the line. No wonder all I can think about are the things I’m giving up. But what about you? What do you lose by gaining a child?❞
—Page 123-124
❝Help out? What is it with you and "helping out"? You're going to "help out" with chores. "Help out" with raising our baby. "Help out" with finding me a new job. Isn't this your house, too? Your home? Your child? And if I work, don't you spend my pay, too? Why do you keep saying "help out" like you're volunteering to pitch in on someone else's work?❞
—Page 131
❝Every field has its technological advances and evolves in the direction that reduces the amount of physical labor required, but people are particularly reluctant to admit that the same is true for domestic labor. Since she became a full-time housewife, she often noticed that there was a polarised attitude regarding domestic labor. Some demeaned it as 'bumming around at home,' while others glorified it as 'work that sustains life,' but none tried to calculate its monetary value. Probably because the moment you put a price on something, someone has to pay.❞
—Page 137
❝People who pop a painkiller at the smallest hint of a migraine, or who need anesthetic cream to remove a mole, demand that women giving birth should gladly endure the pain, exhaustion, and mortal fear. As if that’s maternal love.❞
—Page 139
•••
This book portrayed gender inequality and discrimination against women in a patriarchal society, both then and now. Through Kim Jiyoung's life, we can see everyday sexism, challenges, and hardships she has experienced as a woman from the moment she was born to the current day. All of this adds up to emotional buildup, which leads her to dissociative disorder.
Looking back on Kim Jiyoung's life was depressing. Also, realizing that most women who are subjected to systematic sexism and misogyny are simply unaware of it was frightening. I'm getting a wide range of emotions as I read this book, like anger, furious, sadness, fear, frustration, and, oh God, I'm not sure what else.
4.5/5⭐
❝'So why didn't you become a teacher?'
'I had to work to send my brothers to school. That's how it was with everyone. All women lived like that back then.'
'Why don't you become a teacher now?'
'Now I have to work to send you kids to school. That's how it is with everyone. All mothers live like this these days.'❞
—Page 26-27
❝The world had changed a great deal, but the little rules, contracts, and customs had not, which meant the world hadn’t actually changed at all.❞
—Page 119
❝You said don’t just think about what I’ll be giving up. I’m putting my youth, health, job, colleagues, social networks, career plans and future on the line. No wonder all I can think about are the things I’m giving up. But what about you? What do you lose by gaining a child?❞
—Page 123-124
❝Help out? What is it with you and "helping out"? You're going to "help out" with chores. "Help out" with raising our baby. "Help out" with finding me a new job. Isn't this your house, too? Your home? Your child? And if I work, don't you spend my pay, too? Why do you keep saying "help out" like you're volunteering to pitch in on someone else's work?❞
—Page 131
❝Every field has its technological advances and evolves in the direction that reduces the amount of physical labor required, but people are particularly reluctant to admit that the same is true for domestic labor. Since she became a full-time housewife, she often noticed that there was a polarised attitude regarding domestic labor. Some demeaned it as 'bumming around at home,' while others glorified it as 'work that sustains life,' but none tried to calculate its monetary value. Probably because the moment you put a price on something, someone has to pay.❞
—Page 137
❝People who pop a painkiller at the smallest hint of a migraine, or who need anesthetic cream to remove a mole, demand that women giving birth should gladly endure the pain, exhaustion, and mortal fear. As if that’s maternal love.❞
—Page 139
•••
This book portrayed gender inequality and discrimination against women in a patriarchal society, both then and now. Through Kim Jiyoung's life, we can see everyday sexism, challenges, and hardships she has experienced as a woman from the moment she was born to the current day. All of this adds up to emotional buildup, which leads her to dissociative disorder.
Looking back on Kim Jiyoung's life was depressing. Also, realizing that most women who are subjected to systematic sexism and misogyny are simply unaware of it was frightening. I'm getting a wide range of emotions as I read this book, like anger, furious, sadness, fear, frustration, and, oh God, I'm not sure what else.