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A review by whatshruyireads
Kim Jiyoung, Born 1982 by Cho Nam-joo
5.0
What a stunning buddy read I decided to embark on with two of my friends and thoroughly enjoyed this grim yet important tale of a Korean woman and the life she leads of prejudices.
Cho Nam-Joo's book travels through the path of this character which is an unbiased and unabashed picture of growing up as a girl child and the segregation that she faces on early in her life. The eery similarities were a shock to someone like me as we lament and ponder on the inequality, the hardships to attain the basic rights our gender deserves and needs.
The translation is so direct and so no-nonsense that you don't need to worry twice about understanding it. It's the inequalities that start from home where the importance is placed on a male child to being sidelined when you raise your dreams or even the need to get something simple for yourself. This is Kim Jiyoung's life. Born as the middle child amongst three children, she and her elder sister watch first-hand indifference as their younger brother is treated like the porcelain doll who deserves princely treatment. Their mother is caught between turning them into another version of hers and pushing them to strive better and not settle down.
The condescending nature of Kim's mother took me back to the point where I've sat down with my women friends over several sessions of wine or alcohol and lament about the complicated relationship we share with our mothers. From protecting us to also worrying what will the world say if we decide to rebel, it's been a fight for them.
The next time I hear a person, I'll state person because I've been challenged to illogical debates by both men and women on why feminism isn't equality, I'll probably ask them to shut the fuck up and read a couple of books first and maybe this one being one of the first.
Just a very popular quote I really like albeit it's overwhelming popularity, 'We are the granddaughters of the witches you weren't able to burn.'
Cho Nam-Joo's book travels through the path of this character which is an unbiased and unabashed picture of growing up as a girl child and the segregation that she faces on early in her life. The eery similarities were a shock to someone like me as we lament and ponder on the inequality, the hardships to attain the basic rights our gender deserves and needs.
The translation is so direct and so no-nonsense that you don't need to worry twice about understanding it. It's the inequalities that start from home where the importance is placed on a male child to being sidelined when you raise your dreams or even the need to get something simple for yourself. This is Kim Jiyoung's life. Born as the middle child amongst three children, she and her elder sister watch first-hand indifference as their younger brother is treated like the porcelain doll who deserves princely treatment. Their mother is caught between turning them into another version of hers and pushing them to strive better and not settle down.
The condescending nature of Kim's mother took me back to the point where I've sat down with my women friends over several sessions of wine or alcohol and lament about the complicated relationship we share with our mothers. From protecting us to also worrying what will the world say if we decide to rebel, it's been a fight for them.
The next time I hear a person, I'll state person because I've been challenged to illogical debates by both men and women on why feminism isn't equality, I'll probably ask them to shut the fuck up and read a couple of books first and maybe this one being one of the first.
Just a very popular quote I really like albeit it's overwhelming popularity, 'We are the granddaughters of the witches you weren't able to burn.'