How does Korea show their identiy through food?
Jordan Bowles
Word Count: 1250
For the last week or so, we have been discussing this term identity. Usually when people think of identity, they think of things such as appearance, ethnicity, and maybe things like sexuality. Contrary to these stereotypical ways of showing identity, there are some different ways that people (usually in different parts of the world) can show their identity. For the sake of the class, we have been focusing on food and plants for identity. As Americans we are very guilty of looking through an ethnocentric lens when dealing with "different" ways of doing things. When it comes to food, there is no surprise that other countries eat and prepare food in ways that we might not be accustomed to.
Korea is located in East Asia and bordered by China and Russia. For the sake of the blog, I will just be using Korea instead of separating into South and North Korea. While they are separated for various reasons, a lot of their traditions are similar.
Korea, like many Asian countries, has and still is very much about status and respect. While the people respect women, the country is a very male dominated country. They had a female president from 2013-2017 named Park Geun-hye who happens to be in a jail and currently awaiting trial for abuse of power. Some might argue that having a female president would alleviate this patriarchal idea of Korea. We also had a black president for 8 years, and most of us can agree that racism is still very prominent in the current world. It is not uncommon that a male receive a more lenient sentence than a woman, which is usually the opposite in the US, so some might wonder and question whether a man would've been in the same boat as Park Geun-hye.
This idea of patriarchy in Korea's society may seem irrelevant to food, but actually ties perfectly into their food identity. Korea, unlike The United States, takes eating very seriously and it is much more about social implications, than watching a game or going each others separate ways once dinner is served. Each Korean meal usually includes many different dishes that the family or friends eat from. If you go to Korean barbecue around the area, you can still see this common multiple dish theme. In American homes, you might see the occasional burgers, spaghetti, or sloppy joes for dinner. Usually these kind of meals might have a side or two, but rarely exceed three dishes. Every Korean meal I have enjoyed, you would've been surprised to see less than 5.
We have this recurring theme of patriarchy and status, but since the question relates to food, how can we tie this to food? For one, when eating at a meal with status sensitive Koreans, the oldest people will sit at the table first, and the younger people will wait. This is an older tradition, but still holds a lot of viable aspects in todays dining room. Continuing with age, it is also expected that the younger crowd will wait until the oldest has picked up their utensils to commence eating. An ideal that I certainly could not ever imagine in my household. The only times I have waited for the older crowd at a dinner table to start eating is when I was somewhere business related or meeting a girlfriends parents. The idea that this is a regular occurrence for Koreans, shows how high they hold this idea of respect your elders. One of the most interesting traditions is the acceptance of alcohol. In Korean tradition, it is not polite to deny an alcoholic beverage from an elder unless you have consumed too much alcohol.
Some of the most popular TV shows in Korea are related to cooking, and surprisingly but arguably not surprising, the stars of the show are usually men. We see women cooking most often in Korean households, but the TV shows (Much like the U.S.) contain male dominated hosts and casts. One could argue that it is women's work, but if it involves money and fame, men don't mind taking over and being slightly taboo. An article even called this new idea of seeing men in the kitchen a new trend. The concept of men and women sharing equal time in the kitchen was a trend. What comes to no surprise (With a patriarchal mindset) is their reasoning for this being a new hip trend. In the United States we might think of a new trend setting more men in the kitchen to be a good stepping stone for more equality, but in Korea it appears that the appeal is because of attraction. Women find it to be very sexy when seeing a man in the kitchen. This raises the question, is it sexy to see a woman in the kitchen? Probably not, as they see them in the kitchen all the time. The reason for them finding it sexy that a man is in the kitchen (let alone, on TV) is the rareness. We don't often find men in the kitchen of Korean households and this rarity and uniqueness is appealing. One might argue that change is change, no matter the cause, which is true but raises the problem that the mindsets of Korean women is still a problem.
Many will argue that as Americans, we have no place to complain about traditions that are being performed in Korean dining rooms and kitchens, but where and who draws the line? The idea of only seeing women in the kitchen these days is really far from what it used to be and this is because of years and years of fighting and resistance. When looking at many countries around the world, it appears that they are years and years behind where we are in terms of equality but it comes off as ethnocentric when we don't accept their traditions because of our own performance in the kitchen. I think that is true to a certain point, but when traditions that are being performed are rooted from patriarchy or an idea that women should perform certain roles, helping the women around the world should be looked at as a positive thing. Also, many would argue that ethnocentrism is not always as bad as we make it out to be. I think it comes down the reasons at which we feel this way and partake in a particular task. If someone advocates for equality in the households and kitchens of Korea, should they be chastised for it?
In Michael Pollen's film about the four elements, he talks about the status that someone cooking holds. The United States is pretty unique in not putting enough emphasis on the power that the one in the kitchen holds and this is also rooted from our lack of respect for food. Many countries, including Korea, have a lot of respect and thankfulness towards the cooks. They are turning something into edible food that they then put into their bodies, which thus gives them the ability to perform various tasks throughout the day. We, as Americans usually don't look at cooking this way, and arguably skews our view of the power that one in the kitchen holds.
All of these points raise the concern of tradition vs. human rights, and we see that many women in Korea are happy with the way things are, but also see many that come to the United States for the exact reasons that some are content.
Word Count: 1250
For the last week or so, we have been discussing this term identity. Usually when people think of identity, they think of things such as appearance, ethnicity, and maybe things like sexuality. Contrary to these stereotypical ways of showing identity, there are some different ways that people (usually in different parts of the world) can show their identity. For the sake of the class, we have been focusing on food and plants for identity. As Americans we are very guilty of looking through an ethnocentric lens when dealing with "different" ways of doing things. When it comes to food, there is no surprise that other countries eat and prepare food in ways that we might not be accustomed to.
Korea is located in East Asia and bordered by China and Russia. For the sake of the blog, I will just be using Korea instead of separating into South and North Korea. While they are separated for various reasons, a lot of their traditions are similar.
Korea, like many Asian countries, has and still is very much about status and respect. While the people respect women, the country is a very male dominated country. They had a female president from 2013-2017 named Park Geun-hye who happens to be in a jail and currently awaiting trial for abuse of power. Some might argue that having a female president would alleviate this patriarchal idea of Korea. We also had a black president for 8 years, and most of us can agree that racism is still very prominent in the current world. It is not uncommon that a male receive a more lenient sentence than a woman, which is usually the opposite in the US, so some might wonder and question whether a man would've been in the same boat as Park Geun-hye.
This idea of patriarchy in Korea's society may seem irrelevant to food, but actually ties perfectly into their food identity. Korea, unlike The United States, takes eating very seriously and it is much more about social implications, than watching a game or going each others separate ways once dinner is served. Each Korean meal usually includes many different dishes that the family or friends eat from. If you go to Korean barbecue around the area, you can still see this common multiple dish theme. In American homes, you might see the occasional burgers, spaghetti, or sloppy joes for dinner. Usually these kind of meals might have a side or two, but rarely exceed three dishes. Every Korean meal I have enjoyed, you would've been surprised to see less than 5.
We have this recurring theme of patriarchy and status, but since the question relates to food, how can we tie this to food? For one, when eating at a meal with status sensitive Koreans, the oldest people will sit at the table first, and the younger people will wait. This is an older tradition, but still holds a lot of viable aspects in todays dining room. Continuing with age, it is also expected that the younger crowd will wait until the oldest has picked up their utensils to commence eating. An ideal that I certainly could not ever imagine in my household. The only times I have waited for the older crowd at a dinner table to start eating is when I was somewhere business related or meeting a girlfriends parents. The idea that this is a regular occurrence for Koreans, shows how high they hold this idea of respect your elders. One of the most interesting traditions is the acceptance of alcohol. In Korean tradition, it is not polite to deny an alcoholic beverage from an elder unless you have consumed too much alcohol.
Some of the most popular TV shows in Korea are related to cooking, and surprisingly but arguably not surprising, the stars of the show are usually men. We see women cooking most often in Korean households, but the TV shows (Much like the U.S.) contain male dominated hosts and casts. One could argue that it is women's work, but if it involves money and fame, men don't mind taking over and being slightly taboo. An article even called this new idea of seeing men in the kitchen a new trend. The concept of men and women sharing equal time in the kitchen was a trend. What comes to no surprise (With a patriarchal mindset) is their reasoning for this being a new hip trend. In the United States we might think of a new trend setting more men in the kitchen to be a good stepping stone for more equality, but in Korea it appears that the appeal is because of attraction. Women find it to be very sexy when seeing a man in the kitchen. This raises the question, is it sexy to see a woman in the kitchen? Probably not, as they see them in the kitchen all the time. The reason for them finding it sexy that a man is in the kitchen (let alone, on TV) is the rareness. We don't often find men in the kitchen of Korean households and this rarity and uniqueness is appealing. One might argue that change is change, no matter the cause, which is true but raises the problem that the mindsets of Korean women is still a problem.
Many will argue that as Americans, we have no place to complain about traditions that are being performed in Korean dining rooms and kitchens, but where and who draws the line? The idea of only seeing women in the kitchen these days is really far from what it used to be and this is because of years and years of fighting and resistance. When looking at many countries around the world, it appears that they are years and years behind where we are in terms of equality but it comes off as ethnocentric when we don't accept their traditions because of our own performance in the kitchen. I think that is true to a certain point, but when traditions that are being performed are rooted from patriarchy or an idea that women should perform certain roles, helping the women around the world should be looked at as a positive thing. Also, many would argue that ethnocentrism is not always as bad as we make it out to be. I think it comes down the reasons at which we feel this way and partake in a particular task. If someone advocates for equality in the households and kitchens of Korea, should they be chastised for it?
In Michael Pollen's film about the four elements, he talks about the status that someone cooking holds. The United States is pretty unique in not putting enough emphasis on the power that the one in the kitchen holds and this is also rooted from our lack of respect for food. Many countries, including Korea, have a lot of respect and thankfulness towards the cooks. They are turning something into edible food that they then put into their bodies, which thus gives them the ability to perform various tasks throughout the day. We, as Americans usually don't look at cooking this way, and arguably skews our view of the power that one in the kitchen holds.
All of these points raise the concern of tradition vs. human rights, and we see that many women in Korea are happy with the way things are, but also see many that come to the United States for the exact reasons that some are content.
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