Gendering places: residential technology and changing family relations in Korea

Abstract

This research is based on the understanding that the house form shapes and is shaped by predominant socio-cultural values and norms. The study outlines how the physical evolution of the Korean house form, specifically its heating system called the ondol, has been part of Korean women's lives since the fourteenth century. In particular, however, I focus on the twentieth century. I first describe how the physical structure of the Korean house and the ondol evolved in conjunction with larger societal changes during this period, arguing that these technological changes have substantially influenced the everyday practices of women, the social interactions among family members at home, and women's experiences of being at home. Second, and in order to provide more in-depth analysis of these interactions, I look to the results of 30 interviews with Korean American seniors. This study suggests that the living experiences of the residents were variously affected by their gender and generational relationships within the family.

Social Hierarchy Materialized: Korean Vernacular Houses as a Medium to Transfer Confucian Ideology

“…Furthermore, the persistence of the inner quarters until the middle of the 20th century, well into the republic period of Korea, and the ongoing use of the word "inner room" in the 21st century, could have helped generate a certain degree of gender role fixation in Korean society [26]. Thus, some research has found that the sexual segregation in the previous era has been "reconfigured" in the modern society, where "a husband works in the public sphere, while the wife devotes her time to support her husband and housekeeping activities" [21]. Even working married women in South Korea have been found to do more of the house work compared to other developed countries [13] while the labor market participation by educated women is relatively low compared to other OECD countries [27].…”

“…These houses were the compact version of vernacular houses and thus still inherited the old layout pattern of having inner quarters and outer quarters. The division of sexes, however, was not as strict as in the houses of the affluent ruling class since what was more important was to allocate a larger number of household members into a smaller number of rooms [21]. As in Figure 7, two basic building blocks were centered around the courtyard.…”

Keeping Warm in a Changing Place

“…It also dictated, along with the Confucian ethical order that emphasized women’s subordinate positions within a family, the familial relations in Korean homes by prescribing who managed the fire and who remained on a warm spot. 2 The physical structure of the traditional ondol was so integrated with the familial relations and daily practices of life that trained eyes could easily guess the daily routines of the occupants, including activities such as cooking, eating, and sleeping (Shin, 2012). Recent technological innovations in radiant heating methods and building technologies, along with a reduced emphasis on Confucian teaching in Korean society overall, have gradually disintegrated this close relationship, granting more freedom for day-to-day activities in Korean homes.…”