Hello. I’m Eunbee Kang. And I want to live in a world without feminism. But what do I mean by a world without feminism? I mean a community where fairness prevails. A world in which women don’t feel the need to demand equal rights anymore. A world in which boundaries are broken.
For the past few decades, South Korea has shown impressive improvement: economically, socially and culturally. But unfortunately, despite these mainly financial developments, we didn't find enough room to invite ourselves to the idea of gender equality. But that's totally fine because if there's one thing we are good at as South Koreans, it's catching up. And catch up is what we need to do.
From the point of view of feminism, we are living in a third world country. Now. But we can catch up. In a decade, I hope to see both genders treated exactly the same. And in 30 years, I want to have erased the word 'feminism' from our dictionary, our thoughts, and our lives.
And here’s how we’re going to get there. First, we have to get acquainted with the term 'feminism' because when this happens, we will received three valuable assets in return. On a fundamental level, it will help the world restore the balance between the two genders. Second, it will free men and women from gender stereotypes. And finally, it will open up new doors and opportunities and make the world a more livable place for us all. This is an idea and a vision that has clear strengths and merits. But it’s not always seen that way.
Some men argue that they feel emasculated when they hear the word feminism. And on top of that, they often make a mistake in considering feminism to be no more than a simple synonym for man-hating. It is truly poignant to witness a scene in which your intentions are distorted and misconstrued. So, in order to then narrow the gap between my idea of feminism and the ordinary male idea of feminism, I’d like to share something with you. It begins 17 years ago. When I was 7, I loved the color blue. I still do. But growing up, I was constantly reminded that pink is the appropriate color for a girl, a girl like me. At 15, it was considered “odd” when I preferred playing tennis over doing my nails. At 20, I was encouraged to act innocent and shy in front of guys because apparently, that was the best strategy to win a man’s heart. During my whole upbringing, I was constantly indoctrinated so as to not express any sign of what masculinity I may have possessed and to instead show off my femininity.
And this raises the question: Why is our potential and why are our preferences restricted by such prejudice towards our genders? We all are entitled to see the world how we perceive it and are all entitled to share our vision and thoughts openly and candidly.
Fortunately for us, eliminating gender stereotypes is a remarkably simple job. It’s not rocket science. Let’s suppose, for example, that we are a new born baby. We have no prejudice, no planted ideas, nothing. Plus, social norms haven’t affected our minds nor have we been the victims of any type of propaganda or brainwashing.
Yet. In such a setting, there are no strings attached. The world is our proverbial oyster. And I truly hope and believe that such a life can be achieved for the next generation. Boys should feel free to embrace their femininity and girls should be at ease when accepting their masculinity.
From a broader perspective, we should also create a platform for everyone in which they can compete on equal terms: that is, according to their ability and intelligence. We must not allow base ideologies or groundless beliefs that majority of women would choose their kids over their career to prevail in our society anymore. It’s time to say farewell to such old-fashioned attitudes and say hello to a new open and free discourse.
So, hello. I’m Eunbee Kang. I forgot to introduce myself at the start. I fancy myself as a feminist but, for some reason, I still sometimes have a hard time saying that to other people. I said it to you here today because I want to achieve sometime. I want to achieve a world without borders. A world in which I no longer have to stand here and say, “Hello, I’m Eunbee Kang. And I’m a feminist.” That world is the world of now. The world of the future. And the world of our children’s generation. Let’s make it together.
Thank you.