Agency or communion: Inter-generational dynamics of doing unpaid work at home in South Korea

ABSTRACT

This study examines the effect of doing housework on the self, with the aim of understanding women’s active move to gain agency in recent years and men’s hesitation in moving toward roles of caring or communion. It further seeks to understand what underlies these behavioral differences of gender. By analyzing data gathered via 79 biographical interviews and three focus group interviews with respondents drawn from two generations in Korea, I examine the following issues regarding doing unpaid work at home. First, between generations, the shift in cultural ideology from traditional gender norms to individual achievement has weakened the motivation to do unpaid work. Second, unlike conventional insights about gender differences in behavior, wherein women pursue closeness and affection (communion) while men seek independence and autonomy (agency), it is contended here that women and men pursue both to varying degrees in order to empower themselves while coping with unpaid work at home. This study contributes to understanding issues regarding gendered behavior in the following ways: it offers new insights about the conventional understanding about gender behavior being dichotomous; clarifies how women placed under traditional gender norms perform as autonomous actors; and seeks to understand gendered behavior in a historical context.

ABSTRACT IN KOREAN

이 연구는 최근 여성들은 성취지향, 즉 적극적으로 직업을 갖는 반면 남성들은 관계지향, 즉 돌봄제공을 꺼리는 현상에 대한 이해를 목적으로, 가사노동을 한다는 것이 자아에 미치는 영향을 탐색했다. 이를 위해, 행동 지향을 추동하는 맥락에 대한 이해를 초점으로, 한국에서 두 세대 79 명에 대한 생애사인터뷰와 3 개의 초점집단 인터뷰 자료를 분석해, 두 가지 결론을 도출했다. 첫째, 타인으로부터 인정을 획득하는 문화적 이념이 전통적 성 규범에서 개인적 성취로 변화했고, 이는 가사노동 수행의 동기를 약화시켰다. 둘째, 여성은 친밀감·애정을 추구하는 관계지향을 남성은 독립과 자율성을 추구하는 성취지향을 나타낸다는 젠더 행동에 대한 기존 관점과 다르게, 남녀 모두 두 가지 방향을 모두 추구한다. 이때 가사노동을 하는 것이 자아를 강화하는 정도에 따라, 각각의 지향을 추구하는 정도가 다르다는 것을 주장한다. 이 연구는, 첫째 이분법적으로 남녀 행동을 이해했던 기존 관점에서 벗어나 젠더 행동을 이해할 새로운 통찰력을 제공하고, 둘째, 전통적 성 규범을 따르는 여성이 어떻게 자율적인 행위자인지 밝히고, 셋째, 역사적 맥락에서 남녀 간 행동 차이를 이해하는데 기여했다.

KEYWORDS:

• Agency
• communion
• gendered responsibility
• housework
• individual achievement
• social psychology

KEYWORDS:

• 성취지향
• 관계지향
• 성별화된 책임
• 가사노동
• 개인적 성취
• 사회심리학

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1 In this paper, the terms household work, unpaid work at home, and housework are used interchangeably. These are compared with paid work and include any unpaid work for family members in one’s own home.

2 In Korea, in a rigid categorization, those born in the 1950s would not belong to either generation, as understood for this study. However, the category of domestic workers is unique because those interviewed for this study had an experience of paid work in private houses, doing their own housework, and volunteering in a government service program for those in need.

3 As Bryman (1984, p. 78) notes, identifying serendipitous occurrences is a significant merit of qualitative analysis.

4 He used the words, “no touch,” in Korean-style broken English, to say “don’t think about the value!”

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Eunjung Koo

Eunjung KOO is an assistant professor at Dongguk University, Seoul. She did her PhD at the International Institute of Social Studies of Erasmus University Rotterdam (ISS) on “Where is the value of housework? Re-conceptualizing housework as family care activity.” Her recent publications include “A Pluralistic insight on care value: Exuding from sharing gift of unpaid work at home” in Gender, Work & Organization. She is currently working on a research project on “Pluralistic social science and care” funded by the National Research Foundation of Korea. Email: [email protected]