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Women account for more than 60% of all schoolteachers, and
50.7% of those with the 25 to 29 years of experience that
qualifies them for promotions. However, women principals and
vice principals make up a meager 8.4% of all schoolteachers.
A breakdown of the ratio shows that women head the faculties
in 7.2% of elementary schools, 9.65% of middle schools, and
a paltry 4.5% of high schools. This is the reality of the
Korean education system.
Women teachers over 60% but women principles under 10%
Active search for equality policies such as promotion quotas
 Why
this unequal gender ratio in leadership in an education system
that teaches gender equality? Women teachers point out that
"the biggest obstacles to promotions are unreasonable
job evaluation methods and distorted allocation of gender
roles where it is assumed that principals should be male."
This distorted view has a negative influence on job evaluations,
an absolutely vital factor in promotions. Thus under the current
promotion system, women teachers are always shortchanged,
whether directly or indirectly.
Experts worry that the dearth of woman principals and vice
principals would mean insufficient role models for women teachers
and schoolgirls, which would in turn cement undesirable gendering
processes.
Things are not so bleak, however, with some women teachers
demanding that schools adopt a quota system in order to put
more women teachers on the school administration. The Ministry
of Education and Human Resources Development has recently
set targets for each metropolitan and provincial office of
education regarding the employment of women teachers at administrative
levels. The Ministry has asked each office to come up with
measures to gradually reach the employment target while stepping
up staff training to groom more women teachers to take up
administrative posts.
Gender equality, in both name and substance, and in quality
rather than quantity, is expected to become the hot issue
in the education system.
Reported by Choi Lee Bu-ja bjchoi@womennews.co.kr
On January 26, a polar bear in Everland Zoo broke the hearts
of watchers as it clawed at the bars blocking it from going
back to its sleeping quarters. The bear kept banging its head
against the bars, by then scratched raw of its white paint.
On-lookers who could not take it anymore shouted at the zookeepers
to let the bear in, but the zookeepers did nothing about it
until closing time.
Eagles that never spread their wings¡¦ Animals bored to
death
"If you had any love for animals, the zoo would be a
really sad place." Says 'Ha Ho,' an animal welfare group
within the Green Korea United that recently released a zoo
observation report after taking a look at zoos from the viewpoint
of animal welfare rather than animal exhibition.
Predatory birds like eagles rarely use their wings in their
narrow cages, herbivores such as deer and zebras stand on
concrete floors devoid of grass, gorillas sit in a cage with
only wall paintings of forests, and polar bears languish in
a cage with whitewashed walls instead of icebergs. Animals
meant to run free in the wilderness but kept in spaces hardly
big enough for pacing grow bored in captivity.
That is the state of the zoo in Seoul Grand Park. If a metropolitan
zoo that boasts the widest grounds and largest crowd is in
such a sorry state, one needs no clues about the state of
other local zoos. Most zoos are failing to even keep their
heads above water, much less care about animal welfare.
In the case of Everland Zoo, where admission fees are quite
high, the cages are relatively well kept and the animals in
good condition. However, the animals face a high level of
stress from being exposed all day to humans without any windows
separating the watchers from the watched.
Safari World, the first of its kind in Korea, consists of
car rides allowing visitors to get as close as possible to
huge beasts such as lions, tigers and bears. Safari World
is so popular that on holidays, visitors have to stand in
line for 25~30 minutes. But anyone who pictures a real safari
where beasts roam free in their natural habitat is sadly mistaken.
Lee, a housewife living in Seoul, says, "The animals
are trained to do simple tricks when thrown a biscuit their
way. So it's hard to observe natural animal behavior."
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Children at Seoul Grand Park Zoo patting the legs of a long-arm
monkey
<photograph by Min Won Ki>
Lighting a cigarette, throwing coins¡¦ Serious animal abuse
So are zoo visitors in a position to tell zookeepers to pay
attention to animal welfare? Definitely not, according to
zookeepers.
Go to the monkey cage in any zoo and you will find the place
littered with rubbish such as tidbits, peanut shells, orange
peel, plastic bags, sweets and so on. People take it for granted
that they can feed the monkeys, despite warning signs prohibiting
such behavior. Then there are kids who frighten jindo dogs
(a pedigree indigenous to Korea) by screaming at them, or
throw stones or spit into the ponds where birds like mandarin
ducks and swans live. Such misconduct usually goes unchecked.
"There are men who light cigarettes to give to monkeys,
and children who use sticks to poke at animals that don't
move. People throw coins at crocodiles and hippos, and carry
around balloons that can be fatal to animals. We try to stop
them but it's no use." (zookeeper at Seoul Grand Park
Zoo)
This kind of 'zoo-visiting' is close to animal abuse. Members
of 'Ha Ho' say they wonder if "animals really have any
effect on children's emotional growth."
Professor Philippe Thibaut (Konkuk Univ.) of 'Animal Freedom
Korea' says, "The overall opinion among English psychologists
these days is that if a youngster shows violence against other
people, it often springs from his attitude towards animals
and nature." Åͺ¸ once pointed out that "teenagers
who abuse animals and children who are cruel to birds and
trees have chosen to harm others."
The most popular among visitors to the zoo is none other than
animal shows. Asked what they found most memorable at the
zoo, children usually answer, "The chimpanzee show"
or "The seal show." To attract as many visitors
as possible, zoos usually train animals for entertainment.
Environmentalists however, claim that such shows must end.
The Love for Life Action Committee and the Forum Against Abuse
of Life Forms, which issued a statement last year in opposition
of an animal performance theater in Seoul Grand Park Zoo,
criticized animal shows for "instilling misconceptions
about the existence of life forms instead of teaching people
to understand nature and ecological values for the coexistence
of humans and nature."
"Environmental lessons in other countries teach children
ecological values by getting them to imitate the feelings
of other life forms. Training animals to put on shows forces
meaningless behavior on animals and meaningless entertainment
on humans, thereby going against the call of the times, which
is to learn how to sympathize with other forms of life."
 ¢¸
Zoo at Berlin Grand Park <photograph courtesy of 'Ha Ho,'
Green Korea United>
Indigenous animals such as tigers and leopards to be protected
first as Korean specialties
Seoul Grand Park Zoo is planning to create an 'ecology zoo'
in six stages starting this year and continuing on to 2015.
In an ecology zoo, animals are exhibited not according to
their indigenous continents such as Asia, Africa and America,
but according to climates such as desert, tundra and savanna,
controlling such factors as temperature and humidity to create
environments that most resemble the animals' natural habitat.
Plans that have been confirmed so far include an ecology zoo
of indigenous animals. Endangered species indigenous to Korea
such as the tiger, leopard, fox, wildcat, otter, oriental
white stork, moon bear, and yellow throated marten will be
protected as Korean specialties, so that the zoo can gain
world competitiveness.
Eo Gyeong Yeon, a veterinarian at Seoul Grand Park, says,
"Any zoo creates ecological problems such as disruption
of the food chain, by the simple fact that zoos cage in wild
animals. However, we are researching ways to provide as much
space and as ideal an environment as possible for the animals
while at the same time contributing to the preservation of
their species."
The biggest task ahead for the Seoul Grand Park's ecology
zoo project is securing funds. Whatever lies ahead, one thing
is clear - animals should no longer be displayed like goods
in a department store for visitors to ogle at. In rearing
animals, zoos must place more value on the preservation and
restoration of the ecosystem, while at the same time making
an effort to educate humans as well. Above all, an ecology
zoo that respects the rights of animals will be possible when
people first adopt a better attitude as zoo visitors.
<reported by Cho Lee Yeu-wool
cognate@womennews.co.kr>
| [The
Other Side of International Film Festivals] 'Bad' Western
Attitudes towards Asian Films |
What worries me is that deep within the westerner's favorable
view of Asian Films may lie an anachronistic Orientalism that
indulges in exotic spectacles and regards the East as an object
of sexual fantasies.
It was during my time in the US studying for a Masters in
drama. A Caucasian classmate asked me in 1993 if it was true
that Asian men have more homosexual inclinations and feminine
natures than Western men. Before I could ask where my friend
had gotten such ideas, I recalled that the few Asian movies
showing at that time all portrayed the homosexual emotions
of Asian men.
By a weird coincidence, in that year alone, Chinese director
Chen Kaige's <Farewell My Concubine> swept the Golden
Palm at the Cannes Film Festival and the Best Foreign Language
Film from the Golden Globes, Taiwanese director Ang Lee's
<The Wedding Banquet> was screening on campus, and Chinese
American David Henry Hwang's play turned movie <M. Butterfly>
was screening in a cinema downtown.
Although movies are not by nature an accurate reenactment
of reality, these movies, with Asian characters or settings
were a window on Asian culture to my curious friend who had
never been to Asia before.
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<Surrogate Woman>
Awareness of minority rights and interest in foreign cultures,
which started spreading in the US and Europe from the 1980s,
influenced the cultural sector as well. Consequently, a few
Third World or Asian films won awards in international film
festivals in the 1990s. These days, some countries even have
Korean film directors' reviews.
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<Lies>
Unlike Hollywood blockbusters that never fail to reek of money
or European movies that seem to have aged, low-budget Asian
movies seem like a breath of fresh air, an art of "un-expression."
These movies have undoubtedly shown European and American
critics a new possibility in aesthetics.
What worries me is that deep within the westerner's favorable
view of Asian Films may lie an anachronistic Orientalism that
indulges in exotic spectacles and regards the East as an object
of sexual fantasies.
This post-modernistic Orientalism, which regards Asian movies
with benignity and curiosity just because they are Asian,
may seem to originate from a deep understanding and interest
in Asian culture. But sometimes it is nothing more than western
intellectuals' sophisticated fetish for things Asian. Amidst
the globalization of the film industry, there are some Asian
filmmakers who go as far as to make artistic movies that appeal
to the palate of Westerners.
Director Chen Kaige once confessed that while making <Farewell
to My Concubine,> he was constantly wondering how the movie
would look in the eyes of foreigners. Perhaps that is why
Asian movies that have drawn the attention of the West have
a few set commonalities despite their distinct artistic styles.
 ¢º
<Bad Guy>
Asian movies are usually set in historic times of war or internal
turmoil. If not, they portray religious ideas not found in
the West, or describe distorted, chauvinistic gender roles
or sadistic or masochistic sexual relationships bound to invite
criticism in Western societies for being politically incorrect.
In other words, Asian movies enjoying western critical acclaim
are stuck in a pre-modern limbo that anyone with reasonable,
rational 'western' logic would never understand. To add insult
to injury, the sacrificial lamb chosen to literally embody
the irrational but therefore 'lyrical and beautiful' chaos
of Asia is none other than Asian women.
Some may complain that I am yet again picking at the worn-out
issue of Orientalism in the face of simple, friendly interest,
but still, foreign interest in Korean movies sometimes calls
for suspicious scrutiny.
<reported by Woo Mi Seong(Special Researcher at the Media Art Research
Center, Yonsei University)>
(The Women's News http://www.womennews.co.kr)
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