Elderly Women as minority in family structure of Confucianism culture

The status of women in society has been regarded as minority in many different cultures. For example, in the gerontology, many scholars point out the inequality of women as a role of caregiver for elderly whether it is paid or unpaid. (Olson 2001, 231) However, in Korean society with Confucianism concept, the older women status in family looks worse than other older women in different cultures. 


At previous two posts, I focus on the positive aspect of Confucianism for the aging population. However, some of the characteristic of Confucianism are negative (or unfair) to female elderly, especially in Korean society. 




Even though Confucianism stresses that respecting elderly is important duty for younger generation, it is mostly focused on male elderly especially in traditional society. Now there are much less sex-discrimination in current society, compare to the traditional society, but there has been existed the strong hierarchy between male and female in the Confucianism culture society.


Older women in family have to serve their husband and husband's family members including their own children. All the household works and caregiving jobs are for women. From traditional Korean society, peripheral status of female in husband’s family makes women more rely on their children. In the male dominant society, called Patrilineage society, women always remain outside of the family group.  Korean family group continues by male descendants who are carrying surname to next generations. Married female, otherwise, is not considered as a full-member of the patrilineal group. The marriage for Korean women means joining other family group rather than individual romance. Women who married out to husband’s group have different surname of the group, and they are excluded from important family activity. For example, women were usually not allowed to joining Korean funeral procession. In “Ancestor Worship and Korean Society,” Roger L. Janelli maintains that “A woman …  has come from outside the lineage in the process of marriage, and is therefore a person of divided loyalties.” (Janelli 1982: 65)


Also, during the industrialization, many women who had been in household came out to urban area to work at factory for earning incomes to bring themselves up to the higher level of society. For working class women as women in traditional society, however, their position in family was not changed. They had a dual works in factory and household. Confucianism culture requires women to work hard in household such as serving family members and upbringing children. In “Class Struggle or Family Struggle?”, Seoung-kyung Kim argues about “it was what their upbringing led them to expect of a proper adult woman, and it was a role that contained enough status responsibility to be personally satisfying. Motherhood is culturally expected and internalized as a core value by most South Korean woman, regardless of social class.” (Kim 1997: 168) 


As Korean females get older, unlike the male elderly, they do not have the same respects as males from younger generations. Korean women can not participate into many traditional ceremony as men. The hierarchy between men and women are exist even when they get older. It is the double jeopardy for Korean old women in their family.

*  Reference 

     Janelli, Roger L. 1982. Ancestor Worship and Korean Society. Stanford: Stanford University Press

     Kim, Seoung-kyung 1997 Class Struggle or Family Struggle?. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
     Laura Katz Olson (2001), Age Through Ethnic Lenses: Caring for Elderly in a Multicultural Society. MA, Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, INC.