An Honest Conversation with My Mother about Generational Feminism
I’ve always been close with my mother. She’s always done everything she can for me, she checks in with me about how I’m doing every day, and she’s a feminist. The last aspect truly does mean a lot to me, as it’s often difficult to find feminist women in Korean societies. I’ve always considered myself a feminist, and I think I’ve been able to identify as such because my mom has set such a strong example for what it means to be a woman smashing societal standards. But, as times change, so do social norms, and the actions that were ground-breaking in my mother’s day are often considered more ordinary now. For example, my mother often had to assert that she deserved certain positions for clubs at school while nowadays there seems to be less of a bias in educational settings. Or at least, when there is, we can do more about it.
Since I’ve so often experienced a discrepancy within our views, I wanted to sit down and have an honest conversation about what feminism means to the two of us. In this article, I’ve pieced together bits from my informal interview with her, and my own analysis of what her views mean for feminism today.
Me (referred to as A in continuing dialogue): “Okay, are you ready?”
Mom (referred to as M): “Yes.”
