Lifestyles

Expository/Comparison

Lee Jun-hu'i

There are changes in married women's lives not only out of the house but also in the house. The old days when my mother got married, women tended to lost their own lives after getting married and could not have their hobbies. Almost all women just managed home with the money that husbands had earned and tended to think only their family, and they had to do all the housework alone. In other words, they spent all day in working housework so they had no time to do what they wanted, reading, listening to music. This kind of married women's lifestyle made character of "ajumma" in Korea. "Ajumma" means generally the married women who don't know about politics, social problem, common sense and have no manners, politeness. Besides married women were usually called and remembered as "N's mother" and "N's wife" instead of their own name. On the other hand, nowadays women's role has changed. After women get married, they want to be independent from their family and have their own life. Besides housework is shared by husband and wife equally. Husbands help their wives to do housework, cooking, washing dishes, caring babies... These days married women have hobbies to enjoy their own lives; for example, flower arrangement, swimming, tennis. All in all, women's lives become more and more independent and equal.