Gender Inequality in East Asian Culture

According to the Global Gender Gap Index 2021, an international survey that investigates gender discrimination in 156 countries, the United States, Belgium, and United Kingdom ranked 30, 13, and 23 respectively. On the other hand, East Asian countries like China, Korea, and Japan ranked 107, 102, and 120. Although this may come as a surprise, gender inequality and sexism has been a problem that is deeply ingrained in Asian culture. For instance, in 1979, China introduced the one-child policy as a form of birth control. As its name suggests, this national law limits the number of children a couple could have to one. Across the nation, this policy generated a negative stigma towards women-- women in urban areas faced the fear of losing their jobs or homes, and women in rural areas were threatened with life changing fines. Even though China has now discontinued this policy, an even more severe consequence is still faced today. Since Chinese culture has always been patriarchal, the one-child policy increased incidences of female infanticide and sex-selective abortions-- decreasing the ratio of males to female. This has lead to a spike in of human trafficking across Asia. 

However, these issues aren’t limited to China. In Korea, the prevalence of K-pop and K-drama has created an environment of impossible body standards. As a result, Korea is the leading nation of plastic surgery; according to a report in 2020, more than 20% of Korean women undergo some sort of plastic surgery. This problem has also led to troubling cases of eating disorders, where one in three South Korean women have an eating disorder. Similarly, Japan has cultivated an atmosphere where mentioning gender inequality is shunned. In Japanese culture, there is a belief of kuuki o yomu, or “read the air,” which means that individuals should ignore sexist behavior in order to avoid confrontation. This concept has normalized sexist behavior from men and down played the stigmatization towards women. Furthermore, among OECD countries, Japan has one of the largest gender gaps in employment. According to Japan’s Ministry of Health, only 14.7 percent of women hold positions equal to supervisor, and 8.9 percent of women are section heads. Even worse, Japan’s wage gap is a staggering 24.5 percent. 

In essence, gender inequality is an immense issue in Eastern Asian countries: an obstacle that is rarely touched on by the western media. However, these countries are all taking steps to reduce gender discrimination. In China, more women are given the opportunity to seek a higher education, and women are receiving higher ranking jobs. In Korea, government sectors and private businesses are hiring more women and shifting negative mentalities. Finally, Japan is taking steps to increase political representation for women.