International Journal of Human Ecology

The Korean Home Economics Association (대한가정학회)
권호 표지

The Well Traveled Yet Rough Road: Korean Housewives' Everyday Life Experiences and Strategies for Identity

  • Kim, Seon-Mi (Dept. of Family Welfare, Gwangju University) ;
  • Oum, Young-Rae (Dept. of Women's Studies, Clark University) ;
  • Lee, Ki-Young (Dept. of Consumer Studies & Resource Management, Seoul National University)
  • Published : 2007.12.30
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Abstract

The authors examined how Korean housewives manage family resources, make decisions, handle pressures, and negotiate the constraints of everyday life in a society that places unrealistic expectations upon them. The authors approached housewives by imagining them as thinking, strategizing, and problem-solving individuals, who are capable of speaking for themselves and making choices within situational and personal limits. Eleven full-time housewives were interviewed on how they experience their marriages, children, families, and society. Their narratives were then analyzed to sort out the strategies the women employed to maintain their identities. The narratives showed women's will and agency as they worked to resolve the contradictions in their daily life, and revealed individual differences within this group of women who are often seen as homogenous.

Keywords

References

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