Review: Kim Ji-Young, Born in 1982 by Cho Nam-Joo
How do you pick out the books you take on vacation? Some people take beach-reads, commit to finishing a book like Ulysees, or go only with magazines. I tend to take a mix of books that I want to read, need to read because my TBR pile is out of hand, but mostly it's books that my friends have given me that I feel bad for not taking time to read (love you, Molli). I added Kim Ji-Young, Born in 1982 by Cho Nam-Joo, to the pile to bring on vacation because Lilith book club was reading it, and I happened to have a copy. This book went from collecting dust on my book bench to quickly becoming one of the best books I have ever read. Once I finished it, I demanded my friend read it. She did so, and we both concluded that everyone needs to read this book.
Kim Ji-Young, Born in 1982 by Cho Nam-Joo, is claimed to have sparked a feminist movement in Korea. The book is a fictional story about a woman named Kim but has footnotes based on facts and studies. Kim recently had a baby, and her husband is noticing she is having episodes where she thinks she is another woman. To find out what is causing the episodes, we dive into Kim's life, starting from when she is a little girl. As you learn about her life, you see how the gender roles associated with being a woman have profoundly affected her and the women around her.
Kim grew up with two siblings, a brother, and a sister. It was instilled in her that her brother was the priority, even though he was the youngest and would be the one who got the best of everything. Not only in her family did she face this treatment but also at school. The girls were more likely to get in trouble over uniform infractions, be slower eaters, and be harassed by boys only to be told that the boys were mean to them because they had a crush on them.
When Kim went off to university, she worked hard at school, and after she graduated, she had a terrible time finding a job. The main reason was that the companies wanted men to work for them because they did not have to worry about men getting married and having children. Once she got a job, the sexism in the workplace continued. Only one woman had a senior role in the company, but to have that, she had to endure a vast amount of harassment from being a working mother from both men and women. Kim herself faced hardships when she wanted to move up in her career. She was turned down, and a man was put in the spot even though she worked at the company longer and had a better track record.
The tipping point of the novel comes up when Kim and her husband decide to have a baby. The conversation of career and child-care ended up with Kim leaving her job to become a stay-at-home mom. Following her journey as a stay-at-home mom, you see the inner conflicts she has in wanting to be a good mom and have a career. The lack of support from her husband and their relatives only adds to her stress of not doing what she wants with her life because that is not how Korean society works. She processes the pressure by taking on the identity of other women she knows to talk about how Kim (herself) is feeling and would like to be treated.
Kim Ji-Young is a character that will stick around with you for months after you finish the novel. Her story of how the patriarchy has affected her will make anyone sit down and reflect on their own experiences. This book will touch anyone who reads it, women will feel it emotionally, and men can learn from it. Once you read this book, you'll have to let us know how this book changed you. I will not even mention the ending because it might be the best-written ending for a book on this topic.
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