[Letters] Gender equality is a window to the future

On the controversial bikini self-portrait distributed online, the host of an online broadcasting program openly declared, “I am impressed at the physiological completeness of this female body in a bikini.” When female listeners felt seriously insulted and sexually violated, the host claims that it was not sexual harassment. Does this incident reflect the low awareness and sensitivity of sexual harassment among Korean men?

Korea has joined the ranks of developed countries in economic growth, education and medicine, but the country was rated 107th out of 134 countries in the gender gap index by the World Economic Forum in 2011.

Meanwhile, the income gap between men and women was in 116th place, and the rate of female economic activity was at 111th, because women are not recognized as equals. It is a great challenge to live in Korea as a woman because Korean men do not even realize that looking at this photo could be an act of sexual harassment.

Of his perspective on the future, Softbank Chairman Sohn Jeong-eui said, “In a boat, when you can’t see ahead, you have to look farther, and when you look away from the details, the scenery becomes clear. But if you look closely, you may get seasick.”

Gender equality is a window looking out to the future. When you cannot see ahead in Korean society, when you continue to stand by your own interests and fail to look further, everyone onboard the ship of the Republic of Korea may suffer from seasickness.

Kim Tae-hyeon, a professor of social works at Sungshin University