"Have You Tried Calling Mr. OO Instead of 'Doryeonnim'? Gendered Title Controversy Every Holiday"

"Seobangnim, Doryeonnim, Agassi Replaced by Names" Seoul City's 'Gender-Equal Holiday Dictionary'
In-Laws, Brothers-in-Law... Can Gender-Discriminatory Titles Be Changed?

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Han Seung-gon] As public opinion has emerged to change gender-discriminatory terms of address among relatives, attention is focused on whether such discriminatory terms were actually avoided during this Chuseok holiday.

Gender-discriminatory terms of address refer to calling someone by their name with 'Mr./Ms. ○○' instead of titles like Seobangnim, Doryeonnim, or Agassi. Also, the in-law family is referred to as Siga (in-laws) instead of Sidaeok, and both paternal and maternal grandmothers are called simply 'Halmeoni' (grandmother) without distinction.

This content is included in the 'Seoul Gender Equality Holiday Dictionary?2020 Chuseok Edition' announced by the Seoul Foundation of Women and Family on the 29th. The dictionary is part of the foundation's citizen participation campaign to make the language and behavior of Seoul citizens more gender-equal in daily life.

A total of 1,803 Seoul citizens gave their opinions for this holiday dictionary. Among them, 1,194 were women, accounting for 66.2%, and 609 were men, making up 33.8%.

So far, the foundation has publicly shared commonly experienced gender-discriminatory language during holidays or daily life as selected by citizens in the 'Seoul Gender Equality Language Dictionary' Season 1 (2018) and Season 2 (2019), commemorating 'Gender Equality Week' (September 1?7).

However, among citizens, there is a consensus that such gender-equal language is difficult to realize unless their own family culture changes.

Kim (last name withheld), a company employee in his 30s working in Seoul, said, "The family atmosphere itself either does not recognize or is not interested in the fact that gender-discriminatory terms are used, so it might be difficult to bring this up for discussion within the family." He added, "Nevertheless, discriminatory terms should be changed, so I plan to try implementing this little by little."

Another female office worker in her 30s, Lee (last name withheld), said, "It is already widely known among women that not only discriminatory terms but also various household chores during holidays are discriminatory." She added, "It is welcome that the government raises issues about gender-discriminatory terms of address." She continued, "However, how to establish this seems to be a task each family must solve."

Kim (last name withheld), a female university student in her 20s, said, "Now that I know it is discrimination, I think it will start to change. The term 'Doryeonnim' does not fit the current era." She questioned, "Among people in their 20s, no one uses such words, right?"

[Image source=Yonhap News]

Regarding the controversy over terms of address among relatives, a 2017 survey titled 'Language Status Survey for Social Communication' conducted by the National Institute of the Korean Language targeting people aged 10 to 60 found that 86.3% of opinions related to terms of address and reference said 'improvement is needed.'

Among these, 34.7% related to 'gender equality.' Terms referring to the husband's siblings are also a representative subject of controversy. Among respondents, 65.8% answered that terms like 'Doryeonnim' for the husband's younger brother or 'Agassi' for the husband's younger sister need improvement.

In conclusion, while there is broad consensus on gender-discriminatory terms of address, the issue of how to actually use them within each household seems to be related to family culture.

Experts suggest that changes should be possible depending on the situation after public discussion of the controversy over terms of address. Kim Ha-su, a research fellow at the Hankyoreh Language Research Institute who participated in the family terms of address discussion hosted by the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family in May last year, argued, "Terms of address are a phenomenon influenced by social context and time, and family terms of address should also assume variability." He added, "However, it is risky to rush language culture improvement," explaining, "While opening channels to raise issues, changes should be made gradually."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.