"Husband uses informal speech, wife uses honorifics? Is this the 21st century?.. Citizens 'angry' at outdated government promotional materials"

Widespread Cases of Sexist Elements in Government and Local Government Promotional Materials
National Human Rights Commission: "760 Cases of Sexist Expressions Found in 2-Month Monitoring"
Citizens Outraged by Outdated Government Promotional Materials
Experts: "Existing Gender Biases Becoming Entrenched... Strengthened Monitoring Needed at Each Institution Level"

The National Human Rights Commission of Korea's monitoring results of government and local government promotional materials revealed gender-discriminatory cases that emphasize gender-stereotyped images by depicting skirts, high heels, and body curves only for women. Photo by the National Human Rights Commission of Korea.

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Hyun-joo] "What kind of era is this... This just doesn't seem right!"

Following criticism earlier this year when the Seoul City Pregnancy and Childbirth Information Center guided that household chores and childcare are solely the responsibility of pregnant women, labeling it outdated, it has been revealed that discriminatory and hateful expressions based on gender are still widespread in government and local government promotional materials, angering citizens.

The National Human Rights Commission of Korea (NHRCK) announced that after monitoring hate speech in government and local government promotional materials for two months starting in March, expressions and images containing stereotypes and prejudices against social minorities were being used. Among these, gender-discriminatory expressions were the most frequent, totaling 760 cases.

According to the monitoring results, some government and local governments used expressions and images containing gender prejudices and stereotypes in policy promotional materials unrelated to gender. For example, husbands are depicted using informal speech while wives use polite honorifics, or women are portrayed only as secretaries, housewives, or service workers, emphasizing their role as caregivers. In some cases, female characters were drawn with eyelashes, skirts, high heels, and body curves to emphasize gender-stereotypical images.

Citizens have responded with disbelief. Ms. A, a woman in her late 20s working in an office, criticized, "In what household nowadays does the husband use informal speech to belittle while the wife uses polite speech? Seeing such outdated government promotional materials, I wonder if it is really the 21st century, 2021." Mr. B, a man in his 40s, said, "Times have changed, so the government should properly review promotional materials before distributing them."

Pregnancy guidance information from the Seoul Pregnancy and Childbirth Information Center that sparked controversy in January this year. The content has since been removed. Photo by Seoul Pregnancy and Childbirth Information Center website capture.

Cases of gender-discriminatory elements included in government and local government promotional materials have been repeatedly occurring. In January, the Seoul City Pregnancy and Childbirth Information Center caused controversy by advising pregnant women in late pregnancy to "prepare side dishes for husbands who are poor at cooking" and "organize husbands' and children's underwear according to the hospitalization date." It also advised "managing weight through housework such as cleaning and dishwashing," which sparked criticism.

Angered citizens even posted national petitions demanding disciplinary action against those responsible and public apologies. On January 6, a petition titled "We demand disciplinary action and public apology from the person in charge and responsible for the Seoul City Pregnancy and Childbirth Information Center controversy" was posted on the Blue House petition board. The author wrote, "Does Seoul City consider women as public goods for childbirth? The pre-delivery checklist for a woman at 35 weeks of pregnancy is just about organizing the husband's underwear and preparing meals. I am furious about what kind of staff thought this up." The petition received 26,068 signatures.

In June last year, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport also faced public backlash after defining "newlywed households" in the "2019 Housing Survey Results" as "households married for seven years or less with the female spouse aged 49 or younger," and deleted the definition within a day. At the time, strong criticism arose that limiting the age of women implied that only women of childbearing age were considered newlywed members. Concerns were also raised that newlywed households including women over 49 might be excluded from the ministry's housing support programs for newlyweds.

Given this situation, there are calls to review the publication and distribution system of government and local government promotional materials. Government promotional materials serve as communication channels for national policies, and the content, words, and expressions they contain can greatly influence citizens' perceptions, attitudes, and behaviors.

Kim Eun-kyung, a research fellow at the Women's Future Research Division of the Korean Women's Development Institute, warned, "Since government and local government promotional materials are distributed to the public, if gender-discriminatory elements are not filtered out, many people may be indiscriminately exposed to them. This can reinforce existing gender role stereotypes and prejudices, which is dangerous."

Since 2016, the government has been conducting gender impact assessments to exclude gender-discriminatory elements from government promotional projects. This applies to online and offline promotional materials produced by central administrative agencies and local governments for public communication, checking for △gender role stereotypes and prejudices △gender-discriminatory expressions, derogatory language, appearance-based discrimination △distorted views on violence △family stereotypes and prejudices △gender representation imbalance.

However, there are still criticisms that the government's promotional material management system is inadequate. The NHRCK stated, "Expressions containing stereotypes and prejudices against social minorities are not sufficiently filtered out in the management system of government promotional materials," and urged, "We hope the government will establish more fundamental measures such as supplementing regulations and inspection procedures related to promotional materials and providing education to improve public officials' human rights sensitivity."

In response, Research Fellow Kim Eun-kyung proposed strengthening promotional material monitoring at each institution level. She explained, "Although monitoring is currently conducted at the government level, the large number of institutions nationwide results in manpower shortages and physical difficulties. It is desirable for each institution to monitor promotional materials and seek expert advice when producing them." She emphasized, "Especially for videos, evaluation occurs after production is completed, making revisions difficult due to time and cost issues. Therefore, expert review should be conducted early in the production process, such as during scenario development."

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