This book lacks strong women as important characters?

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Re: This book lacks strong women as important characters?

Post by lavkathleen »

car-mbz wrote: 25 Jan 2021, 16:46 I also think that the author wanted to be historically accurate. Those early years women were not involved in active roles in wars or politics.
On the contrary, women were heavily involved in wars and politics even during that time. The only problem was that a lot of historians refuse to recognize them, which lead to a lot of us not knowing about them. Not to mention, their voices and actions about this were frowned up by the very people that surrounded them. Also, Mr. Koo mentioned that women joined the independence movement, too. Some of them even knew how to use guns. I just wish the author showed us more of that instead of just mentioning it in passing.
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Post by prakritisingh »

Yes, I do agree that the story lacks a presentation of strong woman characters. There were a few instances when women were employed in role of uprising and involved in the work of newspapers and patriotic poetry. But the general situation remains hidden. Women are not allowed to have a say in their marriage. Some women do support men fighting for the country but their work is limited to the nurse and cook jobs and serve the men. They are employed to take care of the injured and to cook food for men. They are not even given training about fighting. The book really needed a representation of strong woman characters.
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Post by Shieldmaiden88 »

I don't think strong female characters are always necessary to a story. It all depends on what the author's main idea is and how he wants to express it. The cultures in Asia at the time are also important as to what roles women would normally have. In my opinion, the strength of a person's character isn't about what roles are considered appropriate for them in their culture, but in who they are as people. Women who live their lives largely as homemakers are arguably the most influential people in the lives of the next generation who they are raising.
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Post by Fleurine_t92 »

There was two protagonist. It start with lady sougyon but end with embon recklessly. I didn't like the ending and middle part though. The cultural in korea didn't seem like she showed off in the book. That book is historical fiction but none of the family allowed having relationship like that and also the year was wrong and also at the event too.
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Post by BellAJoEb »

I will agree that more women were not represented in important roles, but a few like Lady Sougyon mentioned, happened to represent a very important and strong role. The author might just be representing the insufficiency of women playing important roles in the society, as it then was in that time in Asia.
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Post by Carina Jordaan »

During those times, a woman's biggest strength was to endure and learn how to live in those circumstances without giving up. Imagine the only purpose is to get married to someone you do not love and raise his children to be strong and with hope even if you are hopeless.
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Post by Claudia DCD »

I love how this is a discussion, because it's not perfectly clear. It's a valid desire, and as readers, we are hungry for some strength especially from our characters we sit beside for the time of our reading. But given the time period and culture of the time, would it have been realistic? There are a variety of people in the world, no matter the culture, and I'm sure there are strong women, but I don't think they got enough time in the limelight, let's say. The Japanese woman who was flirting with Embon, the Korean woman who was in the group who went to the teashops, I wonder if she got interrogated too when Embon did.
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Post by Ahbed Nadir »

The story did indeed lack strong female characters. I can't help but think this might be a nod to Korea's obvious sexism and low treatment of women. Almost all female characters written by the author were depicted as subservient or meek without much substance.
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Post by Ahbed Nadir »

One another note although there were very few strong female characters one I can certainly think of is Lady Sougyun. She is a very good example of a strong female character. Despite the abuse her husband heaped on her, despite the shame of her son being unsuccessful she still held herself high and moved with dignity. She had a sort of silent strength that was lovely to behold. She worked for the success of her son despite all the obstacles against her.
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Post by Ahbed Nadir »

Dee_Robert wrote: 02 Jan 2021, 03:12 I thought so too, I kept wondering why stronger female roles weren't emphasized or even encouraged. If it is for historical accuracy as you have said, then its quite sad that women weren't or aren't more outspoken or in identified roles. All in all though, the characters showed strength and courage in their fight, women present or not.
Yes, that's certainly another view. All the characters did show bravery and strength in one way or another in their own particular struggles.
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Post by Ahbed Nadir »

Sushan wrote: 03 Jan 2021, 04:09 A valid argument. It is true that females were not much highlighted in the ancient Asian societies. So the author might have gone along with that fact when writing his book. But, for the notice, there are few strong female characters in this book as well
Yes, I do feel that the author was trying to give an air of realism and authenticity to the tale so that was why there was a distinct lack in female characters. However, I would ask you to take a look at the character of Lady Sougyon who was a very strong and dignified woman.
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Post by Ahbed Nadir »

Fleurine_t92 wrote: 30 Jan 2021, 00:54 There was two protagonist. It start with lady sougyon but end with embon recklessly. I didn't like the ending and middle part though. The cultural in korea didn't seem like she showed off in the book. That book is historical fiction but none of the family allowed having relationship like that and also the year was wrong and also at the event too.
The timelines were a bit off I agree. However it was a natural progression for the story to start with Lady Sougyon and end with Embon as it is the natural flow of life from the mother to the child. Lady Sougyon was a fascinating female character who added so much to the plot.
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Post by Ahbed Nadir »

gabrielletiemi wrote: 01 Jan 2021, 05:30 In my opinion, this book could represent more women in important roles. However, I also think about the fact that this is a historical fiction novel. Therefore, the author might also be accurately portraying the lack of women in important roles in Asia by the time of the narrative. What do you think about that?
I would suggest that you go and reread the story and I feel that you will be struck by the strength of Lady Sougyon's character. She was quite the element of dignity and strength. I do agree with you however that there was a distinct lack of strong females in the book. It was a sort of reference to Asia's sexist attitude towards women at that time.
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Post by Josephe-Anne »

I felt that Lady Sougyon was a strong female character. She defied cultural norms to do what was right, and she raised a son on her own in a very conservative society.
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Post by Dimi1 »

It's the era that prevails. In this context, women seem to be in the background.
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