아줌마 화이팅 – 스마트 아줌마 Smart Ajumma

Ajummas are cheering for the Garlic Girls! (Korea’s women’s curling team)

Uiseong county is very famous for garlic in South Korea. So our women’s curling team is called as garlic girls because four of them (the team) are from Uiseong. They’re friends and sisters each other whom were born and grew up in the same town, Uiseong.

This is our first time that our curling team went to the final (and even semi-final) so our nation is very exciting to watch their match and especially their hometown is now enjoying this winter olympic because of those amazing Garlic Girls. Many of international reporters reported about them (e.g. NYT) and their hometown through different types of media during last few days. And they were very interested in the people of Uiseong and how they’re cheering for their hometown girls. Most of them are ajummas and they brought their homemade signs, screamed and even danced together! This is amazing!!! When I read their articles and watched videos on YouTube, I was so glad to know that those international reporters filmed about our energetic and sweet ajummas. They are not mothers of garlic girls but they are those girls’ neighbours so they prepared homemade signs and danced together to cheer for their ‘hometown daughters’. Because they feel like those garlic girls are their daughter (even though they’re not their biological mother but they’re mother!).

These ajummas are cheering for their daughters because they want to share their ‘Jeong’ with those girls, I think. This video of people in Uiseong makes me laugh and cry. Beautiful ajummas with warmheartedness.

Ajumma EXP!

This is amazing! I found ‘Ajumma EXP’ and they’re lovely ajummas doing flash mobs and various performances. The most important thing is that this lovely community has the exact thought about our ‘ajummas’ –middle aged women. I’m still reading their blog and other social media sites so I will upload more about them asap. I’m so happy to know them and I feel like I can do something more exciting thing for our ajummas. (Even though I got rejected email from one of journals this morning but I’m still happy because of this community. ^_^ Go AJUMMAS!!!!

Click the image above to visit Ajumma EXP website

indie-visual Ajummas

An ajumma is the unique word and, at the same time, it represents the group of middle-aged women and their culture. As Beauvoir, Butler, and Haraway note (1989:12, 1999 and 1991) gender is constructed culturally, ajumma should be understood and discussed within Korean culture that this ‘ajumma’ group was involved and created in.

“One is not born, but rather becomes a woman”

With this idea, I would like to say that, “an ajumma is not born, but rather women in Korea becomes an ajumma”. Thus, knowing who an ajumma is, what an ajumma do and how an ajumma is represented in Korea will be triggered to understand women in Korea and more than that. They are represented in Korea with various a biased point of view, however they’re now representing themselves with the usage of social media and creating their own way of social media culture.

People regarded ajummas as just an ajumma without knowing well about them. When we look at them carefully and know more about them, we can find how each ajumma is a person of distinct individuality.

02/05/2017, A Selfie Ajumma

Screen Shot 2017-05-02 at 3.57.02 pm.png

Grandma’s diary!!! (Finally we have grandma (ajumma)Youtuber!!

Oh My God!!! I’m so exciting to see this ‘Grandma’s Diary’ Youtube channel. I really like and find a variety of Korean Youtubers and watching their videos whenever I have spare time. And it was rare to find an ajumma Youtuber…BUT I found an amazing Youtuber today and the title of her channel is ‘Grandma’s Diary (박막례 할머니, Grandma Mak-Rye Park)’. The title is Grandma’s diary but I think she could be considered as an ajumma, too.

There is no subtitle for non-Korean speakers yet but you can understand what she’s saying through watching her videos. In the video that I share below shows that grandma Park explains how she does makeup for meeting a dentist. She is so lovely!

I keep watching her videos!

5-day market and our ajummas

I and my parents love going to 5-day market. 5-day markets (Oiljang Markets) are held every 5 days usually in the countryside of South Korea. In 5-day market, we can buy regional specialities that hardly found in a supermarket in my town. Especially, I love having local foods that local ajumma sellers cook with ingredients from their own farms.They look plain but the flavours of them are too beautiful for words.

Screen Shot 2017-01-18 at 11.40.11 am.png — Dotorimuk (Homemade Achorn Jelly) Ajumma

I can meet so many ajummas in 5-day markets as well. Ajumma sellers bring and sell their harvests in this market to support their children’s education. And ajummas also purchase things they need in this market, too. These 5-day market is similar to the wash place in my PhD research, it is a kind of places where ajummas do social economy activities. Maybe I need to think more about the relationship between a 5-day market and our ajummas. But one thing that I can say is that 5-day market is another women’s place, especially place for ajummas.

screen-shot-2017-01-18-at-11-39-06-am — Ajummas are waiting for their turn to extract the sesame oil in the mill

Mum’s style?

Mum’s style tote bags on 50% sale!!

Then, what is mum’s style?

엄마스타일 가방 세일문구. 그나저나 엄마 스타일은 과연 뭔가? 물론 엄마스타일 청바지 이런것도 있긴 하지만 저런 표현을 볼때마다 좀 그렇다. 그리고 너무 촌스럽다. 왜 항상 엄마 스타일은 촌스러운게 대부분인가? 엄마들도 최신유행 좋아한다.

엄마스타일…? 이런 표현은 뭔가 좀 그렇다.

아재는 되고 아줌마는 왜 안돼?

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이미지 출처: 조선일보 (http://news.chosun.com/)

어렸을때 티비에서는 한창 ‘썰렁 시리즈’가 인기였었다. 말그대로 썰렁개그는 웃지도 울지도 못하는, 리액션을 어떻게 해야하면 좋을지 고민하게 만드는 ‘썰렁’해지는 개그를 일컫는 말이었다. 말장난을 하거나 허무하게 끝이나는 이야기를 포함하는 썰렁개그 혹은 허무개그는 그렇게 한때 사람들 사이에서 인기였었다. 다양한 종류의 ‘~시리즈’가 시대를 타고 만들어지고 또 다시 새로운것에 밀려나기를 반복하면서, 내가 어렸을때 깔깔대고 좋아하던 그 ‘썰렁개그’도 잊혀졌었다. 하지만, 요즘 다시 그 ‘썰렁개그’는 ‘아재개그’라는 새로운 이름으로 재등장했다.

아주비의 경상도 방언으로, 작은아버지의 뜻으로 사용되어졌다가 지금은 아저씨를 일컫는 말로 쓰이고 있는 ‘아재’. 아저씨를 낮추어부르는 말이라고 알려져 있지만 사실 그렇지는 않다. 또한, 인터넷에서의 ‘아저씨’회원들을 아재라고 부르고 있으며 특히 야구팬을 일컫는 인터넷용어이기도 하다. 대부분의 ‘국민학교 세대’는 아재에 속한다고 볼 수 있다. (30대 중후반 이후)

이러한 ‘아재’들이 올해부터 갑자기 인기를 끌고 있다. 몇몇 ‘아재’세대 방송/연예인들이 나와서 하는 썰렁한 개그를 ‘아재개그’라고 칭하기 시작했고, ‘아재말투’, ‘아재패션’등 ‘아재’들에게 관심이 쏟아지기 시작한 것이다. 얼마전에 우연히 보게된 한 시사교양 프로그램에서는 ‘아재들이 뜬다’라는 제목으로 50이 넘었어도 젊은이들 못지않은 패션센스와 몸매를 자랑하는 아재들에 관한 영상물을 보여주었다. 현재 대부분의 (우리나라) 미디어에서 보여지고 있는 아재의 이미지는 낡고,촌스럽고,뒤떨어지고 교양없는 기존의 ‘꼰대’ 혹은 ‘개저씨’의 이미지에서 발전한 푸근하고, 정이가고, 열심히 살아가고, 나름대로 그들만의 문화와 유머코드를 가지고 있는 친근한 이미지의 ‘아재’가 대부분이다.

가족을 위해 사회에 나가서 돈을벌고 (물론 엄마도 번다), 일에치이고 돈에치이고 사회에치이고 때로는 가족에게 치일지라도 썰렁개그와 소주한잔으로 웃어 넘기는 아재들의 모습이 개저씨의 모습으로 그려지지 않고 긍정적으로 보여지고 있는것은 매우 반가워할 일임에 분명하다. (물론 세상에는 아직도 개저씨가 있다, 성별과 나이를 떠나서 ‘인간쓰레기’는 아직도 어디에나 있다) 하지만 아쉬운점이 있다. 이러한 ‘아재문화’ 그리고 ‘아재’에 대한 이미지는 어떻게 말하면 긍정적으로 보여지고 받아들여지고 있는데, 왜 아줌마는 아직도???

왜 아줌마는 안되고 아재는 되는것인가? 아줌마라는 뜻에 부정적인 의미가 있다고 말하는 사람들은 뭔가 뜻을 잘못 알고 있는듯한데, 사실 아줌마도 ‘작은어머니’라는 뜻이었고, 그 이후로 친인척이나 가까운 중년여성에게 쓰는 호칭이었다. 미디어에서 그리고 우리 사회에서 잘못 불려지고 삐딱하게 받아들여진 ‘아줌마’라는 호칭은 아무 잘못이 없다. 아저씨는 괜찮고 왜 아줌마는 안되는건가? 꼰대 아저씨는 ‘아재’가 되었는데 왜 아줌마는 아직도 불편한 아줌마로 남아있어야 하는가? 아줌마라는 호칭은 무례하고 아주머니나 사모님이라는 표현이 더 고급스럽고 예의를 갖춘 표현이라는 생각은 어디에서 시작된 것인가 도대체?

우리나라는 ‘호칭’이 매우 중요한 사회라는 걸 안다. 아직도 ‘아줌마’는 티비에서, 길에서, 우리의 삶속에서 불려지고 싶지 않은 호칭임은 사실이다. (나와 몇몇 사람들을 제외하고) 하지만 아줌마는 아무 죄가 없다. 아줌마에 대한 인식도 아재들처럼 변화해야 한다고 생각한다. 아니 이미 변했어야 했다. 왜 아재는 아재가 되는데 아줌마는 아주머니나 사모님이 되어야 하는가? 내 논문에서 아줌마라는 단어를 제목으로 쓴걸 매우 불쾌해했던 어떤 사람이 생각난다. 논문에 대한 내용을 이야기 하면서 그저 아줌마라는 단어자체가 같은 중년여성으로써 불쾌하니 지워줬으면 한다는 의견을 줬던 그 사람은, 이미 자신과같은 중년여성인 ‘아줌마’에 대한 편견을 가지고 있는 것이다. 한국 중년여성에 대해 부정적인 시각을 한국밖의 사람들에게 보여줄 수 있는 내 논문은 문제가 있다고 이야기 했던 그 사람은 아줌마에 대한 피해의식을 갖고 있음이 분명하다. 아줌마에 대한 스테레오타이핑으로 (촌스럽고 무식하고 무례한 ‘전업주부’ 라고 표현했음) 같은 ‘아줌마’가 다른 ‘아줌마’를 디스하고 있는것이라고 밖에는 볼 수가 없다. 아줌마는 무식하고 아주머니는 우아한가? 무식과 우아함을 나누는 기준은 무엇이며 또한 왜 무조건 우아함만이 우위가 될 수 있는건지 나는 도무지 알 수가 없다. 덧붙여, 사회에 진출해 하루하루를 전쟁처럼 살고 있는 워킹맘만 힘든게 아니라, 전업주부들도 그렇게 힘들고 치열하게 하루하루를 보내고 있음을 반드시 알아줬으면 좋겠다. 그리고 아직도 우리사회는 워킹맘 뿐만이 아니라 전업주부들에게도 불공평한 사회이다. 워킹맘보다 전업주부가 못하다는 생각은 집어치워주길. 제발.

Ajummas are in Mobile Bang [room]

Smart ajummas are watching DMB in the subway (Please do not use this photo without a permission!!! 사진의 무단도용, 게시 및 재가공을 금지합니다)

I found this photo from one of my twitter friends today. These two ajummas put their mobile phone on the triport and watching TV through DMB (Digital Multimedia Broadcasting) while they’re travelling in the subway in Seoul. They share the earphones as well.

I already wrote about how the subway is important for Seoulite’s daily life in my Master’s thesis that is called ‘Mobile Bang (2010)’. The subway shouldn’t be considered as just a sort of public transport. Rather it means a lot more for people in Seoul or South Korea. I call it as a Mobile Bang (room in English) and commuters do various things in the subway especially through uaing their smartphones while they’re travelling.

We’re now having very hot and humid days in South Korea (35c/70-80 % humidity). People want to find any place where they can avoid hot and humid weather. The subway could be one of those places I think. So I really love this photo and want to share these Smart Ajummas in Mobile Bang with you.

Thank you for my friend (from twitter) who allowed me to use this photo for this blog.

Art project about ajummas

I found some art project about ajummas. These exhibitions were already over but I would like share some images and webpage links with anyone who are interested in art project about ajummas.

1.아줌마 부루스 展/ Ajumma Blues

(click the image to visit the website)

2.괜찮아 잘될거야 조진성/It will be okay by Jin Sung Cho

(click the image to visit the website)

3.연극 ‘뽀글이 아줌마 봉숙이’/The play ‘Curly hair ajumma, Bong-Sook’

(click the image to visit the website)

I keep thinking about making any ‘art’ project about ajumma but I need some more time. The project should be related to my previous video, ‘Digital Ppal-let-ter’.

Ajummas are in Live Photo

Music credit: Peppertones, ‘For all dancers’ (less than 5 seconds, looping)

I just played with the keynote to create a live photo video for this blog. All the videos are made with (include Digital Ppal-let-ter project) photos and keynote. This looping live photo video reminds me a rhizome movie (by Adrian Miles) that we’ve learnt at RMIT almost 10 years ago. I’m thinking to create short video clips (like this) through using keynote, live photo and maybe photo collage.

Ajumma fans at the concert, so what?

Fandom culture is very strong in Korea as well as other countries. A variety types of fan clubs are formed and those fans do many activities for their ‘stars’. Like other communities, fan clubs are considered as one of communities with people who got the similar interests each other. In this case, similar interest should be a ‘star’. A star could be sportswoman/man, actors, artists, singers, models, writers, filmmakers, politicians (maybe?), or even characters of animation or comic books whom are living in the imaginary space. Among these examples of fan club, I would like to talk about a case of one of band’s fan club in Korea.

Twitter is a sort of an intersection for people to share common or uncommon ideas and thoughts. I didn’t use tweeter for last few years but now I’m one of active users of tweeter. There are many reasons why I use twitter but one reason could be that it is useful to share information from other fans about my favourite singer. At the same time, we could share the concert review with each other after every concert. Actually I’m not a very active fan like other fans, but I could be an active fan through interactive communication with other fans on twitter whom I followed. Even though we never tweetup before but we meet almost everyday on twitter. It is so glad to know someone who have same interests with me and share our thoughts about the same thing together.

However, it happened few days ago. There is another online community website for this singer and a sort of a quarrel between fans was occurred. These fans argue about something related to the singer on the BBS. I have no interest in this online community website at all, so I didn’t know about this website that much. But one thing I knew about this website is that most of them who take very active roles are quite younger than other old fans of the singer. Anyway, there’s a quarrel between fans and one of fans wrote her or his thought on the BBS. I was outraged at the way she/he had written. Here is a sentence that makes me uncomfortable.

“Some of old fans are annoying and they’re mean towards younger fans, and you know what? The concert was teeming with ajumma fans!!!”

Well, it was interesting to me to know what younger people consider old woman (they think over 30s is ‘old’, she/he wrote). And it’s not shocking the way this kind of people think about ajummas or old woman because I’m a researcher or a sort of expert of ajumma research, so I know. But I was angry to read that sentence because of their old-fashioned mind or thinking about women, especially old women (over 30s is OLD? of course it is not young age but not too old yet?).

(Ajumma fans at the Yong Pil Cho‘s concert, image from: http://5505.ohmynews.com, or click the image to visit the website)

What’s wrong with old women? (over 30s?) Is there any law and regulations that old women (over 30s) are prohibited to come to the concert? And what’s wrong with ajummas? Okay, if they’re official ajummas, SO WHAT? You know what? The singers you like are over 30s too. Then, why do you think only female fans who are over 30s should be treated as annoying ajummas? As I mentioned in previous post, I think they have a sort of misogynistic perspective towards women, especially non-younger women.

According to them, I’m an ajumma because I’m over 30. But I will keep going and enjoying their concert as much as I can. I don’t care what others think about ajummas (women who are over 30s, they said). But one thing that I feel disappointed is their prejudiced and outdated view of ajummas. Oh, don’t forget! You’ll be an ajumma very soon, too.