Kim Jiyoung, Born 1982: A Novel

Jiyoung and Daehyun are engaged to be married. Their families meet to share a meal. Daehyun’s mother lavishes praise on Jiyoung, which she feels she does not deserve. Jiyoung and Daehyun can afford an apartment thanks to their joint savings, although Jiyoung notes that Daehyun has been able to save considerably more than her.

A month after their wedding, Daehyun presents Jiyoung with a legal document to officially register their marriage. A question on the form asks whether their future children would take the mother’s or father’s surname. In 2008, Korea abolished the hoju system, which mandated patriarchal surnames for children. Since then, however, an overwhelming majority of families have maintained the tradition. Jiyoung agrees with Daehyun that it would be easiest if their children took his surname. But she does not feel good about this decision.

Their families pressure them to start a family. They pester Jiyoung with phone calls asking if she’s pregnant yet. At a birthday party for Daehyun’s father, the elders make inconsiderate comments about her body and health, insinuating that she’s not pregnant through some fault of her own. She is angered but keeps her feelings to herself.

On the drive home, she fights with Daehyun and tells him that he should have stood up for her to his family. He eventually apologizes and admits that he should have spoken up. He suggests that they have a child to stop his parents from pestering them. Jiyoung is taken aback by his reasoning. Having a child is a much more serious decision for her. She doesn’t know any other women her age with children. She is concerned about the impact a baby would have on her career. She’s not sure if she’d be comfortable putting a baby in childcare.

Daehyun insists that he will help around the house. He encourages her to think of what she will gain from becoming a mother, rather than what she will lose. She reminds him that she would have to give up far more than he would.

Jiyoung becomes pregnant and suffers from severe morning sickness. Her company allows pregnant women to start work 30 minutes later than everyone else. A male colleague says she’s lucky to be able to come in late. Jiyoung insists that she won’t be taking the extra 30 minutes. But she worries that this could set a damaging precedent for other women.

On the way home from work one day, Jiyoung can’t find a seat on the subway. An older woman with a sprained ankle loudly seeks someone to give up their seat for Jiyoung, which embarrasses her. A young woman grudgingly gives up her seat but says that if Jiyoung needs to work through pregnancy then she doesn’t have enough money to raise a child anyway. Jiyoung cries uncontrollably over this comment.

The couple learns that the child will be a girl. Their parents and peers make comments about the preferability of boys. Jiyoung and Daehyun debate whether she should take maternity leave or quit her job altogether. They are concerned about the costs and quality of childcare. They decide that Jiyoung should quit her job and take care of the baby. Jiyoung is depressed by the decision. Daehyun tries to comfort her by insisting that he will “help out.” Jiyoung is angered by the idea of Daehyun “helping out” when the baby and house are as much his responsibilities as hers.

Jiyoung quits her job. She cries on her first morning at home. Work had been unfair in many ways, but it was a source of confidence and joy. The novel reports that Jiyoung represents a significant trend in the Korean workforce: 20% of working women left jobs to start families in 2014.

Jiyoung’s due date passes; her doctor sets a date to induce labor. The night before giving birth, Jiyoung lays awake and has scattered childhood memories. The labor induction process is excruciatingly painful for Jiyoung. An epidural provides temporary relief, but the pain returns worse than before.

She gives birth to a baby girl, Jiwon. The baby cries any time she isn’t being held, so Jiyoung carries her all day while doing chores. Jiyoung finds she can’t move her wrists. A male doctor explains that joints are weakened after giving birth. He tells her to rest her wrists. She says she can’t because she has too much housework. He responds that housework is much easier today than it was in the past; he tells her she’s just whining. She wants to respond to this patronizing comment but holds her tongue. She wonders why child-rearing and housework are not valued as labor.

Jiyoung’s mother is too busy at the porridge shop to help with the baby. She tells Jiyoung for the first time about how difficult and exhausting it was to raise three children. Jiyoung wonders why she never heard about this before. She reflects on the idealized visions of motherhood promulgated by the media. A misguided glorification of maternal love creates unrealistic and oppressive expectations for real-life mothers.

A former colleague, Kang Hyesu, visits Jiyoung and Jiwon. Hyesu tells Jiyoung about a recent work scandal. A security guard installed a hidden camera in a women’s bathroom. He posted the videos on a pornographic website. A male employee found the videos and shared them with other men at the company. Female employees found the hidden camera and reported it to the police. An investigation into the security guard and the employees who shared the videos is now underway.

Jiyoung is appalled by the story. She wonders if she was one of the women surreptitiously filmed. Hyesu reassures her that the cameras were installed after she left the company. Hyesu and the other women at the firm have suffered from this crime. Hyesu is in therapy and feels constant paranoia; another woman overdosed on sleeping pills; others quit the company. Yet, the men at the company claim that they are the real victims: Their reputations and careers are in jeopardy even though they didn’t install the cameras or post the videos on the internet.

Kim Eunsil, Jiyoung’s former team leader, worked with a women’s organization to hold the company accountable. But she is now preparing to resign because the head of the company refused to formally apologize to the women in the office. He’s more concerned with the well-being of the men who viewed the images than with the women who appeared in the images.

Jiwon starts daycare. Jiyoung had been looking forward to having time to herself, but with all her housework she is as busy as before. Jiyoung considers seeking part-time work. The couple’s rent has increased; they could use more income. Many women in Korea who were once full-time employees become part-time workers—and make much less money—after becoming mothers.

Jiyoung sees a job posting in an ice cream shop. She starts a conversation with the woman working there, who is also a college-educated mother. She warns that the work comes with no benefits. Jiyoung and Daehyun discuss the possibility of working at the shop. Jiyoung admits she doesn’t want to.

Jiyoung remembers a former ambition to be a news reporter. She researches classes and tuition but realizes the training would be incompatible with her mothering responsibilities. She returns to the ice cream shop, but the job is no longer available.

Jiyoung sits in the park with Jiwon to enjoy a cup of coffee, a rare moment of peace. She overhears a group of men disparaging her in sexist terms for being lazy; one of the men calls her a “mom-roach.” She leaves the park in tears. She tells Daehyun about what happened, reiterating the sacrifices she made to be a mother. Daehyun doesn’t know what to say. Jiyoung starts becoming different women she has known.