A story of political leadership
- Apr 27, 2023
- 7 min read
From Carrie to the leader of Women’s party - a story of political leadership
Most people know k-pop as Korean pop-music has taken the world by storm and people (or at least their young kids) are singing along to BTS and Blackpink. However, fewer have heard of K-feminism. A political word and movement that always prompts strong reactions. That is also the case in Korea where the feminist movement just recently really emerged creating big discussions in society.
On April 12th Kim Jina was the speaker for the professional network The Gallery. She shared her story from being a successful woman in advertising to become a political leader promoting K-feminism. In the following we share her story as an inspiration on how to lead a cause because political leadership is a very special discipline - this can be any cause whether its gender equality, climate change or animal welfare.
The changing point: Now you can’t unsee
In 2016 a young woman was killed at the Gangnam Metro station and this became a pivotal point of Kim Jina’s story. 6 men entered a public toilet without anything happening but when the first woman entered she was stabbed to death. The perpetrator explained in court that he killed the female victim because he hated women, especially for ignoring and humiliating him all his life (you can read the story here: https://koreaexpose.com/murder-gangnam-station-year-later/ ).
Kim Jina, and many other women, felt the media and government toned down the misogynist motivation of his action. And for Jina it became an awakening: “If we cannot even recognise this action as misogyny, how are we ever going to be able to talk about everyday sexism, discrimination at work and other “smaller” things?”. Her analysis is that for many years she took the status quo for granted. It was a way of life that she had grown up with. And a way of life that no one questioned. But the murder she could not shake: “This could happen to me, and no matter how hard I worked, educated myself, was beautiful or even played along, I could also have been killed in that toilet”. And feeling ignored in that situation lighted a fire. “I had always considered myself a feminist - I wore the t-shirt like Beyonce - and felt empowered, but this was different. Bigger”.
She paused her career in advertisement to do something and became a political activist. And she was not alone. More than 200.000 women took the streets under large demonstrations with the slogan “Uncomfortable courage” and as a part of it the campaign “My life is not your porn”. Later followed the campaign “Off the corset”.
“For many years I took things for granted - but now I could not unsee, and I needed things to change”.
Being open and honest about your own experiences can be very powerful tool to inspire change
Because the fact was that Kim Jina had experienced discrimination. The year before she had been overpassed for a very important promotion. Not because there was a better candidate but because her male colleague had a family and therefore needed it more. This was not something she sensed but the official reason given to her by her boss with a smile. She left the company the next day but didn’t tell anyone why: “I beautified it. I left the company with no complaint stating that I wanted to start my own business - it was an opportunity. I wanted so badly to keep up my appearance because I felt like I had failed and I did not want people to know.”
But after the Gangnam murder she knew that society needed to start talking about the injustice towards women. And that process started with her own story of (in her mind still) failure. “I started to share my story, but also my anger with the injustice - if it happened to me it probably happened to others”.
We need to talk…
Kim Jina opened a cafe. The cafe is called Woolf Social Club and from the outside it looks like a regular, very cool and chic cafe. But the point was to create a space where “we could talk about it”. It became important for Jina to create a physical space where women could meet, talk and get a sense of belonging. The inspiration came from Virginia Woolf’s book “a room of one’s own" where Woolf says women need to two things: “five hundred [pounds] a year and a room with a lock on the door” which for Kim Jina translates into that women need financial independence and a place to think and talk. And Jina could provide the latter.
Using her experience in advertising she started designing the brand universe around Woolf Social Club. It was important to her to give feminism a new look. “Often feminism is associated with something very aggressive and angry, but I wanted to give people an opportunity to meet feminism with a different vibe. It should be comfortable and cool so everyone can enjoy the vibe of feminism”. And as such Woolf Social Club was built as a welcoming space and for Kim Jina that is the stepping stone to start a conversation.
The definition of Social entrepreneurship is the process by which individuals, startups and entrepreneurs develop and fund solutions that directly address social issues. By starting Woolf Social Club as a regular business Kim Jina used Social Entrepreneurship as her first step to create the change she wanted to see in Korea.
And it worked. People came and especially young women seeked out the cafe. They came to hang out, they came for advice, they came to be in the company of like minded people, they came to use their voice and they even came with their boyfriends to spark a difficult conversation. “It is important to understand that in Korea, women are very careful to speak up about politics. It is not something we do and if women speak up we fear backlash even at work it can be problematic if your colleagues know that you are a proclaimed feminist. This is also why you would see that at the big demonstrations we all wore masks and hats”. Thus, to have a safe space helped ignite the movement.
"It takes courage not to be nice"
Using the sense of belonging and a joint movement is important because as she says “it takes courage not to be nice”. The image of the nice girl, the patient woman, the caring mother and wife is strong. So it takes courage to stop being the nice girl.
“Eventually I realized that men are not being evaluated on their looks or on being nice. And I started reflecting on how much time women spend both mentally and in reality on being and looking nice”. Kim Jina describes herself as an ambitious woman - greedy on life - who does not want kids and family. “These are not things women are traditionally allowed to say out loud so when you do it brings discomfort. And that takes courage. It takes courage to accept that you are the one bringing discomfort in a conversation, in a room and even in a family. Especially if you were raised to do the opposite”.
Kim Jina decided to write an essay and later a book. The first essay was called “I am here to take my pie back. Not to save the world”. And it became a huge success and her writings have become text books for young Korean women. “With that young women are provided with a different role model. With a voice showing that it is ok as a woman to say that you want to live a different life than your mother and grandmother. That you can be selfish (without hurting others) and it’s ok”.
With the books Kim Jina rejected the idea and identity as a woman she felt society had put on her and that brings discomfort both in her surroundings and in her personal sphere. But she felt it was important to show that women have value in their own right not only in relation to their role as daughter, mother and sister. “Writing the book I used my courage, and I shared my embarrassment trying to make it more ok for others to start sharing their experiences”.
This taps into the throes of change facing South Korea. Because South Korea is experiencing a movement where more young women choose not to get married and not to have kids because they don’t want the “general package” it comes with. They are well-educated, smart and ambitious women who wish to focus on their career and as it is right now they cannot see a combination of career and family to be possible. Hence South Korea has a birthrate as low as 0.78. It also taps into a general theme in the network's discussions of female leadership always being faced with hard choices and sacrifices.
You can make a difference if you are willing to invest yourself
Finally Kim Jina also ventured into politics to speed things up. She felt the need for change and she wanted it to happen faster. So she joined the establishment of the Women’s party. And in 2021 she even ran for mayor of Seoul as a candidate for the Women’s party. Nobody thought she would be a serious candidate but it turned out she came in 4th. She campaigned with the slogan “Seoul - a good place to live alone” and the young women voted for her. Which showed her (and the movement) that the young women of Korea want this change.
Even though there is much work to be done closing the gender gap in South Korea and Kim Jina can be impatient with the pace at which things are changing she is an example of political leadership and that you can make a difference if you act on the change you want to see. Especially if you like Kim Jina, have the courage to invest yourself.
Kim Jina is now the role model she did not have growing up. For her in the 90’ies and 00’oes Sex and the City was the best image of what a successful woman looks like. In Seoul the Women’s party, the demonstrations and campaigns, her books and the cafe provide nuances to that making it possible for young women to find their own courage. As such her story is an inspiration for anyone who feels the need for change. You can make a difference and the means to create change are multiple. It starts with having the conversation.
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The Gallery is a professional network for spouses living in Seoul with their working partner who wishes to maintain their professional identity. At The Gallery you will find inspirational talks, a network of clever peers and an opportunity to get to know Korea from a business angle although you are currently not working.
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