Kbs World Tv Show - In Praise Of Foreigners

[simon43]

Last night I watched a program on the Korean channel - KBS World. It featured about 8 women from countries such as the UK, Germany, USA, Finland etc - all who had married Korean men and lived together in South Korea.

The women all spoke very good Korean, and English language sub-titles were also provided.

The show was essentially in praise of the foreign women and how Korea and the Korean people had benefited from being exposed to these different cultures.

The program was interesting and informative, with no 'boing', no extravert ladyboys, and absolutely no sign of the negative images and/or connotations that are often used in Thailand to portray foreigners.

A couple of questions:

- Do you know of a locally-produced TV program which actually praises foreigners?

- Am I trying to compare apples with bananas because the Korean program featured female foreigners, as opposed to male foreigners?

Simon

[NanLaew]

Pretty thinly veiled opener for JATBT IMHO.

[chrisartist]

On apples and bananas:

It makes an enormous difference whether the Korean males in question are eldest sons or not. There is massive pressure on eldest sons in Korea to marry well, and marrying well absolutely excludes marrying a foreign woman. There is also massive pressure on Korean women of moderate social standing and above to marry another Korean. These strictures are in place due to the Neo-Confucian reorganisation of Korean society during the early Chosun dynasty, the influence of which remains strong to the present day.

On the other hand, the pressures to marry another Korean might have become somewhat less over the past decade, at least among the lower classes. I lived there throughout the 1990s. When I was there, it was considered acceptable by a small minority among the lower classes to marry a foreigner, but absolutely forbidden among the middle and upper classes. Of course, I didn't see the documentary, but my guess is even that if pressures have become less among the lower classes, there are still strong strictures against marrying foreigners among the middle and upper classes.

In 1993-1995, I had a girlfriend in Korea. We wanted very much to get married. However, her elder brother and her mother both vetoed the idea. The younger brother supported my girlfirend, but his word carried absolutely no weight in the family hierarchy. The mother and elder brother never met me. They just decided that my girlfriend could not marry me because I am not Korean. The father was never told even that his daughter was seeing a foreigner, for fear of his wrath.  At first, my girlfriend tried to face up to the family and marry me, regardless, but in the end, she went crazy. She moved out from her brothers' apartment, where she had been living, and went to live on her own. She did not tell any of her family where she went. She didn't tell me where she went, either, and changed her phone number. One day, she called me to say she wanted to see me. I went out to meet her. She told me that we were finished and that she had moved house. I never saw or heard from her again.

The family was old and well-established. The mother and father were both university professors. The father was a famous artist.

When I was in Korea, consensus of opinion was that foreign influence would undermine Korean culture. This attitude was fostered during the late 19th century, when Japan and China were suffering for foreign interference.

When considering the import of the documentary, it is important to note that the point was being made that Korea had benefited from the influence of foreign *women*. Women are second-class citizens in Korea, and so the implication would be that whatever benefit the foreign women had would not be that important in the grander scheme of things. I think it very unlikely that a similar documentary could have been shown in which foreign men who married Korean women were portrayed as having had a positive influence on Korean culture.

My views provide only a snapshot of the situation, though. Korean attitudes towards foreigners, foreign intervention, the import of foreign technology, and towards Korean-foreigner marriages is very complex.

[NanLaew]

^ That's very enlightening. Probably the same type of strictures prevail in Japan? The first Asian 'tiger' to get dragged kicking and screaming into the westernised world but still socially inept due to deep-rooted traditions and a history of real xenophobia. This would seem to be more prevalent in the 'whiter', north Asian countries including China rather than the 'browner', southern ones maybe?

So with the xenophobic tendencies in a deeply patriarchal society... it must really suck being a foreign woman.

[Heng]

The show was essentially in praise of the foreign women and how Korea and the Korean people had benefited from being exposed to these different cultures.

Yeah, first saw this years ago when they dressed these gals up in skimpier outfits and had them do silly 'human' tricks. Like having that cute Canadian girl fit her body through a tennis racket, and getting her cleavage stuck along the way. Now they have them wear culturally meaningful outfits like sailor suits, schoolgirl uniforms, etc. on varying days, apparently according to the particular mood or fetish of the producer.

[simon43]

Heng - I think I was watching a different TV program from you

[Heng]

I think it would work well here if you could find enough attractive female foreigners who spoke fluent Thai (I think I've only met 2-3 in 10 years). Sorry guys, nobody likes a sausage festival, much less one on TV.

[MiG16]

Simon

Im not aware of a TV or radio show as such

but i remember reading not too long ago in the thai daily paper, how a certain province in Isaan (I forget which), a government provincial or district office, made some official statement about welcoming foreigners to their community. something about referring to foreigners as 'son in laws' in the community.

they saw the influx of foreigners marrying into local community as a positive thing, and were encouraging it. something like that. I forget the details. but it was a positive testament and one of a welcoming gesture for foreigners