[Side B] "Disability Is Just One Identity, Failure Is Necessary" Actors Mijin and Jiwon

Proud Minorities, A Better World for the Non-Mainstream

Disabled Women's Theater Group 'Chumchuneun Heori' Team Leader Seo Ji-won & Actress Kim Mi-jin

Yeongjin, a woman with developmental disabilities who will turn thirty next year. She wants to receive the money she earns from part-time jobs herself, but it is difficult for her to open a bank account in her own name. Hyeonju, who is married to a non-disabled man and has two children. As a working mom, she cannot even notify that she cannot attend weekend afternoon meetings. Yesul, a woman with disabilities who has quietly been involved in theater for a long time, still faces the same question: "Are you an artist?"

[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Hyun-joo] This is a story from the play "Complaint Explosion Radio" produced by the disabled women's theater troupe "Chumchuneun Heori" (Dancing Waist). Like a theatrical work, an individual has multiple identities, but the identity of disability uniquely nullifies many things. Complaint Explosion Radio was created by weaving together everyday materials from the lives of people with disabilities to express their vivid lives and realities.

We met Seo Ji-won (40), team leader, and Kim Mi-jin (53), actress, who have been with the troupe Chumheori for over ten years, at the Disabled Women's Empathy office in Gangdong-gu, Seoul. We talked about their reasons for joining the troupe and their experiences with disability in everyday life.

In the hope that the comprehensive anti-discrimination law will be enacted in the 21st National Assembly, Team Leader Seo Ji-won and actress Kim Mi-jin participated in a rally with the Coalition for the Enactment of the Anti-Discrimination Act. Team Leader Seo (left) and actress Kim, who "marched with cheers and earnest hearts." (Provided by the Disabled Women's Theater Troupe Chumchuneun Heori)

▶ I am curious about how you came to join the theater troupe 'Chumchuneun Heori'

Seo Ji-won= Disabled Women's Empathy was established in 1998, and as people with disabilities, we wondered what we could do physically, so we held a cultural festival. Then, in 2003, the theater troupe Chumchuneun Heori was officially formed. I joined the following year. I went to see a play because an older sister I knew was acting, and I was shocked to see someone with the same concerns as me and someone with the same disability expressing what I wanted to say on stage. I hadn't thought about human rights or such issues; I just wanted to try acting like that, so I auditioned.

Kim Mi-jin= My debut was really by chance. I came to the quilting class at the Disabled Women's School, and the director suggested I try substituting for a team member who was acting as a DJ. Since it was a DJ role, I gathered courage (the role of the host introducing stories in Complaint Explosion Radio). So, the first performance didn't leave a big impression. But as I continued activities at Disabled Women's Empathy, I realized that things I hadn't recognized as discrimination in life were actually discrimination, and I was able to officially reveal the daily life of not stopping at complaints but also resisting. These processes have been guiding my life to mature for 11 years.

Chumheori is known as the longest-standing self-help group of empathy and is praised for sublimating the experiences of disabled women into culture and arts. Originally centered on women with physical disabilities, Chumheori has included women with developmental and mental disabilities for several years now.

▶ Your hairstyles are stylish. Actress Kim’s hair is between silver-green and blue, and Team Leader Seo’s is a light wine-red.

Kim Mi-jin= It’s because of my white hair. It was originally blue but turned out like this. I originally wanted green; I once colored my hair green when making a self-portrait.

Seo Ji-won= I’m sensitive about my hairstyle. Since I was young, my mother often gave me perms because they were easy to manage. These days, I actually do this style to look tough so people don’t talk to me. If I go with a strong older sister concept, people don’t approach me, which I like. When passing through the subway or streets, many people frequently ask questions. They touch me as a matter of course, including my shoulders and wheelchair, offering help. After changing my hair color and cutting it short, no one talks to me. Other women probably wear heavy makeup for similar reasons.

Disability is one of many identities
Feeling disability when excluded and decided by others

If there is violence and power, home and school can also be facilities
"To make good choices and decisions, one must also experience failure"

▶ How have you been spending time during the COVID-19 era?

Seo Ji-won= Once, I self-quarantined, but there were no measures. I couldn’t send my kids anywhere. When I thought I might have COVID, I was overwhelmed starting from which hospital to go to and who should provide activity support. The assistant could also get infected. I stocked up on food and shopped online. My second child wanted to go out and play but didn’t during quarantine. When I asked why, they said they were afraid of being teased for having COVID.

Kim Mi-jin= The world feels unnecessarily closer (laughs). We talk more about COVID than about our relatives. Most global media exchange information on COVID and climate anomalies.

▶ When do you become aware of the identity of disability?

Seo Ji-won= I speak the same, smile the same, and make the same expressions, but people see me differently. I felt as a child that I was excluded somewhere and lost opportunities, wondering if I was strange or if society was the problem. I recently felt that during COVID too. Sometimes I thought, "I’m speaking well, so why don’t people understand me?"

Kim Mi-jin= Disability is very natural and inherent to me. But I feel it when others decide and manage me, and when communication is centered on others.

'Dancing Waist' participated in the 2018 Seoul Biennale / Theme: Good Life through exhibitions and performances. At that time, poster work was done, and actress Kim Mijin performed a personal cut. The photo was taken in the yard of the Seoul Museum of Art. Actress Kim, who is skilled with her hands, said she creates many works using recycled materials. (Provided by Disabled Women's Theater Company Dancing Waist)

▶ When and how should education on the intersection between non-disabled and disabled people take place?

Kim Mi-jin= From childhood through elementary, middle, and high school, disabled people have been excluded by non-disabled people. Social distancing was very natural. After growing up like that, it is very difficult to narrow the gap by oneself. It is hard to meet disabled people unless one has had special relationships or experiences. They must meet from early childhood. For example, when pregnant, the fetus is strongly educated with a perception that cannot imagine different bodies, and this normality-centered education system eventually expands into society. Education should start not at a certain time but from before birth. Although I have a mild disability, I never held hands with classmates to go to the bathroom during school. The kids didn’t ignore me, but the atmosphere was like that.

Seo Ji-won= Everyone has their own story and life, but non-disabled people didn’t see disabled people at school, on the street, or in supermarkets. In a group organized with women with developmental and mental disabilities, we ask why it is like this and answer that society seems to require exclusion. People with diverse appearances live in their own places but are continuously excluded. The question of why education is necessary can be answered that society is gradually becoming more diverse.

▶ The play "Shining," scheduled for November, is about deinstitutionalization. I recently learned how much institutions oppress people with disabilities.

Kim Mi-jin= There is a culture of not seeing people individually. Disabled people are treated as a disabled group. The state uses policies to make people with disabilities or those hard to approach disappear from sight. That’s why institutions exist. I live in an institution because I am disabled, but when someone else becomes disabled and a minority, they are included in the same policy. Why do they keep trying to exclude us? I also went to a dormitory in my early twenties to learn Hanbok. It was free, but now I realize it was an institution. Institutions are not only public facilities. Our homes and schools can also become institutions. We discussed at Chumheori that if there is violence and power at home, it can become an institution.

Seo Ji-won= Schools are especially severe. People accustomed to power and rules think they can become members of society. The state gathers disabled people in one place as protection, but I wonder if it is because there are no diverse educational facilities.

In the radio show "Complaints Overflow," Team Leader Seo Ji-won is performing the third scene titled "Am I an Artist?" while asking the audience a question. The line, "In the end, have I only been performing shows that merely imitate non-disabled people's performances convincingly?" is particularly striking. (Provided by Dance Waist, a theater troupe of women with disabilities)

▶ You probably couldn’t perform much due to COVID, but I look forward to the November performance.

Seo Ji-won= Although we have a writer, the script is based on our experiences. We create the story together through workshops. Due to COVID, we have not yet decided on a theater.

Kim Mi-jin= The first story of Complaint Explosion Radio was written based on things the writer learned while going to a bank with a person with developmental disabilities. It contains the meaning of pondering why people with developmental disabilities cannot open bank accounts. We are considering doing video work with the audience.

Actress Kim and Team Leader Seo are also active in the Disabled Women's Empathy’s coalition for the enactment of the Anti-Discrimination Act. They believe the Anti-Discrimination Act will serve as an official indicator to recognize everyday discrimination and to speak confidently when facing victimization.

▶ What does success mean in life?

Kim Mi-jin= I think it means a life where I can choose and decide. I make flowers from vinyl and plastic as a hobby. This morning, while cleaning my messy house, I suddenly thought, isn’t my life successful enough? I realized I have a space created by my choices and decisions and tools and ways to express my thoughts.

Seo Ji-won= If you are constantly protected or controlled, you lose the ability to choose, and it becomes hard to say what you want to eat. (If I want to eat kimbap but only get tteokbokki, it’s so boring.) People keep saying no, don’t, don’t eat, so even if I want to eat something, I can’t say it. The former representative of Disabled Women's Empathy said there are three generations of "no": "Don’t eat, don’t do, don’t go." So we don’t even have those opportunities. We never had the chance to think about why we shouldn’t eat or do something and to choose. But now, with organizations forming and diverse voices emerging, I think things will improve. Recently, sign language interpreters have appeared in the news. I think society will change the more we fail. We must experience failure to understand choice and decision.