[K-Women Talk] Why Is There a Women’s Association but No Men’s Association?

A female junior colleague with bright, sparkling eyes asked, "What do women do when they gather together?" It was a question about why there is a Women’s OO Association when there is no Men’s OO Association. While thinking about a convincing answer to those who question the role of women’s organizations, I recalled a meeting with U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris during her visit to Korea last September.

Vice President Harris, an African American and the first female Vice President of the United States, said that whenever she visits countries around the world, she arranges separate meetings to talk with women leaders of those countries. At the roundtable discussion titled “Women Who Opened a New Era” held in Korea, seven people gathered, including myself, a physician, senior politicians, actors, journalists, businesspeople, writers, and athletes.

Vice President Harris’s opening remarks were impressive. "My mother told me that many of the things you have done may now be called 'firsts,' but it is certain that you will not be the last woman to do these things. I am confident that everyone here has carried out their work with this belief."

During the subsequent discussion, we shared our experiences about the efforts and hardships we faced as women to reach our current positions. A working mother in her early 40s spoke about the hardships of raising a baby while balancing work and studies, which resonated deeply with the attendees. Despite being the head of a huge company, she confirmed once again that balancing work and life as a mother is a common challenge worldwide and is not an issue that women alone can solve. Through stories about living as a single mother after divorce, I deeply felt that social prejudice against single mothers and their children remains a tough issue even as society changes. A senior politician mentioned that the current female representation in the National Assembly is only 19%, and although changes have begun with the introduction of a female quota system for proportional representation members, further improvement is needed, which everyone nodded in agreement.

The number of female doctors, which was 3,000 in 1980, has increased more than elevenfold to 34,000, and the female doctor ratio has risen from 13.6% to 26%. However, the proportion of women in leadership positions in medical associations, hospitals, and universities remains very low. I stated that the medical field also needs not only quantitative but qualitative changes to achieve gender equality.

According to data, Korea’s gender gap index in 2021 ranked 102nd out of 156 countries, with the economic sector gender gap index particularly low at 123rd. The proportion of women in senior executive and managerial positions, a detailed item in the economic sector evaluation, was only 15.7%, ranking 134th worldwide. The gender wage gap was 31.5%, the highest among developed countries.

At the meeting with Korean women leaders, Vice President Harris, as the first female Vice President of the U.S. administration, delivered a message that when women fully demonstrate their abilities, regain vitality, and find their own aspirations, the democracy of that society will exert powerful strength. She positioned herself as a platform to actively support women and created an opportunity to build a global alliance for gender equality.

I cautiously added a word, wondering if this conclusion?to realize true gender equality so that men and women can maximize their abilities and live together in a healthy and happy society?could be the answer to my junior colleague. "Could it also be our strength to use women’s delicacy and excellent empathy to find the gaps that the system misses and provide timely medical services to those who truly need them?"

Baek Hyun-wook, President of the Korean Women Doctors Association