'Gol Ttaerineun Geunyeodeul' Wins This Year's Gender Equality Culture Content Award

Performance Director Lee Ji-na Receives Gender Equality Culture Award

SBS entertainment program 'Gol Ttaerineun Geunyeodeul' and performance director Lee Ji-na are being recognized for their contributions to promoting a culture of gender equality. The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism announced on the 30th that it will award the Content Award and the Cultural Person Award at this year’s Gender Equality Culture Awards, held at the Sanwoollim Small Theater on the 1st of next month.

'Gol Ttaerineun Geunyeodeul' is a popular sports entertainment program, now airing its fourth season. It features soccer matches played by female broadcasters and has contributed to the increase of local women’s soccer clubs and the expansion of the women’s soccer base. The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism described it as a "female-centered program that handles gender topics comfortably" and praised it for "communicating with the public and contributing to the spread of a culture of gender equality."

Professor Lee, from the Department of Theater at Chung-Ang University, has directed musicals such as 'Gwanghwamun Yeonga,' 'Hedwig,' and 'Grease,' as well as the play 'The Vagina Monologues' since 2001. She introduced gender-free casting (an attempt to assign roles to actors who best express the character’s personality and sensitivity) for the first time in Korea, bringing a fresh breeze to the performing arts scene. The ministry explained that she "broadened the diversity of plays and changed the structure of the performing arts by providing more opportunities and roles to female actors."

The Cultural Support Award will be given to playwright Ahn Jung-min, and the Special Cultural and Arts Award to the Sanwoollim Small Theater. The ministry introduced Ahn as "a playwright who tells stories of women’s narratives and the invisible voices of marginalized people through theater." Regarding Sanwoollim, it stated that the theater "highlighted women’s lives and identities through works such as 'Women in Crisis' and 'Mom Discovered the Sea at Fifty,' leading middle-aged women to the theater stage."

The New Female Cultural Artist Award will be presented to seven individuals, including civic activist Kim Kyung-min, who published 'Mir’s Factory Diary'; film director Moon Soo-jin of the animated film 'Kakjil'; furniture designer Yoo Hye-mi, who runs a workshop specializing in single-woman households; poet Lee So-yeon, author of 'I Need a Girl Who Will Slowly Die'; and cartoonist Yoo Ah-young, who published works such as 'Eating Being,' 'Jokha,' and 'Hongnyeo.'

Meanwhile, to mark Gender Equality Week (September 1?7), the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism will hold various events to raise awareness of gender equality in the fields of culture, sports, and tourism. From the 1st to the 3rd of next month, 'Bechdel Day' will be held at Indie Space, and from the 1st to the 7th, an online national campaign titled 'People Who Cross the Line,' introducing figures and cases that overcome gender role stereotypes, will take place.