The Possibility of Women's Subjective Life - Sunmin Lee's Critical Consciousness

Pyongjong Park, Professor of Photography at Chung Ang University / Photo Criticism

The Status of Women

The subjective life and freedom of women are known to be one of the oldest assignments imposed on patriarchal society. Although every form of inequality and suppression has been gradually lifted in human civilizations, a woman's life has remained elementally unchanged in comparison with the lives of others. This is due to a variety of factors that prevent women from living their subjective life. These remain closely connected to a male-dominated social structure. Patriarchy is the oldest social structure in the history of civilization. Contemporary women began perceiving themselves as subjects instead of as accessories of a group thanks to the expansion of universal education. And yet, their new perception has been unable to ensure them a new life. Our lives are inextricably bound up with social structures. Already raised since modern times, the issue of women's subjective life has posed several derivative questions pertaining to such problems as free love, women's self-realization, and the role of women in a new social order. All the same, these problems have yet to be resolved with satisfaction. Although the perception of women has been enhanced and their lives have improved, there has been no fundamental change. The law of every change states that little changes give rise to decisive changes when small things add up, yet there is still no sign of change in the lives of women. What is the key to resolving this matter?

The key lies in finding out conditions for women to stand as the subject. The term “subject” literally means “for one to become the master of his or her life.” The briefest definition of subject is one who does not rely on others' judgement or actions, one who exercises his or her rights as a decision maker, and one who takes responsibility for his or her actions. Anyone who is level headed in their actions and sensible of elemental norms and rules is qualified to live as the subject. Women, however, have lived in the order of patriarchal society, deprived of their rights as the subject. Deriving from the rigid logic of survival required by primitive communities, this order has been gradually reinforced and ultimately settled as a structure. Women have lived not as the subject but as assistants of the subject or those subordinate to the subject. Some women may feel easy and comfortable when living such a life. There are those who have chosen to live with men who possess potent power or enormous wealth, forgetting that they are the subject. There is no reason to blame them as they are making their own decision as the subject. Any decision can be made by the subject, not by others. It is a serious contradiction and a form of self-deception to make a decision as the subject to give up living as the subject. Accordingly, conditions for women's subjective life can be secured in the two following ways.

First, this matter is also interlocked with social structures. One is an enormous structure in the history of human civilization called patriarchy, of which patriarchal order is associated with Korean society's specificity. Superficially, it is an external obstacle to interrupt women's subjective life. This obstacle includes a wide range of factors from physical inequality pertaining to domestic chores and infant care problems to any kind of unfair perception of women's behavior, ways of speaking, and social activities. Our social concerns about such issues and our will to improve them have been gaining sympathy for a long time and have brought about changes, but any decisive change is still far from reality. This matter should be constantly raised while we explore how to solve this problem.

Second, this matter is associated with women's self-perception. It is hard to say that a subjective life is always a happy one. One may feel happiness even if he or she does not live a subjective life since happiness is coupled with satisfaction. The troubles of life a subjective patriarch with many dependents faces while being tormented by rigid poverty is much more valuable than the happiness of life a subordinate slave feels while living a satisfactory life thanks to a virtuous master. Therefore, one has to endure sacrifices for a subjective life. Nora who escapes A Doll's House seems wonderful and courageous, but the majority of women still wish to live in a comfortable cage. This aspect may be caused by male-dominated and distorted education that rejects to impart a subjective status to women. So, this problem is not so simple. The condition for women's economic independence for their subjective life is as important as the problem of women's self-perception. As a matter of fact, many women have given up their subjective life due to their failure to endure financial pressure. However, the reality is that women are given unequal conditions for their self-independence. Therefore, the assertion that women's problems are interlocked with system improvement is not an empty principle but a practical principle to bring about veritable changes.

Sunmin Lee has continued to display an interest in women's status in the family. Her work has derived from two layers of such critical consciousness. The artist, who is both a member of a patriarchal family and a mother of two children, reveals women's issues from her concrete experience as opposed to abstract theories and logic and presents a concrete figuration of them. The issue of women's subjective life has to be raised in every aspect of our everyday life. Men who have lived in patriarchal order cannot understand this matter sufficiently enough because they have no experience with it. Ordinary people are normally unable to put up with inequality and suppression even though the objects of such negative factors are not themselves but others. Therefore, we need to inform those who are susceptible to such oppression but do not know what they should do in regards to it. This is not only to heal scars caused by such suppression but also to prevent bona-fide yet ignorant men from becoming conspirators. Nevertheless, patriarchal orders do not always exist in a dichotomous structure between an assailant and a victim. An extended family system was advantageous for productivity in agrarian societies that demanded collective labor while patriarchy was an integral system for keeping order in groups. The evils of this system spurred from problems caused by the way in which institutions and mores were unable to reflect rapid changes in social structures. When the structure changes, the custom must also change, but this was not the case. The role and status of women are not suitable for women's way of living even in the present when the nuclear family's way of living has become commonplace. Women as well as men have outlooks that are in disagreement with their way of living. Lee's perspective toward this issue is disclosed in her series of works such as Woman's House I and II, Twins I, and The Dogye Project.

Women in the Nuclear Family

Woman's House I is the product of Lee's close observation of a woman and her everyday life as she manages nuclear family relations. Even though housewives are not representative of all women, their subjective life has continued to be threatened and stands on a shaky ground. This typical aspect of their lives is the reason why Lee pays heed to it. Single women who have their own jobs can live their own subjective lives, regardless of whether they suffer from unfair treatment. The matter of unmarried women's subjective life and freedom is relatively less significant than those of married women since an unequal structure is equally applied not only to women but also men living their subjective life.

Meanwhile, a housewife's way of living is quite different from that of an unmarried woman. Housewives assume the role of assistants for other subjective family members. The lives of one's husband and children are those of a housewife. Living for others is quite beautiful and can even be regarded as a noble act. However, when it is considered one's fate to follow someone or something irrespective of one's will, a problem arises. Why is such a destiny imposed on only women? A family is the smallest unit of a community in which all community members are expected to conform to norms in order to maintain the community. Unlike norms for social communities, the rules of a family community are loose and there are no concrete rules for each individual member and their roles. If they do exist, a family is not much different from a common community in which different interests are entangled. Problems can arise because of this. Even if one person shifts all of his or her labor and responsibility onto another family member, there is no issue. Each individual in the nuclear family system tends to take on an overly demanding mission and tasks because there are only two members, a husband and wife. Even if one neglects his or her work in a large family community, it is not that big of a deal. That is why one can share the role the other has to assume. An absolute amount of labor necessary to maintain a nuclear family community is determined but most of it is imposed on the housewife. This is the heritage handed down by an extended family community. What, then, of the husband? He also works hard to ensure his family's survival. His wife, however, is not well aware of the quantity and quality of his labor since it is mostly done outside the home. His labor is invisible to his wife's eyes: only what he does at home is noticed. When it comes to his work, his wife is solely depending on her imagination and trust. The husband wants to rest at home because he wants his labor to be recognized. The wife also wants her labor to be recognized, regarding her domestic labor as something that is highly demanding. The husband, who came back home after his struggle to survive tends to regard his wife's labor as a pastime to kill time. So, he does not want to work at home. But, he does not realize his wife's labor is no less burdensome than his. This is because he has never done domestic work. He doesn't even consider the fact that the labor increases exponentially if there is a child.

A husband is just one who rests at home. To him, a house is a place for relaxation. He often forgets the fact that his wife works at home when he works outside. A housewife is one who cannot rest even at home. That's why the house is her workplace. A workplace and a rest area should be in different physical spaces but there is no rest area for her. Thus, she works all day long. When her husband either works or rests, she works. A child innocently looks at her mom folding the laundry and coquettishly acts and asks to play with her. (Pic. 1) But, she who is tired from her housework has to coddle her daughter with the TV on. A mom who has to play with her child while folding the laundry is a multitasker able to work, rest, and play with her child simultaneously. Like a person, however, she falls into a deep sleep even at midday and remains dead to the world, tired and worn out by her domestic chores. A woman who can sleep when her child sleeps and a child who can sleep when her mom sleeps (Pic. 2) is a symbolic sight indicating how rearing a child is hard labor. As labor is something we cannot but do, it is inevitably tough and arduous. Therefore, it is a burden to be shared by other community members.

Housework tends to be shared in contemporary society, but it still does not ensure women's individual life. Housewives have to appeal to her husband's goodness or often force him to bear the burdens of domestic work in order to abridge their labor. Nevertheless, most husbands remain unshakable so it is hard for women to live an individual life. Although the family system has changed, the level of education is better, and the perception of women's status has altered, women cannot live for themselves and their lives bound to family remain unchanged.

The Extended Family System's Heritage

It's been ages since the nuclear family unit became a common style of family, but the norms of an extended family community have still survived. The extended family system has not only good norms to be emulated and inherited but also bad norms incongruous with the nuclear family unit. A cacophony or disharmony between them at time puts a family community in danger. Lee pays attention to the matter of such disharmony in the series Woman's House II. The norms of the large family system are often involved in family affairs such as ancestral rites and rituals especially during holidays when family members and relatives throng together. Husbands usually respect their wives and share labor but they suddenly turn into stern, serious patriarchs when families and relatives gather. And yet, this is not because they are bad people but because they are forced by the extended family community's rules and expectations. It is not easy to break age-old conventions, particularly the conventions of familial relationships. It is also the same for women. They often claim their rights and ask husbands to share their labor at home, but they rarely do this at their husband's home. It is not easy for women to resist old-fashioned family conventions. Things are not much different even in a generous family that does not force its women to follow patriarchal order. It is a matter of common knowledge that ideas forge institutions, but our ideas are at times reversely influenced by institutions. Institutions pertaining to the extended family system require the order of a large family system. These institutions, which have remained as family affairs taking place several times a year, are an unmanageable burden to women who are familiar with the order of a nuclear family system. They involve sacrifices made by women which they should not have to put up with. Such institutions have to reflect changes of the times which can be found just about anywhere.

Woman's House II, Youngsook Lee's House—Chuseok (Pic. 3) is a showcase of a whole family who throngs together to take a break on Chuseok, Korean Thanksgiving Day. The woman who is the family's daughter-in-law is nowhere to be seen; she is probably working somewhere in the house. Her absence thus serves as a symbol. Judging by this scene, this is presumably a middle-class family. The head of the household may be her generous, benign father-in-law and her husband may be a good man. The absence of the daughter-in-law who has to work during the holiday seems to make everyone feel inconvenienced. The daughter-in-law, meanwhile, appears daunted in the family with its strict patriarchal order.

This aspect is well represented in Woman's House II, Sunja Lee's House #1—Ancestral Rites (Pic. 4). The current trend witnesses strict ancestral rites gradually disappearing from contemporary society, but they still remain as a universal custom of our time. Women are nothing but onlookers in the age-old custom in which only men are allowed to bow to their ancestors. Pictures hung above the door featuring the 100th day or first birthday of descendants on the floor are symbols wishing for the clan's longevity. If the descendants are well-to-do, they can arrange any type of memorial service they want for their ancestors. However, women who are not allowed to enter the room where rites are being held are thoroughly alienated from the ceremony. A stiff expression is on the face of a middle-aged woman who seems to be the oldest daughter-in-law as she diverts her eyes from the scene of bowing to the family's ancestors. This seems to reflect women's position toward rituals that are most important in maintaining patriarchy. Given her position in the family, she arranged the rite's table but could not participate in the ceremony. She is not a subjective human but a family's daughter-in-law. She is not allowed to live a subjective life. She has to mind her p's and q's for a few days, which gives her a hard time.

How does the woman in Woman's House II, Kim, Bunam's House #1—Chuseok(Pic. 5) differ from the woman in Woman's House II, Kyllye and Jungha—Two Women(Pic. 6)? The former features a daughter-in-law who is in her husband's family's home while the latter features a daughter-in-law in her own parents' home. Although the daughter at her parents' house has the status of a daughter-in-law and the daughter-in-law at her husband's home has the status of a daughter, these two positions bring about a big difference in their expressions and demeanors.

Women's Alter Egos

A woman who consciously or unconsciously realizes her condition in which it is hard to live a subjective life rather accepts it as her destiny. A woman who cannot live her own life often aspires to live through her children, accepting her fate with resignation. This is by nature a compensation mentality. To be precise, however, it is the struggle of her desperate self to confirm her identity through her children. What should we call a man's life which is not his or her own? A child who lives out their mother's life is like her alter ego. The Twins series is a work which displays the weird lives of such women.

As seen in Twins, Yeoni and Jungyun (Pic. 7) and Twins, Taehwa and Huiji (Pic. 8), the mothers are raising their children as their own alter egos. They turn their hand to raise their children, bringing them up like princesses. Perhaps they really do consider their daughters to be princesses. If they deem it so, then it is so. The mothers rest on their imagination to raise their children in this way since they themselves did not live such a life but still want to. And yet, they regard their life as like that of a maid, not a princess. They raise them as princesses from early on because they believe that they would be able to live as princesses when they acquire the habits of one and think of themselves as such.

Gain and Gaeun in Twins, Gain and Gaeun (Pic. 9) are shown wearing Snow White and Cinderella's clothing while Heeseon and Jiseon live in a room decorated to look like a castle a prince might visit. The artist has selected fraternal twins as the models of this series to imply that they are her alter egos. After all, we can say that these children are living out their mothers' lives for them. It would hardly be possible for the mothers with their high level of education to not know that a life as a princess verges on fantasy, but their remorse is so serious that it blurs their clear perception. They expect their children to live a life that verges on that of a princess. In doing this, education serves as a means to enable their children to belong to the upper class. They know that their daughters could have a chance to meet a prince if they are affiliated to the upper class. The regrets of those women who could not live a subjective life turn into remorse and, in the end, an illness in their minds. As a result, they hope their alter egos can live a happy life. That being said, there is a problem in that these children cannot live a subjective life. Perhaps these women may give up their wish for a subjective life early on and dream of living a comfortable life as a princess. They may think that living for their family forged by their able husbands is better than any subjective life.

Patriarchal Power

The artist takes a specific region as a sample in order to confirm that women's lives and the patriarchal order she has observed are typical of our society. She collected her observations in the Dogye Project in which she traced aspects of the families living in a mountain village in Gangwon Province. Dogye, whose residents mostly work in the mining industry, is a typical Korean country village from which young people have migrated to the cities and throng together on the holidays. Lee discovered the marks of patriarchal order she felt in the course of her work all over the region. This order is closely associated with the problem of power. The elemental order maintaining the patriarch derives from the power a patriarch holds. This is not actual but abstract power that comes into being when every member of a group decides to obey. This power has its dominance through its holder's authority and dignity. It is hard to imagine that a patriarch has no authority or dignity. His power gets severely damaged when one of the family members ignores his authority and challenges him. As he is well aware that his authority once violated cannot be retrieved with ease, he should have dignity and command respect all the time. Even if his power is something abstract, family order is kept through a strict patriarchal power relation.

In The Golden Helmet (Pic. 10), her first series, a Roman emperor is a metaphor for a patriarch's authority and dignity. The emperor's dignity in this picture cannot be seen as the image appears somewhat pretentious and vulgar. The reality is that this aspect of a patriarch's power is recognized in contemporary society. Nobody probably admits his authority in a society where no patriarchal order is solid. One who has no authority has no dignity and a man devoid of authority and dignity has no dominance. Nevertheless, a patriarch with authority resembles an emperor in clothes of dignity in The Golden Helmet.

Sunrang Chun's House (Pic. 11) capturing an old couple who have a meal in the room seems to show a shabby appearance of a patriarch of our time. A family photograph on display in the cupboard behind his back suggests that the family is everything to him despite this patriarch's shabby downfall. A graduation picture of his son wearing a graduation cap looks like a halo to him. His wife sitting next to him, who has been an assistant during his lifetime, still plays the role of an assistant. Although times have changed, the patriarch possesses a certain dignity. His prestige has disappeared because family members have been scattered. All the same, his authority revived on the holiday when his family members throng together. A patriarch in Ijong shin's House#1-Visiting the Ancestral Grave (Pic. 12) appears really imposing. It is the day for the patriarch who has lived with dignity to be exhilarated.

As mentioned above, what Lee has tried to showcase was a women's subjective life and the freedom and possibilities of its practice through her exploration of the family relations of our time. As the nuclear family system becomes common, many contradictions and negative aspects of the large family system seem to have been overcome, but other problems continues to occur in terms of women's status. Since a buffer to ease the confrontation between husband and wife in the large family system has disappeared, only a dichotomous classification between man and woman is left in the family. A family turns to a place for an extreme confrontation between a woman who has a strong will and a man who was inherited the emotion of patriarchy. This aspect is an abridged version of our society. Women's social status cannot rise without improvement in social institutions. If a family is one of these institutions, it also needs to improve. However, a family is an institution and also a society. Accordingly, institutions or norms are required to maintain the family society. What should change are the norms that maintain the family. Although a lot of things are changing, institutions and social norms are still not enough to improve women's subjective lives. This should start from the family community, the smallest unit of society. Lee seems to state that change in institutions and rules should start from the family system, asserting that women can be subjective in the world if they can be subjective at home.