Kim Jiyoung, Born 1982

on. However, a significant number of media outlets reported on the possible adverse effects of medical treatment and medication on newborns – their causal relationship speculative – to arouse guilt and fear. People who pop a painkiller at the smallest hint of a migraine, or who need anaesthetic cream to remove a mole, demand that women giving birth

Employers harassed them for ‘being inappropriately dressed’ or ‘not having the right attitude’, and held their wages ransom. Customers thought the right to harass young women came with their purchase. The girls stowed away repulsive, frightening experiences with males deep in their hearts without even realising it.

Since she became a full-time housewife, she often noticed that there was a polarised attitude regarding domestic labour. Some demeaned it as ‘bumming around at home’, while others glorified it as ‘work that sustains life’, but none tried to calculate its monetary value. Probably because the moment you put a price on something, someone has to pay.

baby’s clothes and fabrics, fed herself well so she would produce enough milk and cried far more than she’d ever cried in her life. Above all, she hurt all over.

But Jiyoung had a hard time voicing her complaints because she wasn’t used to expressing her thoughts.

Her career potential and areas of interest were being limited just because she had a baby. A feeling of helplessness quickly replaced the excitement she had felt.

but I guess this is for the best since she’ll be going on maternity leave soon anyway, and then causing inconveniences at the clinic by taking sick days for herself, for her child, etc.

So she endured the pain. She also harboured an unfounded concern that getting into the habit of taking painkillers for a few days every month would be bad for her body.

The security agent set up hidden cameras in the women’s toilets, and her male colleagues passed them around. Hyesu said she would never be able to trust a man again.