March 8th marks International Women’s Day. Like
other countries around the world, North Korea has designated the day as a public
holiday, and promotes it through the media. Even in the patriarchal North, women
look forward to the date because many men give presents and cook to mark it.
According to defectors, the practice of celebrating the day emerged
following the Arduous March of the 1990s. As is well known, as the national distribution
system broke down, women became primary breadwinners through market activity, because
if the titular head of the family, the man, did not show up to his official workplace
he would incur punishment, the responsibility for supporting the family fell on
the shoulders of women. The rising status of females had repercussions for
societal values.
The way Women’s Day is celebrated differs depending on social
class. Party cadres or men in the elite class who are primarily concerned about
“face” are more likely to buy an expensive gift or food, rather than helping
out around the house.
Men in everyday families are different. According to
defectors, considerate men may opt to prepare relatively less expensive gifts. Also,
some go out to the market on the eve of the holiday to buy food for the day.
Husbands tend to play the role of “household helper” on the 8th,
too, assisting wives more than normal. Women, who are freed from household
management for the day, gather with friends to chat and play games. Naturally,
defectors say that as this cultural norm has developed, women have come to take
it as a given.
One male defector who arrived in South Korea last year told
Daily NK on the 7th, “I still remember the bewildered faces of my
mother and my wife when Women’s Day rolled around and they saw that I had risen
early to do the housework, prepare gifts and make food. Even though life was
difficult, it was a day when husbands had to do their best to make the women in
their lives happy.”
