Chains, challenges and changes: The making of women's football in Korea

Abstract

Gender discrimination and inequality in sport have always been witnessed in the East and the West alike. However, it is different in Korea from Western countries due to the fact that female bodies had been hidden from public view until recently. Confucian tradition had held to the opinion that sport, especially active contact sport, was not proper for girls and women in Korea and excluded women from sports fields since the introduction of modern sport at the beginning of the twentieth century. As a result, women's football has gained little support from the government and the public, while men's football has enjoyed respect as one of the most popular national games. Recent victories of the women's national football team in international events have offered the opportunity for women's football to attract public attention after 50 years of struggle against prejudice and indifference. However, it is argued that recent attention to women's football was the result more of the strong nationalism in Korean sport culture than the rise of women's status in sport or the changes in gender relations in society. In the age of women's struggle for recognition, women's football is expected to play a significant role in establishing a new era for female athletes in particular, and Korean women in general.