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Debate Over Role of Married Career Woman Goes to Television

By Park Chung-a
Staff Reporter

The "Superwoman Syndrome" describes women who are obsessed with being perfect in everything they do, such as household duties as wives and mothers and career women at work, which leads them to burn out.

The popular MBC drama "Be Strong Kum-soon", which airs weekdays at 8:20 p.m., is currently causing a heated debate over the "Superwoman Syndrome". At the center of the debate is the character of Seong-ran, the first daughter-in-law who recently married Si-wan.

Seong-ran, the owner of an interior design firm, is a successful career woman. Although she wants to move to a place of their own, she gives in to pressure and moves in with her husband's family .

On her first day at home, Seong-ran makes it clear that she is willing to be the breadwinner for the whole family and is not confident in doing household chores, which disappoints Jeong-shim, her husband's mother.

During one episode last week, Seong-ran, thinking that no one was home, went to her room to do yoga instead of preparing dinner. Her mother-in-law said, "Don't you understand that you should check if dinner is ready as soon as you get home and if it isn't, you should prepare it?" Seong-ran replied, "I didn't think anyone was home, and I think if someone comes home late, he should prepare his own meal. I don't feel like I'm at home but at another workplace".

Her husband is upset with her for confronting his mother but she says, "I cannot be good at everything. I am not Superwoman".

Since then, the program's Internet board has been swarmed with comments that are divided over Kim's attitude, surpassing 900 comments a day.

"I don't understand why she doesn't do any housework just because she isn't good at it. No matter how busy she is, she should be serious about her duties as a married woman", Internet user Lee Eun-ju writes.

Another user, Lee Sang-eun also says that Seong-ran's arrogant attitude and lack of effort to get along with the family is hard to comprehend. "She doesn't seem to make any effort to play the role of daughter-in-law. I don't mean that she should do all of the work, but she should at least try to do some of the work. It is so wrong that she is not interested in her duties at all".

Meanwhile, many of the viewers show sympathy toward Seong-ran's situation and question the roles of women depicted in Korean dramas.

"So much is expected of women today. It isn't enough to do your best at home and at work. We have to do it all. We're expected to be perfect wives and mothers, impeccable housekeepers, brilliant career women . . . all at once. It is ridiculous to even try to become a `Superwoman'. It just can't be", said Hwang Seon-ju, a 31-year-old married woman working at a foreign firm.

"If it were a son-in-law earning a living for the whole family, would the wife's mother blame him for not helping out with the chores? Just because Seong-ran is a woman and a daughter-in-law, even though she earns the keep for all seven members of her family, she gets all of the blame without getting any recognition for her hard work", Kang Eun-hye, another viewer, said.

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