Yet, while Kim Ji-Young, Born 1982 does focus on spotlighting patriarchy, it’s also a story of resilience and resistance. Kim Ji-Young, Born 1982 is a movie that, to them, condemns the societal order that they have been accustomed to. They believe military conscription unfair to men, believe women have unfair advantages in the workplace, believe their positions threatened because feminism has dared to surface in a deeply patriarchal society. Commentators have broken down male reactions significantly.

The Asian female audience will no doubt recognize many of these transgressions: slow job progression once taking maternity leaves becomes a possibility, rigid expectations of the wife to focus on a family once she bears a child, and the looking down upon housewives as unproductive once they choose to stay home.Ĭritics have focused on many aspects of the material and reactions to it: men rating the movie 0 simply because it dares to spotlight sexism, men breaking up with their girlfriends for simply suggesting to watch the movie, men crowdfunding a parody book Kim Ji-hoon, Born 1990 highlighting discrimination against the common man.

Main character Kim Ji-young, portrayed by Jung Yu-mi, struggles with post-partum depression while flashbacks depict the everyday casual sexism she has suffered from men and women alike. Three years later, its film release again ignited debates.

When the novel Kim Ji-young, Born 1982 was published in 2016, its unabashed handling of gender discrimination and mental health in South Korea made it a cultural phenomenon.

Book kim ji young