The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1909-06-15
KOREA'S NEW WOMEN
BY FRANK G. CARPENTER

husbands as a result and they allow
their wives to copy these foreign eX-
amples. [ attended a court garden
party the other day at which many OF
the royal family were present. There
were several princes, relatives Of the
emperor, all OF his imperial majesty's
cabinet ministers, the high Japanese
officials and others. The foreigners
brought their wives and they wore, OF
course, European costumes. The
japanese ladies We're dressed in beau
tiful kimonos. There were in addl-
ton about a half dozen Korean ladies,
some of whom wore European dress
and the others Korean gowns. Such
women belong to the advance guard
of the new movement. They go out
on the streets with their husbands,
and even ride in carriages or jinrik-
ishas, always creating a sensation
among the natives When they do so.
The older men cannot realize that
a good woman, who has been raised
a Korean would do such a thing, and
many of them consider the morality
of the new woman questionable, to
say the least.
Girls With DiaphonOus Skirts.
AS to the clothes the new woman
wears, these at the present time are
strange to an extreme. The Koreans
have no idea of what the proper for
eign dress is; and they appear in the
most outrageous costumes, thinking
them correct. For instance, the wife
of a high Korean official came to an
afternoon tea at an American house
this week dressed in a trailing gown
of gauZe tissue, like material of which
was of about the consistency of fine
mosquito netting. The dress was
properly made, out under it there
was almost nothing. The woman had
petticoats which reached only to her
knee, SO that her pipe-stem legs, clad
in black stockings, could b. plainly
seen. She had on heavy cowhide
shoes and a hat Of the vintage Of a
dozen years ago. The latter was of
dinsy straw, trimmed with moth
eaten roses, which hung down almost
to her shoulders. The combination
was SO strange that the foreign ladies'
could hardly keep their faces straight
as she moved about among them.
Nevertheless, she was a woman of
wealth, and money had been no Oh
ject to her in securing the proper
dress. [ doubt not she considered
herself more fa~shionably attired than
any other lady present.
Such things occur from Ignorance
as to what the foreign costume is, and
the shopkeepers here are taking ad-
vantage OF the fact that the women do
not know. They have for sale a mis-
~cellaneous outfit of bygone clothing
brought from Shanghai and other
parts Of the east. The hats are Of
all shapes and STYLES and the dress
goods are OF every outrageous de-
scription. These things are bought by
Korean parents for their little children
who are going to school, quite a num-
Der of whom are now wearing foreign
dress and almost all of whom have
foreign hats. l attended an athletic
exhibition of the girls of the public
chools the other day. 1t was held
in the grounds of the Mulberry Palace
and about 500 girls with their teach
ers We're present. They We're all
cut, but they wore foreign hats. which
looked as though they had been ffshed
out of the ash barrels and of the Bow.
cry. They had flat crowns and broad
brlms and were indescribably ugly.
The Girls Schools.
The schools which have been estah-
lished for girls are perhaps the most
striking evidence of the new woman
movement. There are many of these.
some run by the missionaries, some by
the government under the direction
OF the Japanese, and in addition many
private schools. At this athletic ex-
hibition the girls ranged in age from
six to sixteen, and they went through
their exercises in sight of an invited
crowd of Koreans Of both sexes. MANY
OF them came from Well-to-dO fam
lies, and their sisters, cousins and
aunts were present to see them. The
most OF these a clOaks or wells of
some KIND or other over their faces,
but the girls themselves had no such
covering and they exercised without
shame.
In the past the women of Korea
nave been almost entirely u~neducated,
and today those Of the higher class are
just beginning to send their children
to school. The lower and middle-class
women have sent their children to the
mission schools for a number of
years., and for this reason many Of
the teachers in the girls schools.
which contain the children Of the no.
blllty as we'll as other girls, are OF