A study on female Korean university students’ perception of male’s role

Abstract

This study investigates the perceptions of men held by female students in a Korean university, a place where the most liberal and exploratory discussions unfold. The study aims to examine how women perceive male’s role in Korea, and thus, employs Q-methodology to understand the different types of perception of male’s role. According to the results, there are a total of four types of perception: type I “dualistic norm perception,” type II “superiority perception,” type III “subjective perception,” and type IV “gender-balanced perception.” When comparing the aforementioned outcomes to feminist phase theory, type I overlaps with phase 3 of duality, and type II manifests characteristics of both the male-defined phase 1 of male dominance and phase 2 of contribution. In reality, however, the gender-balanced phase can be seen as extremely rare in the Korean society that embraces heterosexual norms. Nevertheless, the fact that type IV balanced gender is apparent in some female university students can be interpreted as an indication of change of perception toward the other sex role in Korean society.