Transforming gender relations through intimacy

The concept of relationships possesses a double function as a source to enable a Korean explanation for the experience of women's oppression, and also a means to explore the possibilities for women's liberation. In this paper I undertake an analysis of the foundations of the knowledge that has constructed Korean gender relations from a historical perspective, and search for a revolutionary transformation of gender relations on this basis. As existing gender relations have been maintained on the mechanism of 'segregation and harmony' and 'exclusion and assimilation' which were greatly influenced by li-yue theory, I have paid attention to the feminine characteristics that construct these relationships. These feminine characteristics do not rely upon factors external to the relationships, but rather accord to the internal attributes which are in fact the source of a relationship's change and maintenance and have power as intimacy to enable the creation of the self. In order for intimacy to operate as a positive resource for new gender relations, we must undertake an analytical critique of the cultural and historical contexts that made possible the existing means of relating and reinterpret these.