ABSTRACT
This paper is based on interviews conducted mostly between 1987and 1988, during a crucial moment in recent South Korean history—between the massive protests for democratic reforms that ushered in a new civilian government and the opening ceremonies of the Seoul Olympics. The paper looks at how men from various walks of life in Seoul in the late 1980s talked about women and about themselves as men, with some attention to how a mans social status informed and was implicated in the views he expressed. It also provides a glimpse into how women from various backgrounds adhered to and rebelled against patriarchal attitudes and practices, and how these attitudes and practices influenced their relationships with and their views of one another.
