New Women in Colonial Korea by Hyaeweol Choi is the first English translation of archival material on the New Woman who stimulated caricature and discussion about transforming gender norms in colonial Korea. With annotations, biographical sketches of the authors, an overview of the newspapers and magazines used, and a bibliography that includes Chinese and Japanese studies scholarship to situate the book in a broader global context, New Women in Colonial Korea promises to be productive in the classroom and for researchers with interests in gender and comparative studies.
Choi distinguishes women as individuals with “heterogeneous realities” from the “oversimplified image” often (mis-)attributed to them (p. 3). She uses the term “New Women” to indicate the former and “New Woman” for the latter. By the 1920s, public fascination with the personal lives, careers, and activities of educated women whose visibility pioneered new gender practices provided fodder for the native press. These...
