Gender Stereotypes In North Korea

In modern times, gender has evolved from a simple concept to something more advanced and complex. However, in the labor camps of North Korea, the prisoners’ roles in the camp are highly defined by gender. The job they hold, their responsibilities, and even their treatment all stem from their gender. From how they were addressed to their job at the camp, the guards at the camp, who were typically male, saw the female prisoners as even farther below them than the male prisoners. In the camp, “‘Bitch’ was the standard form of address when camp guards spoke to female prisoners” (19). The guards also referred to the male prisoners as “son of a bitch”, which is still more demeaning towards the female workers than the males. The guards have the ultimate authority over all the prisoners and can get the prisoners to do whatever they want. If a guard wanted sex from a female prisoner, she had to give it to him or risk severe punishment.

Many worked in the textile factories, which the male prisoners oversaw and had to carry and fix the sewing machines for. A male prisoner could start beating on one of the female prisoners for the smallest of reasons, and the guards present would look the other way. They would take their anger over the job out on the females by “grabbing their hair, slamming their heads against walls, and kicking them in the face” (90). The male prisoners almost always got away with these actions, and the women were expected to continue on working as if nothing had