Subscribe
E-Paper
 |
| A simple search on Instagram of "홀복," or hallbok, shows a wide range of women's everyday wear but the term, which is understood to refer to sexy clothing for hostesses in bars, is facing an existential challenge in the #MeToo era. / Captured from Instagram |
By Jung Da-min
Controversy has erupted over a term online clothing sites have long used without a problem. The word is "hallbok," a combination of hall in English, which in this case is indicative of bars where women serve male customers, while "bok" means clothing.
The issue some women have with it is that they can wear whatever they want but the term is limiting their right to choose and the online sellers contribute to it by using it to stigmatize closely fitting or skimpy women's attire.
Many women complain that everyday dress like formal work clothes or party dresses are also being called hallbok if they are tight or revealing.
Twitter, Instagram and Facebook are flooded with postings of the keyword hallbok and women's related experiences.
"Many women's clothes that are tight or revealing are categorized and sold as hallbok at online stores ― even though I put them on in everyday life ― and it upsets me," a female shopper said on social media.
They claim such categorization reveals that Korean society is gender-biased and women are commercially and sexually exploited.
"Similar clothes are being worn in other countries, but they and their wearers are not as stigmatized as in Korea," a Twitter user said. "It's not about the clothes and the person wearing them.
"Whatever clothes a young woman wears, if it reveals her body shape in any way, they are hallbok."
The recent controversy comes amid widespread online hashtag movements on social media supporting women's rights.
