Shove Your Aegyo...

애교 (aegyo) is a Korea term for being cute, and quite frankly it's driving me crazy.

Check out the video on this link...

"How Cute Korean Girls Get What They Want" ~ is it any wonder this country has one of the worst rankings for gender equality in the world?! (108th out of 135 countries)

Girls (and boys, to a lesser extent) are brought up being told that the cuter they are, the more successful they will be. That all they need to do is talk in a high, squeaky voice, pout and bat their eyelashes a little and they'll never have to work for anything.

It's so frustrating talking to a bright, near-bi-lingual 6 year old, whose knowledge of English grammar could surpass that of a 10 year old native speaker, and have them speak to you in baby talk, in a put-on high pitched voice, with their head tilted to one side, doey eyed and pouting. 
Kid, I admire and respect your intelligence, you don't need to win me over with the애교.

It's not just the parents either, the Korean teachers lap up the fake cuteness and jump at any opportunity to mollify the students. I've seen lessons where the teacher spent most of the class telling the kids how cute and beautiful they were, with no mention of them being smart... or funny... or interesting.

In a country where so many women end up as house wives in abusive relationships, it's distressing to sit back and watch the values that are being forced onto these children. I praise my students for their work, I tell them I'm proud of them when they study well, but that's hardly a drop in the ocean compared to the mighty unseen forces of cuteness that surround them all day everyday.

Maybe I'll scrap art class and instead start giving lessons about successful ugly women in history. Margaret Thatcher may serve some good afterall....