Kim Jiyoung, Born 1982

As a junior in her marketing job Jiyoung is asked to write a report about some marketing research. She does it well, too well, and gets told it reads like an article. What she was supposed to supply was the report the journalists use to write their articles. She goes back, reworks it and subsequently receives a career push when her report is successfull and picked up by multiple outlets.
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This is one of those books where its effect and the whole discourse around it elevates it to another level. It's the life story of a stereotypical South Korean woman, from childhood to university to married life and motherhood, told in a detached analytical voice. Scattered throughout all of her life are the cultural norms that place South Korean women below men. The boys who get served their meals before the girls, the university career advisers who never recommend women for jobs, the workplace colleagues who rather share inappropriate photos instead of reporting them, the women who abort instead of having yet another baby girl, and the supportive husbands who are so understanding yet would never give up an ounce of their own freedom in exchange for a family.

I liked how the story wasn't just stereotypical misogyny, but featured strong and able women, that fought against and succeeded within the system, in their ways (Jiyoung's mom!). Yet, the fine and hard-hitting bottom-line is, that even when presented with all the facts and stats (that Cho Nam-Joo referenced in footnotes) of this ‘report', there are still so many people out there, who can't connect the dots.