« Sisters' Yard » an independent Korean women's magazine
It is the time when in Seoul we finally see the end of winter coming! Which is not to uplease us… We will very soon say bye bye to the cold, to the snow, while looking forward to hosting one of the most beautiful seasons of the year: Spring. Isn’t it every time a striking and beautiful show that nature offers us, the show of its rebirth? Seoul in this season, is not left out of it with its many parks and hiking trails.
However, let’s not turn our back too quickly to this winter! Because it has been rich in encounters and beautiful Korean experiences. One of them was to cross paths with Juyeon, who publishes, since 2014, twice a year, « Sisters’ Yard » or «언니네마당», an independent and unique women’s magazine, really like no others…
This magazine occupies a singular place in the world of South Korean women’s press dominated, unsurprisingly, as everywhere else, by magazines dealing mainly with topics of beauty, fashion, cooking, interior decoration or celebrities.
Finally, a magazine that gives voice to South Korean women!
« Sisters’ Yard » is a magazine that really and finally talks about South Korean women. Who they are and what are their deep aspirations, but also what they experience and go through on a daily basis. It is a space of freedom of expression and speech, for those who have been deprived of it for so long. It is also a place of welcoming, listening, reflecting and sharing for many South Korean women, on topics of real and profound concern.
It undeniably responds to a real need for the liberation of women’s speech and expression, while contributing to the evolution of their place in South Korean society.
Thus, « Sisters’ Yard » allows us to discover exceptional women with equally exceptional stories and backgrounds. By taking them out of anonymity, by offering them an open and benevolent forum, we are given the opportunity to realize how far they are from being ordinary… It offers us a portrait of women striking, creating their lives and realizing their aspirations relentlessly, despite the too many obstacles that are growing in their path.
This magazine shares with us the intimacy of these everyday heroines, valiant, courageous and daring, in a patriarchal society ever more unfair and binding towards them.
« Sisters’ Yard » is the only independent South Korean magazine involved in the women’s cause. A pioneer of the genre in the land of the morning calm!
Women’s words!
Juyeon, the magazine‘s creator and editor-in-chief, brought together four women collaborators who like to present different ideas and points of view on topics as close as possible to the concerns of South Korean women.
Each issue is thematic, a kind of detailed special issue around a given topic. For example, one of the latest ones is about anxiety.
For anyone who knows South Korean society, anxiety is a topic of the utmost importance. However, it is new to consider it from a feminine approach. The magazine introduces us to the different forms of anxiety that South Korean women face, while offering advice and recommendations about how to deal with it, live with or get rid of it.
Excerpt from the interview of Jihae Lee, psychologist, by Juyeon Jung for « Sisters’ Yard » issue nr 12, <Anxiety, are you like me ?>
In general, many people are in a hurry in Korean society.
This is because they have already chosen their life reason and are convinced that they must live it up to scratch. They are convinced that they have to succeed, do, show, prove and influence people to the point they have set for themselves. They set ideal standards and try to meet them. As a result, they are in a hurry, always in a hurry. They always feel that they need to do something, that they need to meet more people or that they need to travel more, see more. They feel compulsive.
If we think about it, we Koreans have never learned to take our time. We always have to get up quickly, from an early age, eat fast, hurry to school, do our homework quickly and even fall asleep quickly. We are used to having to take the next step as soon as a stage is completed. We program our lives non-stop and do not accept wasting our time by making mistakes or being inefficient to achieve our goals. But a perfect life without mistakes or faults is nothing but an illusion. Humans cannot live by showing only good appearances.
If you would like to learn more about « Sisters’ Yard » you can read in Korean on their blog <언니네마당>.