Women’s Objectification: Gender Inequality in Min Jin Lee’s Pachinko

Abstract

This study examines how women are represented as objects in Pachinko by Min Jin Lee, how women’s objectification reflects gender inequality, and what the impacts of women’s objectification are. This study employs a qualitative descriptive method and draws on feminist criticism, particularly on the concept of objectification proposed by Martha Nussbaum (1995) and Rae Langton (2009). This study analyzes Pachinko by Min Jin Lee as the primary source of data, while books and journal articles are used as secondary sources of data to support the analysis. The results of this study show that the objectification of women is experienced by the female characters through seven ways of objectification. This objectification is rooted in gender-based power difference, which makes women treated with less empathy and negatively impacts women’s lives, while also maintaining the practice of objectification itself. This study concludes that the objectification of women is not solely individuals’ misconduct, but also a manifestation of patriarchal gender relations that place women in subordinate positions as objects for men’s purposes.