Unninetwork(언니네트워크 www.unninetwork.net) is a NGO dedicated to feminist cultural activism in South Korea. Korean women use the term “unni(언니)” to refer to their elder sister or another women who is on friendly terms with them; in other words, “unni” symbolizes the intimacy and sisterhood between women. We named ourselves Unninetwork(unni+network) to show that we value mutual support, empathy, and solidarity among women.
Mission Statement
Unninetwork aims to eliminate all kinds of sexual discriminations and oppressions by creating a women-friendly environment and contributing to the formation and expansion of feminist networks. In specific, our goals are:
(1) Creating an alternative environment where women can express themselves freely without sexual discrimination;
(2) Forming and expanding feminist networks
- In which differences (age, class, sexual orientation, etc.) among women are respected
- In which feminist culture is created and shared
- Through which Korean feminists connect with Asian women, learning from the lives and wisdoms of women from different social, cultural, and historical backgrounds
- Where time and geographical constraints are overcome through cyber-networking
(3) Creating new visions for a future without discrimination and oppression
What We Do: Activities & Projects
(1) UNNINET (www.unninet.net)
Unninet is one of the largest feminist website the only feminist web portal a combination of webzine, online journal, online communities and forums in South Korea. Created in 2000, Unninet’s objective is to build a women-friendly, feminist environment within the male-dominated cyberspace. It is a safe haven where women can express themselves without fearing sexist pressures, and an alternative community where feminists across the nation can build alliance and empower themselves to make changes to the patriarchal culture.
One of Unninetwork’s main jobs is to maintain and manage this large website. Unninet offers the following services:
Channel[Net]: Channel[Net] is a webzine where various topics are explored and examined through feminist/gender perspectives. It consists of the monthly Special Issue, which has published 98 issues as of July 2008 and covered various issues such as women and music, irregular work, prostitution, the family myth, women and writing, college feminist activism, women and health, lesbian issues, environmental issues, etc.; Column, where Unninetwork teams and other columnists contribute articles on women’s issues and culture; Unninet News, special reports on Unninetwork activities and women’s/gender issues; News Clippings, a collection of news articles on social issues of interest; and Meeting This Unni, a collection of interviews with feminists.
A Room of Her Own: Every Unninet member can create an online journal, A Room of Her Own. Created long before the concept of blogging was introduced to the general public, this pioneer service enables members to share their experiences, feelings and desires as women/feminists freely, discuss various issues, and be healed and empowered through mutual support.
Salon: Salons are online communities within Unninet, formed and managed by members with similar interests.
Q&A Playground: Q&A Playground is a forum where members can post questions or ask for advice about their troubles. Other members are encouraged to post answers, advices, and comments.
Plaza: Plaza consists of a feminist event calendar and bulletin boards where members can post information on social events, statements/comments/press releases on current issues, user-created movie clips, etc.
(2) Feminism Camp
Since 2004, Unninetwork has held the Feminism Camp, an annual women-only, eco-friendly event whose theme is “Women’s body, Culture, and the Environment.” It is a liberating experience from participants, where they can be free from the gazes of men and the pressure to dress and behave “like women/girls.” For example, participants are encouraged not to wear bras and makeup, not to shave, etc. The camp consists of activities such as feminist music concerts, sports games, open discussion on women’s body and desires, etc., designed to free the bodies and minds of participants, let them express themselves without (self-)restraint, and to build friendship and understanding among them. This energy-packed three-day event enables participants to become proud of being women and feminists.
(3) Festival for Bihon(non-married) Women
One of Unninetwork’s main agenda is raising awareness on the difficulties and discrimination on women who live outside the marriage system. Koreans used the term mihon, literally translated as “not yet married,” to refer to those who are not married. Recognizing that the term stigmatizes those who are not married, especially women, as abnormal and immature, Unninetwork chooses to use the term bihon, “not married.”
Unninetwork held the Festival for Bihon Women in 2007 and 2008, and plans to make it an annual event. Through this festival, we seek to raise awareness on the bihon women’s issue, empower those who live alternative lives outside the marriage system, search for viable action plans, and build a sense of solidarity among non-married women.
(4) Three-colored Hot Potato Forum
The Hot Potato Forum is a monthly discussion forum on various social issues. The purpose (the “three colors”) of the forum is to be “open” to everyone, to be “easygoing” so that every participant can form and share opinions freely based on their daily experiences, and to involve participants in “active” discussions through which Unninetwork decides on its stances on social issues and devise further action plans. First held in February 2005, the monthly forum has dealt with issues such as the government Ministry of Gender and Family, “From Embodied Fear to Imagining New Ways for Self-Defense,” lesbian feminism, sex work, the lives of and discrimination on not-married women, free-trade agreements (FTA), networking efforts with feminists across Asia, etc.
(5) Publication projects
Unninetwork has published three books so far. The Rooms in Unninet (2006), a collection of popular articles posted by various members on A Room of Her Own, sold more than 20,000 copies. Unninetwork is planning to publish the Chinese translation in Taiwan. Its sequel, The Rooms in Unninet 2, came out in 2007. The most recent publication, Playing Tag in Unninet (2008), is a collection of popular articles posted on Channel[Net].
(6) “Mouths We Want to Sew Up” Awards
Every year, Unninetwork holds a mock award ceremony called “Mouths We Want to Sew Up.” The “award” is handed out to so-called leaders and celebrities who make abusive, degrading, and sexist remarks on women. Recipients of this “award” include Lee Myung-bak (current president of South Korea and ex-mayor of Seoul for saying “I’m against abortion, except when the child is handicapped,” “Choosing a less prettier massage girl is the smart thing to do,” among many others), assemblymen Choi Yeon-hee for harassing a women reporter and later explaining that “I was so drunk that I thought she (the reporter) was the hostess of the restaurant,” and judge Han Yang-seok for suspending sentence on a women’s basketball team coach who harassed his team members sexually based on “the contribution the defendant made to women’s sports.”
(7) Other Projects
“The Memory of Feminist Actions” Exibition: Held in the summer of 2007, this exhibition showed the history of the feminist movement in South Korea by collecting and displaying documents, books, artistic productions, movies, etc. that came out since 1995.
Stepping Stones to Feminist Studies: “Stepping Stones” is a seminar on feminist study. A student/scholar is invited to present a thesis or paper on a topic, and the presenter and participants share their ideas and thoughts on the topic.
Women & Peace Tour: Designed as an alternative to commercial tourism, the Women & Peace Tour was held three times in 2004(Philippines), 2006(Vietnam), and 2007(Okinawa). Through this tour, participants were given the opportunity to meet feminists and women peace workers in Asia and increase their awareness of peace and human rights.
Organization
There are about 280 members in Unninetwork. There are two types of membership: “operators,” workers who participate actively in the preparation and implementation of Unninetwork’s activities and projects, and “supporters,” members who do not work for Unninetwork but support our causes.
Unninetwork consists of a representative, Department of Affairs, and four teams: Action Now, Communication and Empathy, Publication, and @Asia. The representative of Unninetwork , the heads of each team, and the Department of Affairs form the Board of Committee, which gathers every two weeks to discuss the management of Unninetwork and Unninet.
The representative, Department members and team members are called the “operators” of Unninetwork. With the exception of the Department of Affairs, which consists of two full-time employees (the secretary-general and the webmaster), “operators” are all part-time, voluntary, unpaid workers. Not all feminists can live as full-time activists; this system makes it possible for feminists with different backgrounds to fulfill their aspiration to be a part of feminist activism without having to give up their regular careers.
The Action Now team collects ideas for, plans, and organizes various feminist activities, including the Bihon festival and the “Memory of Feminist Actions” exhibition. Currently the Action Now team concentrates on studying the lives of not-married women and advocating for the right to lead alternative lives outside the “normal” family and marriage.
The Communication and Empathy team is in charge of building friendship and promoting understanding among feminists. The keyword for the Communication and Empathy team this year is ‘lesbian feminism.’
The Publication team aims to spread feminist ideas in and beyond Unninet through writing and creating alternative media. It produces the contents posted on Channel[Net], recruits columnists outside Unninetwork, and is in charge of the publication and promotion of our books.
The @Asia team seeks to learn about different cultures, share information, and build alliances with feminists across Asia. The team is in charge of the preparation of Femisia, publishing regular columns on Asian feminism on Channel[Net] in Unninet, and organizing projects to build networks with feminists and feminist organizations in Asian countries, including this workshop.
Finances
Unninetwork is a grassroots NGO, and our finances rely on the monthly donation made by members (both operators and supporters). Each member contributes 5,000 won (approx. $5USD) to 100,000 won (approx. $100USD) a month. There are a few “life members” who have made lump sum donations over 1,000,000 won (approx. $1,000USD). Other sources of funding include profits from our publications and Unninet. We also get occasional sponsorships for large projects.