Jesa (제사), a ceremony commonly practiced in Korea, is a memorial to the participants’ ancestors. Its primitive origin was Confucianism, which was the national religion and belief during the Josun period.
Jesa is performed by presenting various kinds of food to the ancestors such as wine, taro soup, beef, fish, three different colored vegetables, fruits, rice cake, and additional servings that the deceased favored in their time of living. Such food is positioned on the Jesasang—the table for the Jesa, in the strict order that the Gosubidong (고서비동) instructed. After the preparation was completed, all family members would carry out the traditional bow in front of the Jesasang and the portrait of ancestors. The participants of the Jesa believe that the dead would then consume the food in gratitude.
As a Korean residing in Korea, I have undergone the ritual of Jesa each year on the day of my ancestors’s death anniversaries. As time passed by, however, I began to acknowledge the inequality ingrained in the procedure of the Jesa. Throughout the entire day, my mother, two aunts, and nieces who were older than me were engrossed in kitchen duty preparing the abundant Jesa food, while the male members of the family rested in the living room exchanging nonchalant conversations.
The men did absolutely nothing to assist the women in the demanding labor for food preparation.
Before the day of the Jesa, women were busy preparing the food. I had witnessed my stressed mother accomplish the challenging task and my aunt’s wrist that was wrapped in a band because it was strained from overexertion. After the main ritual, they were still occupied with the remaining duty of cleaning and reorganizing the utensils utilized during the Jesa, which consisted of an extensive measure of dishwashing. At the end of the day, it was visible that they were completely worn out, the exhaustion evident in their sullen look.
I was confused by such observations; why did the female family members undertake all the labor, when the Jesa was a ritual that the entire family participated in? It seemed increasingly unfair and unequal. Even regarding the traditional viewpoint that women were more adapted to cooking, the male members of the family still did not attempt to assist in cooking-unrelated tasks such as setting the Jesasang table with utensils and trays of food as well as dishwashing. There was in fact an atmosphere that thought obviously of women carrying out all the laborious chores; that they were to serve the entirety of the family and the men within it. I was infuriated when I finally acknowledged this. The existence of the traditional roles of women and the implication of their subordination to men embedded in my own family was deeply upsetting.
I believe that traditions, those of ancestral rituals, all possess individual values. It nonetheless can and should be modified regarding the equality, justice, and ethics that have been recognized in modern society.
