A Room of One’s Own

A growing number of national policies are geared towards aiding those who live alone and within that range, women are struggling to acquire benefits as well. Unlike in the past, more women choose to stay single and reject marriage, which can be considered as a determination to maintain a room of their own. What does having a room mean to you?

Virginia Woolf, the renown English writer, once ended a speech by expressing that in order for a woman to write a novel, £500 of annual income and a room of one’s own is necessary. By some accounts, it is argued that the era of women creators has ushered in, but when asked the difference since the time when Jane Austen, another noted English novelist, penned Pride and Prejudice in a communal living room as she hid her script being continuously disrupted, numerous women that lack financial power and individual privacy comes to mind as a possible, but not a definite answer. 

For the 240th edition of the Sungshin Mirror, we covered various historical events that played out in August and also about women who are battling against another level of threat within the pandemic, the hazard of not being able to have a room of their own. 

Women are easily asked to give up their career and their territory, especially after getting married, being forced to undergo domestic labor which seemingly leads to a situation where it’s nearly impossible to develop oneself or, as Virginia Woolf said, to compose a novel. Once they decide to stand on their own feet, they’ll earn less despite the same work time and finding a safe room will not be as simple as men, as places that become ‘home’ to women are strongly associated to safety and security as well. 

A room of one’s own is more than just a private safe area to women; it’s the foundation of their challenges and the epicenters of their questions to the world. To those who will read our articles, turn the pages while thinking about the women who lack rooms and the chances derived from them. Though it sounds like the distant future, when the Corona virus comes to an end, variety will require recovery and throughout the hectic decades it is earnestly anticipated that women will be able to meet plentiful possibilities, with or without a room of their own. 

By Na Hyunah Editor-in-Chief (pseudonym98@naver.com)