Korean Matchmaking Clubs on the Mainland
Some of the comments on my Birthday Binge post mentioned the relation between getting older in age and the desperation for marriage (by the parentals). Funny thing, I was reading the latest KoreAM Journal (a great magazine, by the way) and there was an article about Korean parents on the mainland forming support groups in order to help get their kids married off.
According the article, the group is called the Parents Club of the Unmarried Children and it has about 500 members, all Korean Americans. They meet regularly in New York or New Jersey to talk (boast) about their kids in the hopes of setting up a match made in heaven with the offspring of other desperate parents. At the meetings, parents register at the door and wear a blue (for sons) or red (for daughters) tag that also lists their child's name and birth year. Once inside, they mingle with other parents and also check out pre-printed lists taped to walls that "inventory" all the children of the club members.
After the mingling, the formal program begins where parents go on stage to try and pimp out their kids. Here are some of the quotes offered by the article:
"My daughter works in an office where there isn't a single Asian"
"I wake up in the middle of the night in a panic, thinking about my single daughter"
"My son is so old he's an antique. Please take this antique off my hands!"
"At first, I was so embarrassed, everyone else is married and my daughter can't do it."
Jeez...I didn't know whether to laugh or cry when I read this article because my parents would probably be the first to join if this club ever reached Hawaii! Nah, now that I think about it, they'd probably be too "shame" to go public with my failure to wed.
It just tells you how much cultural importance marriage has in Korean lifestyles and how they see getting married as a significant accomplishment in life. Failure to get married almost equates to shame and embarrassment for the parents. Maybe it's just me...but something about this club seems wrong. Something about the parents selling off their spawns just feels weird.
Also, why limit it to just names and birth years? Why not walk around in a sandwich board with a photo, name of college attended, job title, and annual salary of the kids too? You know that the Korean parents want to know that info as well! LOL
According the article, the group is called the Parents Club of the Unmarried Children and it has about 500 members, all Korean Americans. They meet regularly in New York or New Jersey to talk (boast) about their kids in the hopes of setting up a match made in heaven with the offspring of other desperate parents. At the meetings, parents register at the door and wear a blue (for sons) or red (for daughters) tag that also lists their child's name and birth year. Once inside, they mingle with other parents and also check out pre-printed lists taped to walls that "inventory" all the children of the club members.
After the mingling, the formal program begins where parents go on stage to try and pimp out their kids. Here are some of the quotes offered by the article:
"My daughter works in an office where there isn't a single Asian"
"I wake up in the middle of the night in a panic, thinking about my single daughter"
"My son is so old he's an antique. Please take this antique off my hands!"
"At first, I was so embarrassed, everyone else is married and my daughter can't do it."
Jeez...I didn't know whether to laugh or cry when I read this article because my parents would probably be the first to join if this club ever reached Hawaii! Nah, now that I think about it, they'd probably be too "shame" to go public with my failure to wed.
It just tells you how much cultural importance marriage has in Korean lifestyles and how they see getting married as a significant accomplishment in life. Failure to get married almost equates to shame and embarrassment for the parents. Maybe it's just me...but something about this club seems wrong. Something about the parents selling off their spawns just feels weird.
Also, why limit it to just names and birth years? Why not walk around in a sandwich board with a photo, name of college attended, job title, and annual salary of the kids too? You know that the Korean parents want to know that info as well! LOL
posted by Myong Choi at 11:12 AM
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