No Price on Freedom and Independence:

South Korea’s decline in marriage has affected its rate of births which negatively impacts the country’s economy as a whole, and the government is doing everything in its power to assuage the situation. According to statistics from the World Bank, South Korea is tied with Puerto Rico as the country with the lowest rate of births with only seven children born per 1,000 people. Unfortunately for the government, this number is only decreasing. And in the throes of this new movement, it does not seem like an economic balance is in the midst. But is it important compared to freedom?

The aim of the #NoMarriage movement is not to rebel against society and the government, but to induce a change in the perception of women in South Korea. Instead of vessels for conception, they want to be regarded as people. People with the right to choose what they want for their lives and to enjoy that journey without pressure from their peers. It is a fight to make the government understand that women are not only women when they become a wife or conceive a child. It is a roar meant to make the world see that nobody has the right to tell you what to do with your body.

The problem lies in the outdated views on relationship roles and the lack of appropriate support from the government. Boosting birth rates should not entail pressure on the country’s women. It means taking measures to reassure women that if they so choose to have a child, the country will back them up with the proper avenues to aid and alleviate any burdens.

Rest assured, with or without the government’s support in this movement, these women know how to fight for their rights and they will keep doing so until change occurs.