The Haenyeo is a particular group of female-free divers dwelling on Jeju Island (Credit: iStock)
Who’re the Haenyeo girls?
The Haenyeo is a particular group of female-free divers dwelling on Jeju Island.They’re primarily outdated girls at this time as a result of the youthful generations have opted for different careers. These divers dive as deep as 10 meters under the icy waters of the South China Sea with out the help of air tanks and different trendy tools offering higher insulation. As one observes them , they can’t really feel the frost, as a result of their seen pleasure and contagious laughter make the seashore heat.
The Haenyeo are sometimes called the ’90-year-old mermaids of Korea’ as a result of most of them are very outdated, and their our bodies can bend like these of a mermaid in water.
the Haenyeo are a better social rank in South Korea’s patriarchal society. (Credit: iStock)
When have been the Haenyeos first seen?
The primary accounts of the Haenyeo date again to 1629. For 350 years, they wore mulsojungi, that are cotton diving garments. It was within the Seventies that they began carrying rubber wetsuits. These divers collect shellfish akin to abalone and sea urchins, in addition to kelp and different marine organisms, utilizing a knife or their fingers. These girls effortlessly carry out organisms like octopuses of their fingers, which is a pleasant sight for the vacationers.
Many of those divers are of their outdated age, however they will nonetheless dive with such agility and endurance. (Credit: iStock)
Vary of the diving season:
For Jeju, the diving season is brief, girls solely dive about 90 days a yr. They dive underwater for a number of minutes and at all times drag behind them an orange buoy in order that they are often positioned by fellow divers. On return to the water’s floor, they make a whistling sound. Also called the ‘Moms of the Sea’ and ‘Warriors in opposition to the Sea’, these girls are categorised into three tiers of expertise: sanggun (most skilled), hagun, and junggun. The extra skilled divers information the much less skilled ones, instructing them within the essential respiration approach referred to as sumbisori. The Haenyeo bond endlessly, dividing all harvests evenly and caring for one another’s
trials by life, being pregnant, sickness, and disaster.
These girls effortlessly carry out organisms like octopuses of their fingers, which is a pleasant sight for the vacationers. (Credit score: iStock)
Haenyeo’s arrange a matriarchal society
In distinction, the Haenyeo are a better social rank in South Korea’s patriarchal society. The the reason why free-diving turned out to be a female-dominated career on Jeju stay unclear, with theories together with males perishing in deep-sea fishing accidents or wars, to physiological benefits like girls’s fats reserves offering higher resistance to chilly water. A semi-matriarchal society in Jeju had been reported since many households there used to depend on earnings introduced dwelling by the Haenyeo. This was additionally a time when girls have been the breadwinners and males have been actually staying at dwelling to care for the youngsters. This function reversal may be seen in dowry practices cost of cash or items to the bride’s household as an alternative of the groom’s. Not like mainland South Korea, households in Jeju usually most popular the beginning of child ladies over boys.
Present standing and the way in which ahead:
Just lately, Haenyeo tradition has declined with elevated industrialization, new training and job alternatives for ladies, and the environmental degradation of Jeju Island. The tradition of Haenyeo was declared on the UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage listing in 2016 due to its distinctive historical past and fast-rapid decline of feminine divers. It has introduced the individuals of this island a brand new vacationer trade, higher safety and funding of the ladies within the trade and the pure surroundings of the island. The federal government gives free healthcare, and the required diving tools, and has opened a diving faculty and museum. This new heritage standing has benefited the group; nevertheless, within the course of, the ladies have turn into ‘dwelling artifacts‘ who carry out their work as spectacle items for vacationer audiences. Now, one will pay to see them dive and even purchase their catch.