The haenyo (해녀), literally meaning "sea women", are female divers in the Korean province Jeju. They are representative of the matriarchal family structure of Jeju. Diving has several meanings:- Jumping or falling deliberately, often acrobatically, into water. ... Jeju is the smallest province of South Korea, situated on its largest island. ... Matriarchy is an theoretical or imaginary form of government in which community power is conceived as lying with the women or mothers of a community. ...

Until the 19th century diving was mostly done by men. Because the job became unprofitable for them, since they, unlike women, had to pay heavy taxes, women took over the diving (which was considered to be the lowest of jobs) and, because of the great dependence on sea products in most places in jeju, became the main breadwinners. With that they often became "the head of the family". On Mara Island, where sea products accounted for almost all sources of revenue before it became increasingly attractive as a tourist site, sex roles were entirely reversed. Often men would look after the children and go shopping.

This evolution clashed with Korea's Confucian culture, in which women have traditionally been treated as inferior. As a result administrators from Seoul (unsuccesfully) tried to bar the women from diving, ostensibly because they exposed bare skin while at sea. Korean Confucianism is the form of Confucianism developed in Korea. ...

Starting from the late 1970's, exports of sea products to Japan have made the sea women richer than ever, allowing them to fix their houses, build new ones in Jeju City and send their daughters to college. However their very succes means that, with the daughters choosing to work in the island's tourism industry or in the big cities, the haenyo will most likely disappear. While in 1950 there were up to 30,000 haenyo on the island, in 2003 there were only 5,650 sea women registered as divers, of whom 85% were over 50 years old. With the number of sea women declining, and with tourism giving Jeju men more opportunities, it is unclear what will happen to their daughters' status in their communities and home, though it is unlikely that the matriarchal family structures will continue to survive. Jeju City (Jeju-si) is the capital of Jeju Province in South Korea and the largest city on Jeju Island. ... A tourist boat travels the River Seine in Paris, France Beaches make popular tourist resorts. ...

인어공주 (Ineo gongju, English title: "My Mother the Mermaid") is a movie about a mother (who used to be a haenyo) and her daughter.

See also

• List of Korea-related topics
• Korean culture