“Interview Outside the Research Paper” Series: Jo Young-ju, Researcher on Self-Employed Young Women Doing Physical Labor
By Park Ji-ha
Published: April 6, 2026
Translated by Se-young Kim
Research Introduction: The thesis "The
Physical Labor Experiences of Self-Employed Young Women Dealing with Space:
Focusing on the Home Repair, Wallpapering, and Cleaning Sectors" is a
study that sheds light on the labor experiences of young self-employed women working
in the home repair, wallpapering, and cleaning industries. The author, Jo
Young-ju, is herself a self-employed young woman running a cleaning business,
as well as a researcher studying and practicing women's studies.
Jo Young-ju cleaning an office using a piece of
floor-cleaning equipment known as a ‘Doldoli’ (floor polisher). Ms. Jo is a
self-employed young woman running her own cleaning business, as well as a
researcher studying and practicing women's studies. (Photo provided by Jo
Young-ju)
I lived in Jungnang-gu, Seoul, from birth until
my late twenties. While majoring in cultural contents, I engaged in local community
activities while creating plays and music. The Jungnang-gu community was a
place where projects were conducted from a feminist perspective, though I
didn't consciously perceive it as such at the time. However, as I planned and
managed projects, I naturally developed a sensitivity, and by taking feminism
courses concurrently, I realized, "So this kind of world exists." I
thought that if the opportunity ever arose, I would like to study it further.
After getting married and moving, I settled in
Incheon. To make a living, I started working as a cleaner, and to continue the
activities I had been doing in Jungnang-gu, I also began working part-time as a
coordinator for a civic group. Through this, I was also able to pursue the
academic work in women's studies I had long desired.
-So, you actually found extra time thanks to
your cleaning job?
Another reason I decided to work as a [self-employed]
cleaner was time. It is rare to find an organization that operates according to
the rhythm of its employees. I wanted to break away from any organization's
rhythm and live at my own pace—a life where I could take time for myself, even
if just a little. I started looking for work that I could do with these considerations
in mind, and that is how I ended up choosing this job. In my previous work
experiences, I felt my health constantly deteriorating due to working long
hours, and I think I spent quite a long time contemplating whether that
lifestyle was sustainable.
Currently, I have time to care for stray cats
while working as a cleaner. I have also adopted some cats while caring for
them. (I am currently living with Makdung-i, Gangnaeng-i, and Kkul-tteok-i.)
Cleaning work can be taxing at times, but I think I am happy that I can have my
own time.
The process of collecting and sorting out
accumulated disposable beverage cups during a regular office cleaning visit.
(Photo provided by Jo Young-ju)
“On the day of my graduate school interview, I
wrote in my diary, ‘I want to try to make sense of my life within a social
context.’ I had a feeling that the record of time that I journeyed through would
not be merely a record of my personal life, but a record of women living in
this era. I really wanted to meet women who do the same work, and I wanted to
explain my life to those who were curious and perplexed about me working as a
cleaner.”
Recently, contents featuring self-employed young
women dealing with spaces has been appearing on various channels, but such
content either emphasizes a ‘[high] monthly income of 10 million won’ or
primarily highlights the hardships. I wanted to convey that those sides are not
the whole story. I wanted to address the pride as a working person, without
feeling shy or uncomfortable about it. I also felt a sense of responsibility to
speak out about this issue, as this work tends to be heavily gendered (that is,
perceived as primarily a job for men).”
-I was impressed by your comment about wanting
to address pride as a working person.
“There are standards and hierarchies of success
established by society. For instance, everyone talks about professions
considered ‘successful,’ such as lawyers and doctors, but many people are often
unaware of how the essential labor that keeps our society running actually
operates. Some forms of labor remain invisible. I wanted to bring them to
light. I also wanted to talk about labor that society does not value, because
it is what keeps the world running. It is difficult work, and naturally, there
are many challenges, but I did not want to simply describe labor as suffering.”
-Looking at the title of the thesis, I
wondered why it was categorized as ‘labor dealing with space,’ but I understood
it after seeing the sentence on page 20: “The result of this labor is etched in
space.”
“When I go in to clean, the traces of a week’s
worth of daily life are piled up. There is a lot of trash and a lot of
contamination. In a way, it is also the mark of the intense labor of those who
use the space. Come to think of it, I don't think I was that good about
recycling when I worked at a company. It seems that the harder the work felt,
the more recklessly I lived. However, after cleaning a place, I can definitely
feel the difference between before and after. Home repairs are like that too,
and so is wallpapering. These are tasks that transform a space, and I felt that
the labor is etched into that space. This work allows you to confirm that reality
with your own eyes.”
Ms. Jo applying a wax coating to the office floor
after cleaning. She feels a sense of reward and accomplishment every time she
checks the before and after results of a move-in cleaning. (Photo provided by
Jo Young-ju)
“It is essential labor that keeps our society
running, but it hasn’t been visible.
I wanted to address the pride of being a working
person. Because this is what keeps the world running.”
-In discussing the background of your entry into
self-employment, you mentioned ‘experiences of being excluded or not recognized
within organizations’ and ‘fatigue from emotional labor in interpersonal
relationships.’ I think this will resonate deeply with readers of the thesis.
It feels like experiences and emotions that young women are bound to feel, no
matter where they work or what kind of work they do.
“The women around me suffered a lot physically
and mentally while working. Why can't women of our time work without
medication? That was a big question for me. I, too, became very exhausted and
burned out while working. I thought about why that was the case. I believe that
one needs to find an answer, if not a complete one, to the question, ‘Why am I
doing this?’ in order to be able to grind one's body down for that work; but
since I had absolutely no idea even where this ship was headed...
I don't want to speak ill of any specific
organization. However, I think the feeling of being a mere cog in the machine,
or the demands to quantify and standardize intangible values, are what truly
exhaust people. It feels like I'm doing work that never ends. I found myself
thinking, ‘Looking back on the moments I worked the hardest, there was nothing
to show at the end besides me getting sick. Where did all my hard work go?’ The
organization didn't protect me. It seemed natural for activists to grind
themselves down. After going through days where I cried even in my sleep, I
thought deeply and suffered greatly before reaching a conclusion: I must take
responsibility for my own life. I wrapped up what I was doing and chose a new
job, which was cleaning. I liked that cleaning allowed me to see the work I had
done and brought the entire process under my control.”
-It reminds me of the point where you mention
that the visible results are what set this work apart from other labor
experiences where you felt alienated from the labor itself.
“That’s right. It is straightforward and free
from any ambiguity that comes from not knowing how much responsibility to take.
Cleaning is a job without any frills. Since my results are visible, I feel a
sense of self-recognition, and I take full responsibility for supplementing and
resolving any shortcomings I discover. In the days when I didn’t know the
ropes, my body would often ache after work. Just like me, the research
participants all have their own ways of taking care of their bodies. Although
this work is said to be physically demanding, it is also learned labor where
senses [of how to do it well] accumulate within the body. Many women have found
that [after taking a career break] their previous work experience is not given
proper recognition. But if you become someone who knows how to use your body,
your work experience becomes something engraved into it.”
Researcher Jo Young-ju during the interview, with
her published thesis and trusty notepad. (Photo by Park Ji-ha)
Small business owners feel the social safety net
is too small
-Unlike employed workers, self-employed
individuals may lack a safety net. Weren't you worried about this when you
decided to enter the field?
“One research participant mentioned, ‘As
economic agents, we are one of the entities supporting the axis of this world's
economy, and although we are turning this wheel together, we feel like we are
being completely excluded.’ This is a problem I experience daily as well; the
most vulnerable point for the self-employed is not getting paid for the work
they do. The woman who created the website ‘Craftspeople’s Land’ [a platform
for reporting untrustworthy businesses such as interior design firms that fail
to pay contractors] worked as a contact paper installer and studied coding at
night to launch the site because of unpaid wages. It was created for the public
good. There are so many women who don't get paid. As a self-employed cleaning
business owner, the thing I fear most is unpaid receivables. Pressuring for
payments is also a job in itself.
For the self-employed, everything is their own
responsibility. Of course, there are those who make a lot of money, but because
there is a perception—ignoring Korea's current industrial structure—that ‘the
self-employed don't need protection because they are the bosses,’ it seems that
small-scale business owners have very little safety net. However, when I bring
this up, people respond by saying, ‘If you don't like it, go work for someone
else,’ or ‘You don't have the ability, yet you want the title of boss and
expect to be treated well?’
While working at various organizations in the
past, I suffered from self-loathing, wondering, ‘Everyone else manages to live
like this, so why can't I?’ However, I realized I couldn't bear not finding
meaning in life. So, thinking ‘it doesn't matter whether it's this cliff or
that cliff,’ I became self-employed. I didn't want to run a franchise business;
I disliked the idea of simply
making money for the headquarters. I wanted to do work where I could control
the process, but there weren't many opportunities available with limited
capital. I was also concerned about finding work that wouldn’t be replaced in
the age of AI.
That is how I started working as a cleaner, and
[shortly afterward] I saw some relatives whom I hadn’t seen for years at a
funeral. They asked what I did for a living; saying ‘I work at a company’ would
have been good enough to move on to the next topic, but when I told them I was
a cleaner, they were all aghast. At that moment, my father cleared his throat
and left. The relatives expressed concern, saying things like, ‘As soon as you
realize this isn’t the right path, find another job.’ I did feel the social
stigma and low status of this work. Although I am the type of person who is
extremely conscious of what others think, I wasn't greatly affected by it
because I thought that even if I failed, it was my life anyway.”
-I heard that your father is very proud of you
now. In your thesis, you also introduced various attempts made by people in the
industry to move beyond perceptions of manual labor and foster respect for this
kind of work.
I hope that women engaged in manual labor will
appear in the media more often to make this work visible and express their
pride. I myself wrote a thesis, and I am in the process of preparing a book. I
have also recently started a YouTube channel. These endeavors are also a trend
that fosters respect for colleagues doing this work and for ourselves.
There is also a KakaoTalk group chat for self-employed
women working in home repair, wallpapering, and cleaning who provided
significant assistance in making this thesis possible. There are over 600
members in this group, and for current and prospective self-employed women, it
is essentially like a labor union. The chat notifications ring all day long.
When we share the difficulties we face at work in this chat, we support and
help each other.
I would like to express my sincere gratitude to
the research participants. Self-employed women in these industries have unreliable
days off because they must rush to respond to customer requests just to make a
living. There were instances where an interview was scheduled but had to be
canceled because a job came up. I understand their situation, as I also rush
out immediately when asked to provide an estimate. Those who agreed to be
interviewed were taking a day off from work to meet with me. It felt like I was
receiving support from self-employed women whom I had previously been unaware
of. Because of that, I think I conducted the interviews with a spirit of
solidarity more than a mindset of completing research.”
 |
| After starting a cleaning business and being able to adjust her working hours, Ms. Jo Young-ju adopted stray cat friends and is now living with them. (Photo provided by Jo Young-ju) |
-Now that the research is complete, are there any topics or questions you would like to expand on further?
“There were so many female self-employed
business owners who were unaware of what kind of protection they were eligible
for. Moving forward, I would like to spend time considering what policies are
needed to protect the rights of the self-employed, and furthermore, I believe
we need to organize.”
-You are writing a book and starting a YouTube
channel amidst all this busyness, but honestly, for self-employed individuals,
promotion and marketing are entirely their own responsibility.
“The stress of promotion, including managing
social media, is immense. If I don't do it, everything just sinks. [That work]
is a given. These days, there are a lot of videos on YouTube about female manual
labor technicians and self-employed women, so I watched them all. I analyzed
the glut of stories—ranging from the ‘10 Million Won a Month’ type to the
‘Skill-Results’ type and the ‘Personal Story’ type—and I felt that there are
stories yet to be told, stories that only I can tell. For the book, I plan to
include stories that I couldn't cover in my thesis, such as the retirement of
the self-employed or the digital labor I am currently discussing. I am aiming
for publication this year. I suppose the more I spread the word about it, the
more I will write diligently, right?”
Jo Young-ju, a technician, CEO, researcher, and
feminist, is pioneering a new path with her unique skills, creating cracks in
existing prejudices in fields referred to as "men's domains,"
"manual labor," and "jobs unsuitable for women."
About the Author: Park Ji-ha. Believing that
earning a master's degree would enable her to confidently articulate clear and
distinct answers, she spent a considerable amount of money to pursue graduate
studies. Coming to the Department of Practical Women's Studies at Sungkonghoe
University—a haven for feminists—she learned that the reason for studying
women's studies lies in maintaining an attitude of keeping questions,
conflicts, and discomfort by one's side, living amidst chaotic clashes and
discord while still being observant and caring. She may not have become a
person who speaks the answers, but she has no regrets.
Original Article: https://www.ildaro.com/10426
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