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`Smart, successful` Gold Miss strives for independent life



For Koh Bong-hwa, 31-year-old owner of her own design company BongFlower in Seoul, age seems to be just a meaningless number. The successful business woman dates a college student who is five years younger than her and frequently enjoys a wild partying life even when many people in her age prefer to settle down. "What matters to me is my own happiness, not how others look at my life, relationship and the amount of money that I earn. As an independent woman, both financially and socially, I am the center of my life, a sole decision-maker of my life," said Koh, a publicist-turned-businesswoman.
Out of her company`s monthly profit, she takes more than 10 million won, four times as much as the average wage Korean women in her age earn per month. The high income allows her to pursue financially independent life and create her own life style.
She is a fan of luxury fashion brands like Diane Von Furstenberg, Celine and Michael Kors but she calls herself a "smart consumer" who follows the rule of practicality while looking fabulous all the time.
Koh is one of a growing number of single, professional women often labeled as "Gold Miss," a Korean version of SWANS (Strong Women Achievers, No Spouse) in North America.


Like SWANS, the term Gold Miss refers to a single woman who is in the age of mid-30s or over, has her own job and car, and in some cases, possesses a house to live by herself.
With a sophisticated look and image, a Gold Miss is typically a graduate from college or higher institutions of learning and has a professional job. Gold Miss can also be identified by the amount of their monthly earning.
According to the Korea Employment Information Service, a Gold Miss is a professional woman who is aged between 30-45, and earns more than 40 million won ($42,000) a year.
Research by the KEIS last year showed that the number of Korean women categorized as Gold Misses increased 11.7 times to 27,233 in 2006 from 2,152 in 2001.
The Gold Misses with their purchasing power and fastidious styles have emerged as a leading group that sets the country`s fashion trends. Thanks to their love of culture, Gold Misses can be easily detected in musical theaters which require you to pay more than 100,000 won for a ticket and trendy, luxury clothes to wear.
Not only spending money on cultural events, clothes and even jewelry, smart Gold Misses never stop investing their money in self-improvement.
Kim Kyung-eun, 32, a brand manager at one of foreign companies here, took music and sports lessons before and now spends two hours taking lessons on flower arrangement every Saturday morning.
She goes abroad at least once in every two months with no strings attached.
"I just have to go on the plane and explore the world. It is the source of my life," said Kim.

Marriage


For many Koreans, Gold Misses are still regarded as women who failed to find the other half. But Gold Misses say staying single is their choice, not a failure.
For Kim, single life`s flexible schedule allows her to concentrate on her work while her other married friends struggle to balance work and family.
Koh said companionship is what she is looking for, not to take any kinds of advantage from the marriage.
"I don`t think the feelings of love or affection will last forever. What is important in the relationship between man and woman is whether they have similar future life path in their minds," said Koh.
She wants to be financially independent even if she gets married.
"I don`t care if my future husband will earn more and less than I do. But the weird thing is that people start to question the relationship when they figure out that the woman gains more than the man does," Koh said.
Kim agrees with her.
"I am looking for a man with whom I can share difficulties in life. The marriage I dream of is more like the two building the life together, not like one entirely depending on her husband," said Kim.

Future


However, staying single doesn`t mean that all of Gold Misses are happy with their lives.
"Many women are feeling misgivings about their unstable present and uncertain future," Kim Young-sook, a reporter for a local daily, said.
Last year, the 39-year-old reporter published her own book titled "Single Days of Oyona," which takes to task the myth surrounding high-achieving women and their life as singles. In her book, she paints a sympathetic picture of truly special and driven women who deserve all that the world has to offer and more.
But she also writes about the agony that Gold Misses easily suffer.
Kim exemplifies some cases of women obsessed with luxury goods and fortune tellers.
"They end up with having an obsession about luxury products to show off themselves to people who see them as successful women with high incomes. But in the other side of coin, they are afraid of being alone and taking the life burden by themselves," she said.
Gold Misses often go and see fortune tellers to get away from feeling insecure. But Kim says it is not right.
"Single women should find the answer from their hearts. And they should liberate themselves from people`s judgment and just enjoy their single lives," said Kim, who calls herself "free-minded single."
"It is really hard to live the single life as a woman. It requires substantial energy to keep your life independent and stable. So, dear Gold Misses, you should trust yourself," she said.


By Cho Chung-un
(christory@heraldm.com)


2008.03.07