even though the word itself just means "skirt"
if you're female, and you're visiting a temple or government office, you must wear one
for foreigners: covering up your arms + legs will do. for guys, a collared shirt. but if you're a woman in this society, it's a non-negotiable. it's not akin to the Korean hanbok, worn only for weddings or festivals. respectable older women wear the sin (pronounced seen) around the house. the ceremonial ones are brushed, stiff silk, while the everyday ones are cotton. it falls almost to the ankles, and it's a rather straight, tubular fit. for special occasions, a long-sleeved blouse of the same material + an embroidered sash will do
unless you're a city girl. if you're a 20-something here + you wear a sin around, people call you a country bumpkin. old fashioned. the young people wear short shorts + T's, or Forever-21-esque tanks with strings + lace.
+ when they do go to weddings, they'll break out with a sin, but it won't look like their mom's. it'll have a high riding slit, + they'll wear a low-cut matching silk top with an open-back. the old people will tsk tsk: "a sin isn't supposed to look like that." or they'll wear a Western dress - the tighter + shorter, the better. they make em for little girls too
@ weddings, they do a traditional dance with the guys in the middle, and the girls on the outside. just side-step slowly with your partner and move your hands up + to the music. or there's a slow line dance with toe-tapping and sashaying. feels like a medieval courting ritual, combined with Texas two-stepping, + throw in some Korean old-folks karaoke music.
it's not any freaky stuff; nobody even gets closer than a couple of feet. the respectable dads are up there. but as soon as the young girls came prancing onto the patio, they had the guys' attention. something about a young girl moving her body with music, does that. i still haven't decided if that's unnatural or evil, and under which circumstances. i always thought if it's slow music your parents like, and you're not touching, + it's not too dark + there's no alcohol, then it must be ok...but i dunno anymore. maybe it's from my sordid past of racy memories in nightclubs, or maybe my standards of modesty have changed from being in a more conservative Asian culture.
all i know is, there's always going to be the type of girls who'll show more skin + cast more flirtatious looks than they should. + the guys that notice them.
+ there's always going to be the type of girls who'll choose to keep themselves covered up + act more modestly...as stuffy + old-fashioned as it might seem. + the guys that notice them.
their world is changing so fast, a whirlwind dance that's remapping millenia of habits + attitudes + sin-lengths. in the West, the powerful force of female sexuality has been unleashed, liberated, all up in your face. a freedom that ironically, comes with its own set of chains. it's fascinating to see the East wrestle with this conundrum: how to embrace progress without scandalizing their heritage?
I wonder what their sin will look like in 10 years
