Maybe it's the whirring blades?

Hyejin Kim at Global Voices Online has posted a roundup of Korean bloggers discussing the persistent belief in fan death.

As in, why do so many people admit that they think the idea is ridiculous but still make sure they've at least got a window open? Or, as one blogger put it:

Sometimes what we believe without any questioning might not be true. Therefore, we should check at least one time whether what we believe so naturally is really true or not.

Regardless of it, I would like to recommend opening the windows when you sleep with the fan in summer. As a matter of fact, sleeping while drunk in the hot summer is such a dangerous behavior (maybe the drunken people even don’t have sense to open the window). It doesn’t matter whether you have a fan or not. Even when you use the fan, place it near your feet, and so your face is not going to be swollen the next day ...

I have to admit, since my daughter was born, I fall into the 'I think it's bunk, but hedging the bets anyway' category. When I moved here almost three years ago, I thought belief in fan death was one of the most absurd things I'd ever heard. I mean, it's not like it's some superstition left over from the murky mists of time. We're talking about a fear of electric fans.

But now that the weather is so hot that we need a fan in my infant daughter's room, I just can not bring myself to completely shut the door when it's on. I leave it open, you know, just in case there's something to it.

I had some half-baked, pseudo-intellectual argument worked up about the power of culture and socialization versus the individual, and how the surrounding culture inherently shapes the way you think---sometimes against your will, sometimes without you even knowing it. But, this is probably a lame example, so I'm not even going to try to explain it.

All I know is, although I'm glad to have it, I totally don't trust that fan.

Thoughts on being "Naked"

The process for searching for the perfect name for our blog was extremely scientific and rigorous. First we invented a computer program that went through each word in both English and Korean and put them together in two- to three- word combinations. We then invented an AI that went through and ranked the potential titles based on the following considerations:

1. appropriateness
2. cleverness
3. how many hits would be generated off the title alone

And then we scrapped all that and just looked at number 3.

And that's how we came up with "Naked in the Sauna." It relates to Korea, it's kind of kicky, and it has the added advantage of ensuring that we get a lot of hits. But on top of that, blogging is that kind of "warts and all" activity in which you let it all hang out. We probably think of "naked women" as objects of desire and interest, but we're here to be subjects, to be verbal and active, and to speak for ourselves. I think you'll find some beauty in these women's lives, but not, perhaps, the straightforward titillation that the google searchers are expecting. Plus we write all our posts from our public bath headquarters and therefore the contributors are all women.

We (and I use the collective noun somewhat ironically, because who can speak for all women, or even all the women of this blog?) hope that by writing this blog we'll be able to create a space in which the perspectives of a variety of women can be expressed and heard. Warts and all. Women from the "West" living in Korea, women from Korea living in Korea, and women whose national and cultural identities are not as clear-cut. We'll write in both languages, depending on the mood and inclination of the authors.

Let's get naked!