ethical rhetoric is still used in contemporary South Korea. Other religions will incorporate it into discussions on proper human behavior. It can be found in the government and in the business world being used to encourage people to put the needs of the group above their own individual needs. Neo-Confucian philosophy going back to the 15th Century had relegated Korean women to little more than extensions of male dominance and producers of requisite progeny. This traditional view of the social role of women is fading away. There is an increasing number of women students holding good positions in universities and the work force, as well as in politics. The arts still maintain major traditions: Korean Pottery, the Korean Tea Ceremony, Korean Gardens, and Korean flower arrangement follow Confucian principles and a Confucian aesthetic. Scholarly calligraphy and poetry also continue, in much fewer numbers, this heritage. In films, school stories of manners and comic situations within educational frames fit well into the satires on Confucianism from earlier writings. Loyalty to school and devotion to teachers is still an important genre in popular comedies. With Neo-Confucianism taken out of the school curricula and removed from its prominence in the daily life of Koreans, the sense that something essential to Korean history is missing led to a rebirth of Confucianism in South Korea in the late 1990s. It is difficult to find accurate information regarding Confucianism in North Korean religion or practices. However, the Juche ideology does encourage the Confucian virtues of loyalty, reverence, and obedience. Contemporary Confucianism and Women's Rights Traditionally women in Korea were given the role of housewife due to Confucian gender roles. Meaning women were not allowed to work outside the house. This started to change and by 2001 the women's participation in the workforce was at 49.7 percent compared to only 34.4 percent in the 1960s. In 1987 equal opportunity legislation was introduced and been improved by reforms since then to improve the rights of working women. As Korean feminist organizations gained more influence the government listened, and in 2000 established the Department of Gender Equality to allow women to participate in making policy. Even though women are gaining by working right, it has not fully changed the roles when at the house. Working women are still expected to be the primary domestic worker in the family. However, these changes have given women in south Korea more of