Author's Note
Main characters
Episode 1: Marriage Approval
Episode 2: Is Paul a misogynist?
Episode 3: Female victim, male guardian?
Episode 4: Stages of Grooming Sexual Crime
Episode 5: Order or Curse
Episode 6: The Second Victim
Episode 7: The True Meaning of a Helping Spouse
Episode 8: Father Triangle
Episode 9: There Are No Men or Women
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What happened to Maria?
Did you break off the engagement and declare that you will not marry?

After praying for her spouse, Hannah meets Minjun and plans to get married, even receiving preparatory training.
However, Hannah's father is adamant that his younger sister cannot marry before her older sister Maria.
Hannah, who is in a difficult situation, invites her sister to the book club where she met Minjun to try to start a relationship.
However, there is no clear way to persuade Maria, who declared that she will not marry after experiencing a breakup and is living independently on her own.
After hearing about women in the church at a book discussion group, Hannah goes to see her sister Maria and talks to her. She is shocked to hear the reason for her sister's breakup, and Maria is interested in the book discussion group that discusses what the Bible says about women.


A coherent narrative built on solid theology
The stories of women in the church are born as comics!

At the heart of the story of these sisters, Hannah, who wants to get married, and Maria, who declared that she will not marry after breaking off her engagement, lies a painful story that cannot be brought up.
"Mary the Unmarried" depicts a church culture that seeks to solve everything with grace under the guise of "spiritual authority," a patriarchal interpretation of the Bible regarding the status and roles of men and women that favors men, and church law that fails to guarantee the recovery or comfort of victims.
The cartoon captured reality so well that it caused a reaction called hyperrealism.


Women have heard countless sexist remarks in the name of faith or theology, and have endured distorted attitudes toward women.
The reality for women is that it is so commonplace in their daily lives and culture that they often do not even feel a sense of problem.
However, through the device of 'reading discussion,' the author examines point by point the status of men and women, the hierarchy between pastors and ordinary believers, and the methods of resolving problems within the church, which have been taken for granted.


Is it the order of creation that women should be ruled by men? What does it mean that women were created as "helpmates" for men? Should women not be allowed to teach in the church? What does Paul mean when he tells husbands and wives to submit to each other? The heated discussions on these issues unfolding in book clubs demonstrate that, regardless of personal inclinations or religious beliefs, all Christians must stand as complete and independent beings.


“The person who has changed the most is myself, the writer.”

Author Ahn Jung-hye says that the person who changed the most through this work is the author herself.
The author says that because she grew up in a male-centered patriarchal society, she found it easier to empathize with men than women, even though she was a woman.
The author, who “was so unaware of the fact that I was misogynistic because of the male gaze that had accumulated within me,” confronted reality by bringing up the experiences of anger she had experienced as a woman that she had also turned a blind eye to.
Eun-ah's confession in the work, "Because I was taught that way all along in the name of faith... I don't think I saw the problem as a problem even though I heard countless sexist remarks in church," may be the author's own confession.


The author was able to compose a complete synopsis by meeting many people for over a year, conducting interviews, group meetings, and reading related articles, materials, and other articles, and through thorough preparation.
As a result, it not only showed the protagonist embracing the pain women have endured in the church, but also finding the courage to solve problems and live independently, but also succeeded in easily explaining the theologians' interpretation of the role and position of women as described in the Bible.


Steps we've never taken before, now it's time for us to take them.

In particular, this work gained great popularity among both Christians and non-Christians during its serialization period.
On Twitter, where anonymity is guaranteed, there were frequent tweets from people who shared their personal painful experiences and recommended the comic even though they don't attend church (or have left it), and on Instagram, there were close to ten thousand readers following.
Just as Jesus Christ did, these people have taken steps to exist as human beings before being women, as Maria, Hannah, and Kim Jeom-sun in the work, and there have been and will be steps in the future to do so.
But the courageous choices of those who never thought of standing on that path are waiting for your steps today.