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How radical feminism is agitating South Korea

2021-07-01T09:45:57.138Z


Groups for the defense of "male rights" have been mobilizing for several weeks to denounce what they consider to be a movement motivated by hatred of men.


A reverse #MeToo.

In recent weeks, groups for the defense of "

male rights

" have been active in South Korea, on social networks and the judicial field, to lead the rebellion against feminists in the country.

Originally, it was a simple emoji that ignited the powder: showing a hand with the thumb and forefinger close together, it was first used as a logo by a feminist group that no longer exists. today, then taken over by many companies and organizations.

But South Korean men protest that this emoticon is only intended to make fun of short male sexes ...

To read also: Mythologies of the decade: "#MeToo"

Result: anti-feminist activists have launched a real witch hunt against those who use this symbol, says the correspondent of the

Los Angeles Times

in Seoul, quoted by

Courrier International

.

Companies and organizations that have adopted it on posters or advertising campaigns, but also employees deemed too feminist, are thus overwhelmed by complaints or calls for boycott.

Some of them have even been sanctioned or demoted for this use, municipalities have had to apologize, museums withdraw works and stars from all walks of life have seen their careers threatened.

A young but radical movement

Because for the South Korean defense groups who are acting today, this emoji is only an illustration of the deep hatred of men which, according to them, characterizes a feminist movement that has become out of control. Recently born with #MeToo, it has been deployed in a very radical way since. “

Once the idea was introduced, it spread like wildfire

,” says

Figaro

Madame Lim, a Korean who has lived in Paris for more than 30 years. With the same excesses as in Western countries. This professional translator and editor deplores in particular that the movement has "

made a lot of victims

", citing the poet Ko Un, approached several times for the Nobel Prize for literature, or the filmmaker Kim Ki-duk, recently deceased. "

There is a tendency towards witch hunts

”, she insists, before detailing:“

Once a known artist is designated as a sexual harasser, his career is dead and his work too

”.

As in our western countries?

"

If the movement is more recent than in Europe, its effects are very radical and the impact much greater than in France

", tempers Madame Lim.

To read also: Thérèse Hargot: "For a feminism of reconciliation with men"

This radicalism, Aleyna, a resident of Seoul, also feels it: "

It is no exaggeration to say that extreme feminists in Korea have greatly undermined the original meaning of the term" feminism ",

" she confided to

Le Figaro

. With a major consequence in Korean society: “

People of both sexes tend to think that they are conventionally and structurally wronged by the other sex and that they are not treated properly

”. This barrier particularly concerns the young male generation, who complains of paying for the mistakes of their elders, and who sometimes feels slandered, muzzled, and even disadvantaged, especially by military service, compulsory for all men but not for men. women.

Government-fueled hostility to feminism?

Therefore, Ms. Lim considers that "

the birth of an anti-feminist movement is quite understandable

." And if he is shy for the moment, the translator predicts that he will “

develop

” if the “

excesses

” of feminists continue. This hostility is, however, already reflected in the figures. In 2018, a study conducted by the Korean Women's Development Institute showed, for example, that 65% of men in their twenties defined feminism as a hate movement against men. 56.5% of them even said they were ready to break up with their girlfriend if she called herself a feminist. And this feeling is spreading throughout society. “

Feminism is a mental illness

Has thus become a slogan in the protests of groups defending men's rights.

In 2015, a South Korean columnist even claimed that “

unconscious feminism

” was… “

more dangerous than the Islamic State

”.

Read also: Caroline De Haas, when feminism becomes a business

In this social climate, it seems particularly badly perceived to declare oneself a feminist in South Korea. "

If I say: 'I support feminism', I claim to oppose most men and turn them into enemies,

" sums up Aleyna, before insisting: "

If a person declares to have the same point of view as a feminist, she can be treated unfairly by society

”. A phenomenon exacerbated among the young generation by the feeling of being excluded from the debate by the power in place. “

The Korean government is more supportive of the feminist movement, like many left-wing politicians

,” says Lim. “

The government has specialized itself in the conduct ofpublic opinion by appealing to a certain ideology

“Aleyna abounds.

"

Men are tired of this debate and believe that the conflict between the sexes has worsened under the current administration

," she adds.

The young woman also deplores that the current debate is more about "

the conflict between the sexes

" than on "

equity

".

But there are still too few legislators who are trying to deal with this subject properly,

” she regrets.

At the origin of inequalities, Confucianism

South Korea currently ranks 108th out of 153 countries in terms of gender equality, according to a World Economic Forum report in 2020, making it one of the richest economies that are furthest behind on the issue. . On the other hand, the pay gap between men and women was 32.5% in 2020, according to OECD figures. These structural differences between men and women run deep in Korean society for one reason: Confucianism. "

Korea is patriarchal: men dominate women

", summarizes without complex Mrs. Lim, who believes that it is for this reason that "

feminism has spread so quickly

". Today, "

some Korean mothers are still imbued with this patriarchal idea and it is they who educate young men

”.

Relations between men and women are thus always very compartmentalized.

Korean women usually cook while men get together to eat and drink

,” describes the Korean exiled in France.

"

Men are generally very reluctant to talk about subjects such as the military with the opposite sex, when women rarely

bring up

childbirth with men

", abounds Aleyna by way of example.

To read also:

The Marriage of Figaro

at the time of #MeToo

But if inequalities are still very present "

in companies as in everyday life

", the debate is moving forward, according to Ms. Lim. “

In the past, in education, we did everything to fire pregnant women

,” she recalls. "

Today, men are paying more attention, but in an insidious way

", in particular with the denunciations on the Internet linked to the #MeToo movement. There is no question, however, for the Korean translator to draw any parallel with France, where she has lived for more than 30 years: “

Here, it's not really patriarchal, the men are not as macho. Go and see Korea, you will quickly understand!

"

Source: lefigaro

All news articles on 2021-07-01

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