Iseo Yun - Week One Card News
Younger generations were always presumed to lean liberal in South Korea until the recent presidential election.
Between the democratic Lee-JaeMyoung and the republican Yoon-Suk Yeol, young male voters made a sharp turn towards conservatism. Although many factrs contributed to the sudden change in political views, the most influential component was the controversy around feminism.
Feminism, by definition is “belief in and advocacy of the political, economic, and social equality of the sexes expressed especially through organized activity on behalf of women's rights and interests”. Unfortunately, in Korea, the word feminist is often used as an insult online towards people who advocate for women’s rights, and is often accompanied with the idea that said people are antisocial and illogical. Feminists, in return have created the word ‘Han-Nam’ to generalize and attack korean men that oppose their movement.
As more male and female dominated sites are being widely used, the extremist way of labeling and demonizing the ‘other side’ is becoming more common, making it harder than ever for the two sides to reconcile. The 2019 KWDI study found that men who engaged with websites dominated by men showed an increased hostility towards feminism, compared with their peers who did not. These anti-feminists view feminism as a form of reverse discrimination, a movement to take away their jobs and their opportunities through affirmative actions such as reinforcement of sexual harrasment law or mandatory military service. On the other hand, in 2015, a radical feminist group Megalia entered cyberspace. They adopted trolling tactics, misogynistic language and aimed to provoke male users. Through so-called mirroring, they copied the very same tactics and reversed the position of the victims (females) and the offenders (males).
Communication is key in solving all disputes. Unfortunately when people are only willing to communicate with people that agree with their viewpoints, progress is impossible. In a world where the idea that politics or social issues are a fight between the good and the evil is increasing, it's important to purposely expose yourself to the other perspective.
コメント