The "misogyny" and "misogyny" of Korean society are becoming a political issue. "As South Korea's presidential election approaches next March, South Korean political circles need to make feminism a word of distinction and disgust." According to South Korea's "Jingxiang News" reported on the 5th, from the "Miss Julie" mural that slandered the "National Power" presidential candidate Yoon Seok-wook's wife Kim Jian-hee, to the feminist controversy caused by the short hair of Olympic archer Ansan to Yoon Seok-yue's "healthy feminism theory"... In South Korean political circles, feminism, which originated in Europe, has re-emerged as a tool to incite gender tensions.
The direction of political issues has been reversed
In March next year, South Korea will usher in a new presidential election. Compared with the last presidential election, the direction of South Korea's political issues has changed dramatically. At the just-concluded Tokyo Olympics, 20-year-old South Korean archery actress Ansan won three gold medals in individual, team and mixed team competitions for her first time, setting an Olympic record. But she was criticized by South Korean netizens for her short and neat hair, and was called a "feminist who must stay away.". A debate on gender issues erupted in South Korean politics.
Yang Junyu, a spokesman for South Korea's largest opposition party, the National Power, commented online on July 30 that "the reason for the contradiction is that Ansan used words with anti-male overtones" to pass the responsibility on the contestants, while the party's leader, Lee Joon-seok, openly supported Yang Junyu and further turned gender issues into political attacks and defenses. Subsequently, South Korea's "Justice Party" female lawmaker Yoo Hao-jeong and former party representative Shen Sang-yeon expressed their support for all women, including Ansan.
Some Korean media recalled the situation during the last presidential election that Moon Jae-in, who was the presidential candidate of the Common Democratic Party at the time, publicly stated during the election process that he would become a "feminist president". At the time, with the exception of Moon, most of the candidates scrambled to introduce policies for women. For example, 50% of the cabinet is made up of women, and excellent companies that employ women are recognized. South Korean media described the political circles at that time in an atmosphere of "gender issues = women's issues".
Foreign Policy magazine reported that Gallup's first monthly poll of Moon's government in June 2017 showed that 90 percent of voters in their 20s supported the president, higher than the overall approval rating of 81 percent. But just four years later, in Gallup's monthly poll in May, only 31 percent of young people support Moon's government, with an overall approval rating of 34 percent. Among men in their 20s, the proportion is only 17 percent, the lowest of all demographics by age and sex.
At the same time, there has been a change in South Korean politics around gender issues. According to the Jingxiang News, this is because South Korean men aged 20-30 are more cohesive than in the past. Meanwhile, a series of pro-women policies by the Moon jae-in administration have angered young South Korean men. The controversy surrounding Andan is also not unrelated to this environment. Initially this was just a contradiction on the Internet, but with the addition of political circles, the situation has expanded further.
Some experts believe that this is a tragedy of South Korean political circles trying to use gender issues to cover up social structural problems such as employment difficulties. Chung Mi-kyung, a professor of sociology at Jeonbuk National University in South Korea, said that in the midst of rising structural inequality, men in their 20s need a target of grievances: women. Political circles have used this uneasiness and anger to add fuel to the fire on the issue of gender contradictions.
A recent study by the Korea Women's Policy Institute shows that the "traditional masculine traits" that Korean society demanded of men in the past are becoming weaker and weaker in the minds of the younger generation, and their contradictions with women and their antipathy to feminism are becoming more and more obvious. In a study of 3,000 men aged 19-59 in South Korea, 50.5 percent of respondents in their 20s showed a tendency toward "hostile sex differenceism" or "anti-feminism."
Party leader in his 30s + party spokesman in his 20s
"[South Korean political parties] can't shake the temptation to get the votes of men in their 20s through 'anti-feminism.'" Kim Eun-joo, director of the Korea Women's Political Research Institute, analyzes the recent situation in Korean society. South Korean politicians consume feminism during elections because it is so easy to secure support. In South Korean politics, only with the support of specific groups can one become the leader of the government.
On July 5, after the national force spokesman selection debate, two young men were elected as the party's spokesman, Lin Shenghao, 27, and Yang Junyu, 26. So far, the "national forces" have formed a configuration represented by 36-year-old party leader Li Junxi and two spokesmen in their 20s. Statements and policies within the "National Forces", which have traditionally been unsupported by female voters in their twenties and thirties, have begun to appear to attract men in their twenties and thirties to vote, and some analysts say that this is a strategic judgment. They look forward to mobilizing the enthusiasm of male voters in their twenties and thirties to show in this year's seoul and busan mayoral by-elections.
At the same time, the "male phenomenon in their twenties" has also become a topic and attracted attention. Some analysts believe that the "male phenomenon in their twenties" has been dormant in Korean society for a long time, and this potential existence is gradually becoming clear because of the "Lee Joon-seok phenomenon". Today, under the influence of the "Lee Joon-seok phenomenon", the "male phenomenon in their twenties" has been shaped as a political factor.
"I agree that there have been differences in the past for women, and I agree that there have been glass ceilings. But I don't understand why the differences of the past have made modern men responsible" "Look at modern society, men seem not to be required to wear tights, but to wear armor to live. Feminism now adopts high-pressure, violent standards for young men in their twenties and thirties, citing conservative gender discrimination perpetrated by older generations. This is the remarks of two South Korean men in their 20s in the South Korean media. In their view, the social differentiation of women only exists in the past and does not continue to this day. In this context, feminism is for them a "science that lives only for women and oppresses men."
Young female voters, who were ignored by both the South Korean government and the opposition, are also gradually angry. Li Mou (35), a woman who works for a startup, criticized the opposition party, saying, "I feel that the 'National Force' ignores women in their twenties and thirties in order to get the votes of men in their 20s, and seems to treat us as transparent people." "But on the other hand, Li does not have much good feelings for the ruling party. She argues that the sex scandal of a local official from the Common Democratic Party and the "Miss Julie" mural incident are things that should be "kneeled down and apologized" and that "neither the government nor the opposition has a presidential candidate who can represent female voters."
How does the issue of "feminism" affect the election?
"The loss of privilege has led to a shift toward the hard right among young men," Foreign Policy magazine said, adding that in many countries young people are considered liberal, as is South Korea. But recently, young male voters in South Korea have suddenly "sharply turned to the right." In the Seoul mayoral by-election in April, 72.5 percent of male voters in their 20s voted for conservatives, higher than the 60- and older age group. Fueled by radical anti-feminism and a distorted cult of political elites, young South Korean men herald an "ominous new chapter" for South Korean political conservatives.
South Korean experts who have studied the issue say that young Men in South Korea have two tendencies: misogyny and elitism. Most of them were born after 1990, when South Korea was in the process of prosperity and development, and young men knew little about the history of the hard work of the older generation. Examples include the Korean War or the struggle against military dictatorship and for democracy.
Instead, young men battle a series of exams: high school entrance exams, college entrance exams, and high-paying entry exams, and they spend most of their lives in infamous cram schools to take or prepare for exams. As a result, young South Korean men have internalized the logic of these exams and elevated them to a distorted moral sensitivity that the weak should take responsibility for themselves.
And what impact will the feminist debate have on next year's election? Some Korean media believe that the flow of votes can be predicted by the results of the by-elections for seoul and busan mayors in April. Export polls at the time showed that 15.1 percent of Women in Their 20s in Seoul chose third-party candidates over the two major political parties. This is likely to happen again in this election. However, some voices believe that it is too early to measure the impact of feminism. Some experts said that at present, the candidates have not yet released a specific campaign platform, and the voters have not formed a judgment, and it should be taken into account that the situation of by-election and general election is different.
Column Editor-in-Chief: Zhao Hanlu Text Editor: Yang Rong Caption Source: Xinhua News Agency Photo Editor: Zi Xi
Source: Author: World Wide Web/Ding Jieyun