Pushback grows against online women-bashing

[justkyhdding.livejournal.com]

Kimchinyeo, which translates to kimchi woman, does not mean a woman who is good at making kimchi. Rather, many use that term for Korean women who excessively depend on men - mostly financially - or who think they can control men because they are women.

This is just one of many slang words devised in online communities to abase women who show particular physical or personality traits. Although these types of words have not instigated any collective displeasure or resistance from women in the past, people are starting to speak up against women being routinely belittled and stereotyped online.

“Misogyny has been widespread among netizens [in Korea],” Ha Jae-geun, a culture critic, wrote on his blog, “And I worry that such an idea will be the main characteristic of Internet culture here.”

There are a number of other online nicknames for women, with the most well-known being doenjang (fermented bean paste) woman, which means someone who spends too much on luxury brands or high-end coffee. Another is “Ms. Kim,” often used to refer to an unskilled driver, even when the gender of the driver is not confirmed. As Ha points out on his blog, the problem is that even when only some women possess these qualities, netizens use these labels to categorize all women.

“When a man makes a mistake, people just blame that person, but when a woman does the same, people [use a nickname] to ridicule the entire female population,” he wrote.

Another popular phrase recently is “Ah molang,” which means “I don’t know” in a cutesy way. It started when a woman posted on Facebook that she does not understand how the country works and worries about the future of Korea. An acquaintance asked the reason why, and she replied, “Ah molang,” adding that the country is just annoying without giving much explanation.

Now the expression is being widely used to indicate ignorant women who don’t want to discuss social issues or serious subjects.

An even more aggressive term is samilhan, which means that women should be hit once every three days (OP note: dafuq???). Men use this word online to belittle and silence women.

According to one observer, this hatred toward women is based on the difficult economic situation and a sense of reverse discrimination. This is evidenced by the fact that the misogyny in Korea seems to only target Korean women, not women in general.

“Since men think they have been denied opportunities [for jobs and good schools], their jealousy intensifies and becomes hatred,” said culture critic Hwang Jin-mi. So misogyny is “more common among people in their 20s and 30s currently struggling with practical issues.”

Netizens have been expressing these feelings online with very little opposition, but outrage at the hateful words has finally bubbled to the surface.

Earlier this year when an 18-year-old man surnamed Kim became the first confirmed case of a Korean joining the Islamic State, he wrote, “I hate feminists” on his Facebook page just before going missing in Turkey.

Soon after, a critic said in an interview that “ignorant feminism is more dangerous than the Islamic State.”

Then, during the recent outbreak of Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS), it was widely rumored that two women, who were suspected of possibly having MERS, traveled to Hong Kong and went shopping while they were supposed to be quarantined. An online discussion board called “MERS Gallery” on the web forum DC Inside was flooded with posts condemning the controversial women, but the rumor turned out to be false.

According to one culture critic, that’s when the collective outrage against misogyny finally exploded. Female commenters fiercely turned the tables on men, changing the nicknames to male forms, like “kimchi man.” They derided men for spending too much money on sex, and even made fun of their body parts.

“What happened in MERS Gallery has made many realize that the terms many have used for a long time are part of hate speech against women,” said Hwang.

“It is not that doing the same - calling men disparaging nicknames and generalizing all men as ignorant - is right, but it was worth doing it as a type of shock therapy.”

Hwang said women have long complained to men about how their so-called jokes are hurtful for women, but men always denounced them by saying that “women don’t know how to take a joke” or “these stories are not about women but just fun obscene jokes.”

“When men became the target of such harsh words, many started to finally realize that these ‘jokes’ really hurt,” she said. “Women don’t need to continue to retaliate in the same way men have, and it’s time for them to move forward and have other more substantial talks on respecting each other.”

BY LEE SUN-MIN
[lee.sunmin@joongang.co.kr]

source: Korea JoongAng Daily

Comments

[rally-pchan.livejournal.com]

Good to know there are MRAs there too...

[fabulousdoll.livejournal.com]

One of the things that irked my about Jonghyun's apology was his need to mention that he's the "head of the household"
I ike Jonghyun A LOT. And I'm kind of glad there is an idol like him because I think he's a good influence, but this part and the need to mention her sister or mother to say that she respects women irked me too (I didn't make a comment because I saw the post much later from when it was posted).

[lynethia.livejournal.com]

The whole "cavemen think" - any woman a man can lay claim to and any one outside the circle is otherized, i.e. in Jonghyun's case his mother and his sister, is prevalent and honestly wouldn't surprise me if it never registered within his mind how objectifying and low-key sexist it is. Also, because of how subtle it doesn't surprise that more omonaians didn't pick up on that despite being part of the first sentence within his apology.

[anewsymphony.livejournal.com]

unfortunately i occasionally see posts from the 김치녀 page pop up on my newsfeed (which obviously means that some random fb acquaintances follow and like the posts..........) and the posts and comments on there are truly vile. obviously it's not just that one page, but it's definitely one of the big ones that is PURELY dedicated to bringing down women and mindlessly bashing them. what's upsetting is the number of female commenters i see on there also (who spout equally violent vitriol, but are also understandably coming from a place where they want to distance themselves from the ~김치녀 persona~ that has become so particularly toxic in recent times). what's even more upsetting is that a lot of the behaviours of 김치녀 that are ridiculed are really just a reflection of the flaws of korean society as a whole (materialism, obsession about wealth, status and appearances, etc) and by turning it into a hate parade, it shifts any sort of collective responsibility to help improve society away from the viewer and stifles any constructive debate.

there's actually a petition (https://www.change.org/p/facebook-sheryl-sandberg-facebook-korea-should-remove-content-that-encourages-violence-against-women?recruiter=319642663&utm_source=share_petition&utm_medium=twitter&utm_campaign=share_twitter_responsive) that started recently tho to take the page down, and the petition page got some coverage on Huffington Post Korea. a little faith in humanity has been restored u__u

[tempestdance.livejournal.com]

there was a quote i like, saying "if we use your money, you call us kimchi women. if we use our money, you call us doenjang (bean paste) women. this country is truly a country of fermentation."

OP samilhan sprouted from an old korean idiom that dried pollack and women need to be beat with a bat once every three days to make them soft - in the case of pollack it's literally hit it with a bat, but with women it meant that the married couple need sex often enough to make a satisfying marriage (the bat... is my penis). i mean it's still not the greatest idiom ever but in a patriarchal society as korea i guess it was a teaching for men that you need to satisfy your woman with your manly hammer or something to keep a healthy relationship.
the ilbe bugs twisted the idiom into literal beating because they're fucking assholes who hate women because they won't sleep with them or something

just some random trivia lol

[ababobaby.livejournal.com]

before the spaniards took over our country 300++yrs ago, we already had sex toys (yassss but the spaniards called us savages and uncivilized so bye bye to that) and it was actually a sacrifice for men since it's painful for the penis. iirc it's some kind of ring put around the peni that rubs on the clitoris of the female during intercourse to further the pleasure.

it's so old i can't even find anything about it on the internet. only awesome historians know about it

[justkyhdding.livejournal.com]

tyvm for the explanation!

there are so many sayings that get twisted like this: there's a saying in Tamil about how daughters should be raised covered up. But then I watched this TV shwo that explained how the original saying was how you should actually raise daughters by praising them ('cover' and 'praise' sound similar), so that gain confidence and affirmation/validation from their family. There's also a saying for sons, that they should raised through embracing (as in, keeping them close to you, in line and not running amok).

It makes me so mad when the original meanings get perverted by bigotry

[obscureauthor.livejournal.com]

hey fellow tam friend, what really pisses me about Tam misogyny recently is their media. Like how almost all of tamil mainstream actresses are north indian girls, almost like they do not find tamil girls pretty enough to be leads. Or how actresses themselves have small forgettable roles!

[winegums.livejournal.com]

lmao it's extra ridiculous in Tamil (and Telugu and some extent Kannada, I've not seen it so much in Malayalam film). They rather import a North Indian who doesn't even speak the freaking language rather than hire a local actress who CAN. (Underlying reason is bc the north Indian actresses they get are lighter skinned).

The whole actors-playing-another-ethnicity issue is a bit murky in India since North vs South Indians aren't actually different races for the most part and so many live far away from their state of origin/pick up other languages. Like, I'm not mad at Aishwarya Rai or Deepika Padukone (Tulu/Kannadiga) playing Bengali in their movies as long as they don't end up as gross stereotypes, but shit like Priyanka Chopra playing Mary Kom (also Indian but visibly not the same race) really gets my goat. Or Aamir Khan playing a Tibetan (! )

but most casting seems to be done according to stereotypes anyway. One of my cousins used to model/do bit parts in movies and he always, ALWAYS ended up being cast as a North Indian/Pakistani/Middle Eastern, and dude was full Malayali.

[bomsnose.livejournal.com]

samilhan reminded me of "money's in order (lit. good) when counted, women are in order when beat" from hungarian... bit sloppy translation, but you get the point. so sad

[sundaetea.livejournal.com]

yes for progress!

[treaclyena.livejournal.com]

pretty much sums up how i feel whenever i see people post on facebook/tumblr about how "i'm not like other girls". i go sort of ummmm... at those kinds of things. because in some ways us girls are similar to one another, but of course we are not like each other -- akin to how a person, regardless of gender, can be similar to other people but at the same time "not like them".

but why must that difference to "other girls" be highlighted? (which is actually a wrong way of thinking, since it's not other people they are comparing themselves to, but rather stereotypes of the female population cultivated by the media and society.) indeed, why is it that men are treated as individuals, but females are viewed as a group? :/

[a-cheshire-grin.livejournal.com]

why is it that men are treated as individuals, but females are viewed as a group? :/

I always wonder about that, when I read men whining online how women complain about men catcalling them or just being assholes in general. These commenters couldn't care less about the struggles of women, the only thing they care about is that "not all men" are like, because there are also "nice guys". But whenever guys complain about women, it's totally okay to say "all women are xy" and when female commenters complain about this generalisation it's just "shut up b*tch".

Like, they want to be seen and treated as individuals, but they see nothing wrong with generalising when it comes to women! -.-

"i'm not like other girls"

And don't get me started on that one. I've stopped reading Young Adult novels, because most of them feature this "special kind of snowflake girl", who is of course not like those other shallow and mean girls, but much better. x.x

[lightframes.livejournal.com]

This happens a lot to oppressed groups. It's a way for the unoppressed group to silence or ignore them. "I don't have to listen to women, they're all crazy."

[obscureauthor.livejournal.com]

also how a lot of compliments are 'you are not like other girls' why would anyone be proud of that? Why is dissociating yourself from your gender seen as a good thing?

[wishesgranted.livejournal.com]

I'm glad women are speaking up and I'm glad that this is getting attention. It annoys the hell out of me when people single out Korea for being backwards and anti-feminist as if patriarchy and the systematic oppression of women doesn't run rampant through every country on earth.

[leopolitan.livejournal.com]

all the power to the badass ladies standing up to this!

[huanyia.livejournal.com]

the last three paragraphs were very interesting to know about. once the tables are turned you definitely experience a completely different feeling. i really wish we could all respect each other, but the way many men view women as inferior or objects of sexual pleasure pisses me off.

[modernelegance.livejournal.com]

Fascinating how there has been a recent flux of feminist discussions...IDK if it's an actual trend in Korea or online personalities are being more outspoken.

I have more thoughts about this, but I'm going to let them simmer for awhile before verbalizing them.

[audiograms.livejournal.com]

Now non Koreans can stop saying that SK doesn't think misogyny exists.

[fayfayren.livejournal.com]

it always stems down to butthurt people saying "you don't know how to take a joke" or "it's my opinion, i should be able to have one". you're allowed to have opinions just as i'm allowed to call you out on it if it's racist, sexist, homophobic, etc. i tweeted something about michelle phan not being a feminist and some guy was all up in my mentions saying i'm so intolerant and feminism is fake, and people can have opinions. i don't understand why people use "it's my opinion, respect it" as an argument/defense, because you're not respecting my opinion either?....

also, the "i'm not like other women" statement makes me sooo sad. it's such internalized misogyny that you're constantly implying you're special and not "one of those girls" & you like staying home and reading books (every YA novel) rather than going out shopping and partying, etc. same with girls who say they like being friends with guys because there's not so much drama, girl pick better friends!

and for MRAs out there....

[kjc48.livejournal.com]

Yay girl power!

Supposedly netizens are really powerful in Korea, so this could actually make a huge difference.

[kicking-tenshi.livejournal.com]

“When a man makes a mistake, people just blame that person, but when a woman does the same, people [use a nickname] to ridicule the entire female population,”

This.

[lightframes.livejournal.com]

“When a man makes a mistake, people just blame that person, but when a woman does the same, people [use a nickname] to ridicule the entire female population,” he wrote.

Bold it, underline it, italicize it, etc.

[petecarl.livejournal.com]

“When a man makes a mistake, people just blame that person, but when a woman does the same, people [use a nickname] to ridicule the entire female population,” he wrote.

Reminds me of:

[kaninasan.livejournal.com]

As a STEM major i relate to this so much ugh