South Korean women shunned at work as men fear #MeToo movement

[nekokonneko.livejournal.com]

South Korean women have reported instances of being shunned at work by male colleagues afraid of being caught up in the country’s growing #MeToo movement against sexual harassment. According to the Chosun Ilbo, female office workers have been subjected to the so-called “Pence rule”, which describes the US vice president’s reported principle of never dining alone with a woman or attending an event where alcohol is served without his wife. One 29 year-old professional at a Seoul-based company claimed she had missed out on an important networking opportunity when women were told they could not attend a drinks event with male colleagues and their boss.

“I didn’t do anything wrong, but I felt like I was being treated like I had,” she said.

The #MeToo campaign, which began against sexual abuse in Hollywood last year, has now taken South Korea by storm after a revelation in January by a public prosecutor about how her career had allegedly been sabotaged after being groped by a senior official.
Her courage in coming forward inspired an outpouring of similar stories from South Korean women who had also suffered harassment in the country’s patriarchal society in silence.

The movement, which has swept through the world of entertainment, politics and religion, this week prompted the resignation of rising political star, Ahn Hee-jung, over accusations of rape. Acclaimed director, Kim Ki-duk, who has been honoured at the Berlin, Cannes and Venice film festivals, has become the latest high profile figure to be accused of sexually predatory behaviour. He claims he has only had “consensual sexual relationships.” But according to the conservative Chosun Ilbo, some women are now feeling a backlash in the male-dominated business world, where they are being deliberately excluded from office gatherings and business trips. It cited online communities filled with comments from men saying they were now nervous around female co-workers.

One anonymous office worker at a shipping company in Seoul said her boss “used to be very chatty with the female staff, but nowadays he only gives instructions by text message,” apparently telling other workers he was afraid of being misunderstood. Another woman claimed she had been abruptly dropped from a business trip to China, despite doing all the preparation, and replaced by a male colleague instead. “Since the #MeToo campaign started, my boss seems to be scared to go on business trips with female staff. This will reduce opportunities for me to achieve results at work,” she said.

Reaction to these claims has been mixed, with the #MeToo campaign enjoying a groundswell of support and some pointing out that the Chosun Ilbo is not known for its liberal stance. “I find it hard to believe. I’m sure some men avoid women because of MeToo but I doubt it is the norm,” said one sceptical commentator in Seoul on Thursday, during a long stream on the issue on the social media site, Reddit.

But another countered that it may be true. “I’ve read this article 30 minutes ago, just arrived to work, and we get a warning from our boss during our daily morning meeting to be careful of metoo movement,” she said. “I also thought this article was a pile of bs, but some managers/companies are genuinely scared of it.”


source: the telegraph

Comments

[existingisfunny.livejournal.com]

I'm so... fcking... irritated. I don't believe for a second men are actually this scared, they're just using it as a tactic. "Oh, you don't like the way things are done? Fine, don't come to any meetings." All they have to do is be responsible for their workplace culture and hold proper investigations if anything gets reported. But instead of making things more open and comfortable for women, they tighten their little "Boys' Clubs" as a punishment and make it all about themselves. "What if we look at a woman? What if I want to hug a woman? What do I do?" You're GROWN.

[shuumi-miss.livejournal.com]

100% this.

They're so transparent, ugh.

[nadesico-chan.livejournal.com]

You're right on point.

[rosiemotleymind.livejournal.com]

MEN ARE WEAK. MEN ARE WEAK.

This is some "I'm afraid to even compliment a woman now" bullshit. I am just so over men.

[purpleglaceon]

Don't act like an asshole and you'll be fine. If you're scared of the metoo movement it's because you know you're a piece of shit and don't wanna get caught so rather than controlling yourself, you do this.

Yeah men be weak as fuck.

[jasmineakaiumi.livejournal.com]

men are actual trash.

[theweebdream.livejournal.com]

My stepdad brought this up when they were talking about the me too movement on the news one time, and how men are going to be scared with interacting with women in general now for fear of being accused of something they didn't intend to do or mean. It's such fucking bullshit, all you have to do is act decent and treat us women like the humans we are. Men seem to forget how much shit women get for coming forward about stuff like this so why would anyone falsely accuse someone of something?

[jasmineakaiumi.livejournal.com]

100% this

[psharp10.livejournal.com]

mte, all you need to do is treat women like human beings, is that too much to ask? you're not going to get accused of anything if you just act like a decent human being? why do men find that so hard to understand good god

[glokmusic.livejournal.com]

If you treat women as human beings, with respect as you should, there is no reason a woman will accuse you of sexual harassment

If you’re scared of it, you’ve clearly already done something wrong

[ashdevilrun23.livejournal.com]

god men are so weak

[premonitioner.livejournal.com]

cry harder, male tears fuel me

[vintage-boom.livejournal.com]

part of the reason so many women start their own businesses. to not put up with this weak ass bullshit.

[boxcuttergirl.livejournal.com]

men were a mistake

[oppameansit.livejournal.com]

if you can't be alone with women without doing something that could be construed as sexual harassment then you're not fit to be in public tbqh

[nekobot.livejournal.com]

It gets real obvious how ridiculous these statements are when you apply the logic these dudes apply here to other blatantly wrong and illegal situations.

"Oh so people are worried about knife crime? What am I supposed to butter my sandwich with without having to worry about being convicted for murder??"

"Oh so we can't drink and drive? FUCK YOU I GUESS I'LL JUST DIE OF DEHYDRATION THEN"

[camouflagecat.livejournal.com]

This was infuriating to read.

[daceymormont.livejournal.com]

God, I hate men who spew this "we can't look at women anymore without being accused of sexual assault!" bs. They sound like rapists and lbr they probably are.

[nekobot.livejournal.com]

Lol they probably are, it's so pathetic. Then just don't? You're in the office so....maybe just look at your work? God knows we don't have any trouble keeping our eyes off men's ugly asses, especially knowing they'll take any type of eye contact as some sort of "take me" signal.

[jasmineakaiumi.livejournal.com]

THIS. I attend an exercise group every week and could sense this guy was into me (he's okay but i'm nhf dating atm) and i had to flat-out stop interacting with him on a basic human level because even saying good morning would trigger him into thinking I was into him.

[nekobot.livejournal.com]

It's so exhausting! You can't even sneeze in someone's general direction without having to worry that it will be mistaken as interest or that it will be used against you later on as "leading them on".

It's funny that men are saying "Oh so now I can't (basic action towards) women either?" because when you think of it...isn't that what we've already had to worry about with men our entire lives? We never even get to entertain the thought of giving a platonic hug or a compliment to men to begin with without having to mentally prep ourselves for the worst case scenario!

[jasmineakaiumi.livejournal.com]

You're 100% right and I'm so using that line when someone brings it up next time! I always worry in every interaction I have with men that something I said/did could have given them the wrong idea.

eg. something as basic as me saying good morning to the guy in my group?? and now it's really awkward with him purposely ignoring me because he feels snubbed I guess since I was avoiding him? like is it that hard to see me as a fellow human worthy of basic courtesy instead of a failed dating prospect...

[nekobot.livejournal.com]

I'm convinced men are unable to see women as people outside of the context or function they serve in their own lives that relates directly to them (like they're only "real" and considered - and not even necessarily in a positive way - if they're their relative, their gf, their employee, the girl that serves them coffee, their teacher, or very often...someone they want to or feel entitled to sleep with. women aren't people, they're whatever it is that they add or take away from men's lives and nothing more and if you don't serve them or their narrative you don't matter) and any woman that has no use for them is just plain not seen as a human being with valid feelings and her own life to live.

I'm sorry you're feeling awkward about this just because this dude has had the luxury of living his life not having to worry about being objectified and terrorized all the time :/ You could have a million perfectly valid reasons to not talk to him and it shows how spoiled he is that he takes it so personally.

[modestgoddess79.livejournal.com]

Men only care about women they consider their property. Which is why they don’t want anyone to harrass their women. Other women are just considered objects. They really think we have no personal agency.

[nekobot.livejournal.com]

Must be so upsetting to them when all these walking vaginas and housemaids all of a sudden start to speak up.

[jasmineakaiumi.livejournal.com]

I REALLY like that narrative you just painted, not because it makes me feel good but because it's so on point. that's 100% what I feel like it is.

thank you :c that's the issue lmao like to them it's just another annoyance but to me it's literally me going over interaction with every man in my head to make sure i didn't sound like i was flirting or give them any reason to think i was into them when just making general conversation...

[yxerin.livejournal.com]

this was so fucking embarrassing to read

[yixingsforehead.livejournal.com]

wow. just wow.
stay strong, people.
also these shit of a managers, i hope they don't last long.

(....i'm a bit pressed most still leave trump out of the narrative, though. hollywood wasn't the one, it was the trumpf tower that proved unshakeable that made people move onto shaking the next big asshole, who happened to be in hollywood.)

[existingisfunny.livejournal.com]

the disconnect between the women's march nearly a year before and the #metoo movement's rise (which actually the founder, tarana burke had been working on for like 10 yrs?)

it rly goes to show men didn't care/were not paying attn to the women's march worldwide bc there were demonstrations in korea as well! they think this is all new and suddenly women are talking about it...

[yixingsforehead.livejournal.com]

that, too...

(i don't think it's just men tbh!)

[kamoteatmani.livejournal.com]

So during international womens day at the office one of my teammates asked why theres no international mens day amid celebrations and greetings of the day and i pointed out that in the patriarchal world that we live in eveyday is men’s day pretty much and he got so offended that he brought it up again a couple days later when my boss from the US visited us and noted that our team was very female-dominated. That teammate looked at me and was like “and youre complaining about living in a male dominated society?” He got so mad because he keeps reasoning HIS reality and i kept saying that his experience is not true for 99.9% of the population and then he shut up lol

I was so mad tbh men are scum.

[nekobot.livejournal.com]

The funny thing about this straw man question is...there IS an international men's day. It's November 19th.

[rainstormraider.livejournal.com]

We’re initiating a new policy at our workplace where we only hire women. Who really needs men tbh?

[sjtaazrz.livejournal.com]

This is so ridiculous.

I think part of the problem also comes from so much of work being tied to networking outside of the office.Even with entertainers or foreign English teachers living there, you hear so many stories of having to go out for drinks with your boss or staff dinners, some of which aren't considered mandatory, but may as well be because of what they do to work relationships.

I can understand some people being overly cautious...maybe. But flat-out canceling an employee's business trip or excluding them for entirely work-related activities is absurd.

[nekobot.livejournal.com]

People pushing back against the burden of forced socializing and the extreme drinking culture could improve everyone's lives immensely, men just as much if not more as women, which makes it extra shitty to see so many of these boneheads fall for being tricked into not taking part in making their own lives much easier just as long as their oppression is labeled as something "feminists" might want or benefit from. It's shocking how much young men seem to be on board with hating on them as if it's not the patriarchy making their lives a living hell on a daily basis.

[nekokonneko.livejournal.com]

Preach. Privilege is one helluva drug. As a black woman, I've seen it over and over with white women and black men, in particular, seen them outright reject accept and laws and constructs that would make their lives easier just because it would put them on equal footing with a lesser (aka black women).

[nekobot.livejournal.com]

Yes! I feel like I can't comment on this as much since I am not black (to be honest I didn't even realize how bad it was even from a general female perspective until I saw the election results), but I am baffled by the constant downplaying of black women's contributions and their value in society as well as the efforts from all sides to keep them down when there is so much more to be gained from lifting them up. We have access to all the information in the world yet we still get tricked so easily into blaming and attacking what should be our allies for our misfortune out of fear that they'll somehow take things away from us if they get half a chance when the obvious white old rich man cause of our problems is staring us straight in the face.

I feel like the phenomenon of people (that are often not even in places of significant power) not just wanting to take from those weaker than them, but actively making their own lives worse just to spite them is one of the most terrifying things happening in the current political climate. Everyone's falling for the oldest trick in the book while all of our oppressors are laughing all the way to the bank because we're too distracted to fight back if we're busy taking each other down for the scraps they give us.

[spread.livejournal.com]

Men were a mistake.
We are trash bags...

[mjspice.livejournal.com]

#menareweak