Radical feminists in sick competition of cruelty

This photo is displayed prominently on the website of radical feminist group WOMAD.

By Kang Hyun-kyung

On the website of the extremist feminist group WOMAD ― its name a portmanteau of woman and nomad ― a sick competition is underway.

Some members are locked in a game of chicken bragging of their brutality and cruelty by posting messages along with related images showing what they did to men or male creatures.

One member made fun of two independence fighters who sacrificed themselves to help Korea gain independence during the 1910-45 Japanese occupation.

They labeled Yun Bong-gil (1908-1932) who set off a bomb that killed several high-profile Japanese officials in Shanghai's Hongkew Park in 1932, and An Jung-geun (1879-1910) who assassinated a Japanese prime minister, as "terrorists," describing them as hopeless Korean men no different from other male Koreans.

Another WOMAD member posted an image of a cat being strangled and dying, along with a message that the cat deserved such cruel treatment, just because he is male. Another claimed she "killed a baby boy" by intentionally having a miscarriage.

WOMAD members' aggressiveness seems unstoppable. Some WOMAD members made fun of the death of actor Kim Joo-hyuk who died of a car crash in October. He was 45. "If someone dies of a car crash while playing a mobile game, I say they 'joo-hyuked.' A man like him deserves such a tragic end to his life," she wrote.

Another member wrote he is old enough to face death by a natural cause.

Tired of attacking individual men and male animals, some WOMAD members last week turned their attention to religions to infuriate their followers.

Catholicism became their prime target after an extreme feminist posted an image of a burnt piece of sacramental bread, with curse words written on it.

Catholics consider the bread to represent the body of Christ in rituals, therefore they view the burnt bread as an act of blasphemy.

The WOMAD member who posted the image wrote that she hates the Catholic Church because women are not allowed to become bishops and church members oppose abortion.

Another member posted that she would set fire to a church in Busan, causing the local police to investigate.

The WOMAD activists caught the ire of Catholic Church members. The Catholic Bishops' Conference of Korea released a statement on Wednesday, condemning WOMAD for their disrespectful act and blasphemy. The Catholic Church said it took the case very seriously and would report it to the Roman Curia, the administrative apparatus of the Holy See, so it could take necessary measures.

Speaking on behalf of the bishops' conference, Father An Bong-hwan said in a media interview that the Korean Catholic Church members were "shocked" and what the WOMAD member did is not forgivable.

"Desecrating the sacramental bread is unacceptable," said Sister Clara Kwon. "We were in shock at the news. What WOMAD member did is a sin. Before celebrating the Eucharist, it is a loaf of bread made from wheat. But after the Christian rite, it represents the body of Jesus Christ, so it's sacred and should be treated as such."

For the disrespectful stunt, WOMAD members drew criticism even from moderate feminists who believe radical tactics won't help the women's rights movement gain mainstream support.

Oh Yoon-sung, a professor of criminology at Soon Chun Hyang University, calls WOMAD activists pathetic attention-seekers.

"They are only attention-seekers," he said. "I believe WOMAD activists are irritating the faithful as this could help them gain attention from the public."

According to Oh, radical feminists have enjoyed how the media and society have reacted to their provocative tactics.

"I believe some WOMAD activists would have exulted at their successful campaign against the Catholic Church as the bishops' conference announced they would take the issue to the Roman Curia. Some radicals would have thought their influence is global," Oh said.

The clash of feminists and some men became evident after a debate about the incentives given to men who completed military service in job recruitment for public and private companies. Female applicants lodge complaints that giving perks to men in return for their completion of military service is discriminatory. Women's rights groups successfully campaigned against the perks given to male applicants.

But some men responded with grievances as they believe it's unfair to scrap it because military service is mandatory for all healthy men, while women have no such obligation.

Some men urged women to do the same duty if they want equal treatment, which caused a backlash from women.

Hatred begets hatred. The two sides have since clashed.

"I presume that those who spread misogyny and misogamy have one thing in common ― they have prior experiences of mistreatment at the hands of the opposite sex," Oh said.

"For some reason they were unable to overcome the bitter sense of betrayal. It is easier for like-minded people to get together and their feelings develop into hatred as they increase their exchange of thoughts. So we have two opposing groups here, male and female radicals who clash on every issue as they see all issues through the lens of hatred."

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