Gender conflict issue comes to center of political arena

Lee Jun-seok, a former member of the main opposition People Power Party's Supreme Council, announces his bid to run for the leadership of the party at its headquarters on Yeouido in Seoul, Thursday. Lee is enjoying high support from young men with his remarks addressing issues largely concerning men in their 20s and 30s. Yonhap

By Jung Da-min

The thorny issue of gender conflict, which had often been observed through messages or postings on some radical online communities ― either male-oriented or female-oriented ― has become an everyday social issue that not only affects the business but also the political arena.

The recent controversies over food advertising posters by some retailers, which some people see as a reference to radical feminism and hatred toward men, showed that gender conflict has now become an important factor which businesses have to consider in order to not lose customers.

The posters, which showed an image of a hand about to take hold of or holding food, brought about boycott campaigns against the retailers from some of their customers, mostly young men. They said the shape of the hand in the posters mimicked the logo of the now-defunct radical feminism online community Megalia, which features the same gesture interpreted as belittling men.

In response to the boycott moves, the retailers revised their posters or deleted online postings of them so as not to feature the controversial hand shape, explaining they were unaware of the interpretation.

GS25's first promotional poster for camping items that was revised following complaints by certain men that it featured a hand shape previously used by a radical feminist organization to belittle men. / Korea Times file

Some experts said that such measures were excessive and could further fuel conflict by over-representing a certain gender or age group's voice among others.

However, not only the business sector but also the political circle has also started to care more about such voices from young men, especially those in their 20s, who say they are not being treated fairly in many social formats in terms of gender, while they are only told to make concessions to or sacrifices for women when feminist narratives are dominating the media.

After the ruling Democratic Party of Korea's (DPK) crushing defeat by the main opposition People Power Party (PPP) in the April 7 by-elections, some members of both parties have paid attention to the fact that the percentage of those who voted for the PPP candidate Oh Se-hoon, now the mayor of Seoul, was considerably higher among men in their 20s.

This graphic shows the results of an exit poll for the April 7 Seoul mayoral by-election conducted together by three local broadcasters MBC, KBS and SBS. The blue parts of the graph show the percentage of those who voted for the ruling Democratic Party of Korea candidate Park Young-sun by age group and gender, while the red parts show the percentage of those who voted for the main opposition People Power Party's Oh Se-hoon. The results show 72.5 percent of men aged from 18 to their 20s voted for Oh. Korea Times file

According to an exit poll for the Seoul mayoral by-election conducted together by three local broadcasters MBC, KBS and SBS, 72.5 percent of male voters in their 20s said they voted for Oh, the highest ratio among all age groups of male voters. About 22.2 percent of this group voted for the DPK's Park Young-sun.

The exit poll results drew attention among political watchers who said young voters, who used to be considered as supporters of the country's liberal bloc, have now become swing voters.

After the by-elections, both the liberal DPK and the conservative PPP jumped into a policy competition to appeal to young men. Promises to improve rewards and service conditions for young men on mandatory military service were an example of such policy proposals. The recent debate over whether to conscript women has also been raised in this context.

Former members of the ruling Democratic Party of Korea's (DPK) leadership bow at a press briefing at the National Assembly to announce their resignation from the posts, April 8, a day after the party's crushing defeat by the main opposition People Power Party in the Seoul and Busan mayoral by-elections. Korea Times file

Lee Jun-seok, a 36-year-old politician and a former Supreme Council member of the PPP, has especially drawn media attention for claiming: "The DPK suffered a crushing defeat in the by-elections because it underestimated the unity and voting power of men in their 20s and 30s while only focusing on feminist policies."

He has also issued messages supporting young men, while commenting on controversial gender-related issues such as the matter of conscription of women, or a quota system for women in the civil service sector which he said was unfair to men. He also commented on the controversy over the alleged "misandry" posters, saying the gender conflict prevalent in society stemmed from the unfair treatment of men.

But critics say Lee's attempt to appeal to young men's groups, which many believe is aimed at gaining support from them, is fueling the gender conflict. Critic Chin Jung-kwon said Lee was engaging in "very bad populism."

Chin said, "Lee's insistence on interpreting the votes from men in their 20s as an expression of anti-feminism is a mere personal ideology to establish his position in the party."

Kang Min-jin, the leader of the youth chapter of the minor opposition Justice Party, also criticized Lee, saying, "It is shameful for the PPP that such a politician, who encourages the conflict while neglecting his original duty to change it, is gaining a bigger presence in the party."

Staff of the National Election Commission count ballots in the Seoul mayoral by-election at a counting station in a high school in Seoul's Yongsan District, in this April 7 photo. Yonhap

People said that they feel politicians are now using the gender conflict issue as a means to win more votes from certain groups, by issuing strong messages that appeal to them.

"I think the fierce attack from some male-oriented communities seen in the controversy surrounding the food products posters is a way of showing off their existence," said Lee, a 25-year-old man from Seoul. "Some politicians are capitalizing on such sentiment among young men as they think the gender identity issue is a way to woo young people who are not bound by regionalism, which in the past had often been used by politicians to attract voters."

Kim Youg-ji, a 30-year-old woman, said, "The fundamental problem is that those in power take advantage of such social conflict by fueling it. They dodge their actual responsibility to solve difficulties that men in a less privileged class are facing, by turning the difficulties into misogynistic issues." She said such an attitude and their actions were lazy and made voters feel tired of politics.

Jeon, a 28-year-old man said, "People should critically reflect on why objections to discrimination and inequality have been packaged as a conflict-promoting issue."

A 29-year-old woman, who identified herself by the surname Ko, said, "What's more problematic than the current conflict over gender issues is that such a fierce conflict is making people avoid conversations with different gender groups."