Male seniors who have the powers of both age and gender

 

Ever since I was little, I’ve wanted to be a person who helps others. Up through high school, I was trapped by college entrance exam preparation and couldn’t really get involved in the activities I wanted, but in university I started to look for meaningful activities. In my second year, I joined a club for showing solidarity with cleaning staff at our university. Taking part in the struggle to increase meal reimbursements for them that began that very same year was my first encounter with social activism. I’ve been involved with it since then. I haven’t been doing it for a long time, but meeting and working with the other people who do it has changed me a lot. 

 

Within activist organizations, there is usually a hierarchical structure of “juniors” and “seniors” based on age and time active in the organization. Male seniors who have the authority of both age and gender have caused both large and small problems within the organizations.

 

Male seniors who ask female juniors to lend an ear while they complain about not having any outlet for their sexual desires. Male seniors who ask, “Are you two dating?” if you call a senior “oppa[A term that young women used to address an older male relative, older male friend, or boyfriend].” Male seniors who, when they’re angry, slam doors open and make everyone anxious. Male seniors who argue during meetings and then push their chairs in with a bang. Male seniors who get drunk and grab female juniors’ hands. Male seniors who freely massage female juniors’ shoulders, caress their hair, or, when talking together, touch their arms. Male seniors who say that the most important thing about the student body president is that he or she be attractive…

 

And even though most of the people causing sexual discrimination or sexual harassment problems in activist organizations are men, most of the organizations’ leaders are also men. The male leader of one group that I am a part of said in reference to this, “Men are socialized to be leaders. That’s why women have some difficulties leading.” If that’s true, then we, as people working to make an equal world, should be taking aggressive action to support women in becoming leaders. But this kind of project was always pushed aside. It was common for feminist seminars and activism to get cancelled or scaled down, supposedly because another issue was more urgent.

 

When participating in demonstrations, I’ve seen male protesters tell women to go to the back of the crowd so that they don’t get hurt, or order them to the front. The reason for the latter is that male police officers have orders not to make physical contact with female protesters, so the protest leaders send them to the front like hostages. I’ve heard that some women’s Internet communities see this and say that ggwon-chung[A derogatory term for social activists that roughly translates to “activist bugs.”] use women as meat shields. Though this isn’t the case universally, it isn’t entirely wrong either, so I couldn’t really say anything in return.

 

Whether protected or used as hostages, women in this area are required to become tough. The activists who have been judged “mentally weak” or told they are “whiny” or “emotional” are all women. I’ve also been judged this way. In this atmosphere, I started to hide my femininity more and more, and began to adjust to this patriarchal and authoritative culture. The discomfort that I report and the concerns I raise about sexual violence are usually called “emotional” and “private” things and met with incomprehension or demands for concrete examples and impossibly detailed explanations.

 

▲ Even within organizations calling for social reform, men and women are not on equal footing. (pixabay)

The social activism field as I imagined it was a community of people striving for equality. So when I first encountered authoritarian culture and anti-feminism in activist organizations, I was baffled and depressed. But I had entered this space of my own accord in order to put into practice the things that I believe are right, in order to make a world in which all people can be happy, and I still wanted the recognition of the people I was working with. So I tried to become a person whose mentality was strong (heedless of her surroundings). And I made an effort not to be hurt by the cruel remarks that passed by my ears. 

 

When we went to do volunteer work in a rural area and the local residents only sought male students to move heavy loads, I stepped forward, saying I could do it too. I think I believed that the way to be treated the same as men was to be able to carry heavy loads like them. There was even a time when I used to go around saying to the other women that if we wanted to be treated like the men in the various areas of struggle, we had to build up our physiques. I advised them to eat heartily and work out.

 

Feeling a sense of freedom created by the struggle led by women

 

As a person who had become a kind of “honorary man,” the Internet trend of women “mirroring” male netizens’ misogynistic speech back at them came as a big shock. The MERS Gallery site and Megalia, and now Womad, have started to reveal the presence of women that didn’t seem to be visible before, started to make their voices heard. Through mirroring, they’ve started to point out the misogyny that used to seem as normal as air and found a freer alternative.

 

I was confused. Inwardly, I found Megalia’s language, which so exactly explained my life, gratifying, but I couldn’t use it myself. Even as I thought that the language they use and the feelings they express are justified self-defense, I never said out loud that I support Megalia. I think I was afraid of something. Of thinking from a woman’s point of view again, of speaking up as a woman.  I think I was scared that all that I had worked to build up in the activist world would crumble.

 

But since the appearance of Megalia, when female activists gather, they’ve talked about Megalia and shared the discomfort they’d been hiding. And by sharing our worries and developing an awareness of the issues, we’ve begun to change.

 

In April of this year, I joined labor party feminists to help with candidate Ha Yun-jeong’s National Assembly election campaign as part of a “feminist camp” of supporters. After fierce discussion, we decided to campaign on free menstrual products and a law preventing hidden cameras. Most importantly, we filed a constitutional appeal against the current election law that limits the campaign activity of unmarried candidates (by allowing the spouse or direct descendant of the candidate, or one person that the spouse designates, to distribute the candidate’s business card). This law was recently decided to be partially unconstitutional (the part allowing the candidate’s spouse to designate another person). If you’re curious about this, do an Internet search for Ha Yun-jeong! We really did a great thing.

 

▲ “Are we press conference women?” Fireworks Femi-Action, which was born from Megalia and the memorial space of Gangnam Station’s Exit 10. ⓒGorae

And then, last May, a woman was murdered in a building near Gangnam Station. To die for the sole reason of being a woman, on the busiest street in the Republic of Korea… I had usually liked to be out late at night, but I really felt that I could have been the victim of this murder, and that I was lucky to be alive. Led by women online, people started leaving memorial sticky notes on Exit 10 of Gangnam Station. The women who gathered in front of Exit 10 felt sadness, fear, and anger. Because of this incident, they began to express their anger in their own words. 

 

That was the first time I’d seen women step forward and take action on a women’s issue. The female activists I had been working with saw this and started to get excited. We had been talking about feminism within our organizations, but had always seen it treated as less important than other issues. We thought the moment for a feminist struggle had finally come, because while countless women had been murdered during our lifetimes, this was the first time that there had been such a reaction to it.

 

So we ggwon-femi[A derogatory term used by some feminists (particularly those in Megalia) to describe feminists who are part of and seem more concerned with other social justice movements.] decided to unite and do something. Having only participated in activism directed and led by men, we were excited to do everything ourselves.  We went to the public stage set up at Exit 10 and spoke, and, in the press conference style that we - as activists - are good at, we denounced the crime as not a “random” murder but a misogynistic one.

                                                                          

We soon made the name “Fireworks Femi-Action.” These firework-like women organized a “Take Back the Night” demonstration like the ones that another feminist organization had been holding. We held a “Top Armpit Hair” competition and talked about bodily liberation, and, while beginning a campaign to abolish the law against abortion, first began to speak about sex and sexuality. I felt more of a sense of liberation and self-efficacy than I ever had before. I believed that these were truly my issues, and I was happy that I could talk about them and engage in activism related to them.

 

Looked down on as feminists and ridiculed as ggwon-chung

 

And yet – unlike what we felt, the women’s site that has led the mirroring movement on the Internet saw us as ggwon-chung. Ggwon-chung are targets of criticism. They say that now that feminism is becoming popular, activists want to get a piece of the pie, that we will throw them away after using them, that we are actually being controlled by men behind the scenes, and that we are “honorary dicks.” 

 

We can’t really say anything in rebuttal, because they are pointing out real problems in the activist world. I was an honorary man, activists that I saw did watch to see what issues were coming up in society and join in, and it’s true that feminism was always put on the back burner. And it’s true that in most activist organizations, men are the leaders and have the greatest responsibility and authority.

 

Being criticized as ggwon-chung by women who I believe are on the same side as us, I reflected on my past as someone who accepted the patriarchy of the activist world and attempted to win recognition within it. But at the same time, I was hurt that there was no mention of the female activists who, while victims of this patriarchy, had also engaged in feminist activism within that world, pointing out this or that issue.

 

Being denigrated in activist organizations by comments like “feminists aren’t good at being part of organizations” or “feminists are all talk”, and criticized by online feminists who say that “ggwon-femi are controlled by men within the activist world” or that we “plan to exploit feminists” – my heart became full of mixed emotions.

 

▲ An event held by Fireworks Femi-Action, pointing out that the Gangnam Station murder was not random but an act of misogyny. ⓒGorae

Feminists from the activist world, speak up

 

Even with the anger and sense of unfairness that I’ve been suppressing for so long in activist organizations, I haven’t left that world. This is because of the “ggwon-femi” that I’ve worked with and have exchanged comfort and support with. When I’ve doubted myself in this world, I might have quit immediately without my friends that told me that I wasn’t the problem. I’m so thankful to the female activists who stand beside me and defend our position stoutly, and I think that I must do the same.

 

And because of the social atmosphere in which women are calling for human rights for themselves and because there are ggwon-femi fighting the feminist fight within the activist world, I think that the activist world can also engage in some self-reflection. The number of people within this sphere who agree with the need for feminist activism is increasing. As women slowly gather and move forward one step at a time with feminist activism, the share of male activists who support them have been a great source of strength.

 

While studying feminism, I’ve come to think that the leftist movements that oppose capitalism also need to fight for the abolishment of patriarchy. Will gender discrimination disappear just because all labor becomes considered valuable? Just because our society becomes a little more equal so that housework and care work are better compensated than before, will men voluntarily become providers of care?

 

Before, I had never had the courage to ask these kinds of questions, and there was no one who could answer them. But now, as I read feminist books, I’m slowly gaining the necessary language. I’m increasing the number of things in society and in my activist community that I need to question and fight against. When gwon-femi like me search for a language to explain themselves, they find an opportunity to affirm and to love the selves that they’ve been denying, and I think that this will give them the strength to slowly but surely destroy the patriarchy of the activist world.

 

At a supporters’ event for an activist organization, we made a set of tips for enjoying the event in a more equal way and distributed it with the food and drink menu. We made posts on social media sites about discrimination we’d faced while engaging in activism as young women. These days, in order to encourage self-reflection in the activist world, we are making newsletters and handouts about how to respect female activists, young activists, and minority activists. We are going to pass them out at rallies, and I’m curious how the recipients will respond to them.

 

The community of people engaging in social activism has to resemble the society we are striving towards. We need to be more gender-equal than other areas. That’s why I think activists need to put effort into self-reflection and development. I want the activist men I know to read a lot of feminist books, attend feminist lectures, listen to what women say, and participate in feminist movements led by women. I believe that if they do that, we’ll be able to create a gender-equal organizational culture and then a gender-equal society. In the future, other ggwon-femi and I are going to continue working to abolish gender discrimination both inside and outside of the activist world. The more we connect with each other, the stronger we become. [Translated by Marilyn Hook]

 

* Original article: http://ildaro.com/7696 Published Dec. 13, 2016

 

◆ To see more English-language articles from Ilda, visit our English blog(https://ildaro.blogspot.com).

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