[New Year Special] 'Leverage of Solidarity' Raising the Giant Male Default

[Kim Ji-young Born 1982, and Lee Seo-yeon Class of 2020] <중> Rejecting the Male Default

[Asia Economy reporters Park Jun-yi, Gong Byeong-seon, Lee Jun-hyung] Lee Yena (19, pseudonym), a freshman at a women's university in Seoul, changed the school lunch lines after being elected student council president in high school. Among the three lunch lines, two were for male students and only one was for female students, causing the girls to eat later. Especially since the lunch lines extended outdoors, they had to endure scorching heat, rain, wind, and snowstorms. Lee persuaded the male class presidents to use one lunch line each for males and females, and the remaining line was shared alternately by 15 males and 15 females. Lee said, "The school believed it was natural for boys to eat quickly, so I wanted to change things one by one." The 2020 freshmen like Lee Seoyeon did not tolerate this. While the 1982-born Kim Ji-young generation resigned themselves to a male-centered social structure with gender discrimination passed down from their mothers' generation, the 2020 freshmen like Lee Seoyeon are rejecting the male default and taking collective action.

"Breaking the Male-Centered Social Structure" United Seoyeons
Crisis Awareness Triggered by Nth Room and Me Too Movements
Hashtags, National Petitions, and Protests Spread Sympathy
Starting Point for Eliminating Discrimination Across All Genders and Generations

2020 Freshman Lee Seoyeon Says 'I Won't Endure'

Lee took active steps to change unfair school rules largely due to the 'school Me Too' movement. At that time, friends collected evidence of sexual harassment by a male teacher and reported it to the media, which published articles, but the school did not even discipline the teacher. Lee explained, "I was very angry because no measures were taken while the male teacher sexualized students." Despite her grandmother’s repeated admonitions starting with "Women should~," Lee calmly explained, "That generation is over now," adding, "Men should be kind, and men should do all the housework."

Office worker Kang Min-ji (28, pseudonym) also distanced herself from a 'male friend' who, after she cut her hair short about a year ago, said, "You've become a feminist." Disappointed by the friend linking short hair with feminism, Kang snapped, "What kind of people are you hanging out with?" and the friend apologized, saying, "I work in construction, so I only have male colleagues, so my perception was wrong." Kang said, "I appreciated the apology," but added, "I regret that if I hadn’t expressed my disappointment, the relationship might have continued."

Nth Room and Me Too, the Starting Point of Solidarity

On July 22 last year, the "University Joint Response for Resolving Power-Based Sexual Violence on Campus" held a press conference demanding the dismissal of Professor B from the Seoul National University College of Music.
Photo by University Joint Response Facebook

The 'resistance' of the 2020 freshmen like Lee Seoyeon did not stop at individual incidents. They actively oppose various issues of gender discrimination and sexual crimes. It has become common for women to gather and discuss digital sex crime cases or celebrities’ sexist remarks, or to participate in hashtag campaigns and national petitions online. University student Kim Ji-ye (19, pseudonym) said, "When the Nth Room case broke out, my friends and I discussed the issue daily and felt sad as if it were our own problem," adding, "Many friends shared links to national petitions on their social media."

The solidarity that began online expanded into direct action. There was a shared understanding that without collective action, these issues would be forgotten again. Thirty-one university groups nationwide formed the 'Joint Response for Resolving Power-Based Sexual Violence on Campus' (Joint Response) to push for actual legislation addressing campus sexual violence. Hong Yu-seo, 23, the planning director of Joint Response, said, "Individuals and groups who wanted to solve structural problems came together and started collective action." No Seo-young (25), leader of the university feminist community UnivFemi, said, "When I spoke out alone, many people attacked me personally or mocked me," adding, "After forming a group, we could talk in a safe space and act more actively."

The starting point of solidarity was the 2015 'Feminism Reboot.' At that time, feminism opposing misogyny rose with hashtag campaigns like 'I am a feminist,' Megalia, and mirroring, and the 2018 Me Too movement became a driving force for women's solidarity. Jung Ji-yoon (19, pseudonym) said, "Because someone had the courage, more people could shout out loud, and sexual jokes that were made without guilt now at least cause some conscience," explaining, "These are the changes Me Too brought."

Five Years of Feminism Reboot

The solidarity among the 2020 freshmen is analyzed as being greatly influenced by the era in which Generation Z grew up. Having experienced various sexual violence directly or indirectly, a shared empathy of 'it could happen to me too' was formed, and this empathy surfaced whenever major sexual crimes occurred. The 2016 Gangnam Station murder case, the domestic Me Too movement, and the Nth Room case are representative examples. Son Hee-jung, a researcher at Yonsei University Gender Research Institute, analyzed, "They actively share experiences of discrimination and violence online and realize it is no longer someone else’s problem."

Some argue that the spread of neoliberalism increased pressure on young women, which motivated women in their twenties to act. Bae Eun-kyung, a sociology professor at Seoul National University, pointed out, "Sexual objectification through idols like Girls' Generation intensified, the pressure to be 'beautiful' increased, and there was also pressure to be a competent and competitive subject in society," adding, "Within neoliberalism, it is taken for granted that one is a competitive individual, but society still looks down on 'young women.'"

The solidarity of the 2020 freshmen is an important point for 'generational coexistence.' Since the 'inequality' and 'discrimination' felt by women in their twenties are conflict factors spanning all generations, efforts to eliminate discrimination must transcend gender and generation. Kim Dong-sik, a researcher at the Korea Institute for Gender Equality Promotion and Education’s Gender Violence and Safety Research Center, said, "The reason teenagers and people in their twenties are uniting is that they think previous generations failed to solve gender inequality," adding, "Ultimately, it is an issue that requires solidarity and voices from all generations, not just the young." Jang Pil-hwa, chairperson of the Korea Women's Foundation, said, "Men stepping up to dispel gender conflicts and speaking out for women in unequal situations is a male premium."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.