"Let's Oppose Feminism" vs "Stop Misogyny" Intense Conflict Over 'Gender Hate'

McDonald's Hires Jaejae as Advertising Model... Men Say "Boycott Immediately"
GS25 Event Promotion Sparks Misogyny Controversy
'Ojoouk'... Gender Conflict Surrounding New Slang Terms

Recently, intense gender-based hatred conflicts have been occurring between men and women.
[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Han Seung-gon] "This is a clear expression of misandry." , "Please stop the misogyny!"

Conflicts over feminism are erupting throughout our society. Some propose boycotts because they dislike an advertising model, or collectively protest by pinpointing content in broadcast subtitles as containing hateful meanings. In politics, heated debates on gender equality continue daily, such as defining the 'Gangnam Station murder case,' which sparked a wave of mourning among women, as a simple criminal case.

Korean McDonald's commercial featuring Jaejae as the advertising model. Photo by YouTube channel

Recently, McDonald's became embroiled in a 'feminism model advertisement controversy' among some men. The advertisement features the broadcaster 'Jaejae.' Men said, "They openly use a feminist-certified person (Jaejae) as a model. It seems like the marketing team's feminists' doing," and proposed a McDonald's boycott, saying, "Let's show them too. Complaining silently never changes anything."

They continued, "Let's launch an anti-feminist movement. We need to show that we can unite well so that the media covers us and the influence of feminists decreases." Regarding Jaejae, they claimed, "She is a representative feminist who graduated from Ewha Womans University, the cradle of feminists, and publicly announced a non-marriage ceremony on broadcast. Such people must disappear for the birth rate to rise."

Broadcaster Haha uploaded a video about the Silver Button on his YouTube channel. The subtitle "Silver Button received after 500 million years" sparked controversy.

In response to accusations of misandry, some broadcasts were switched to private. In February, broadcaster Haha uploaded a video celebrating 100,000 subscribers. The subtitles included the phrase 'Silver Button after 500 million years.' Netizens criticized, saying, "Do you know what 500 million years means when you use it?" and "It's a misandry term. The editor should correct it quickly."

The subtitle term 'Ojo Oeok' inserted during the broadcast is known as a metaphorical expression meaning 'a very large amount.' In 2017, a fan praised a trainee on an audition program by saying "500 million points out of 10," which became a hot topic, and the phrases '500 million points' and '500 million years' were used widely in online communities and fandoms.

However, in male-hating communities like 'Womad,' it is known to be used to belittle the number of male sperm. After the controversy over the video continued, Haha switched the video featuring his son to private.

Meanwhile, recently, convenience store GS25's event promotional poster became embroiled in a misandry controversy. On the 1st, GS25 posted a poster on its exclusive mobile app to promote a prize giveaway event for buyers of camping food. Online communities pointed out that the hand gesture in the poster resembled images intended to belittle men.

There was also a claim that the moon and star design at the bottom of the poster is the mark of a university feminist society. In particular, criticism arose that the English phrase on the poster, 'Emotional Camping Must-have Item,' when combining the last letters of each word, spells 'megal,' which hints at the male-hating community 'Megalia.'

As the controversy spread, GS25 deleted the problematic parts from the poster and issued an apology on the 2nd, stating, "We take this matter seriously internally and will thoroughly monitor content that may cause controversy in the future, paying more careful attention and scrutiny."

Gangnam Station Exit 10 Covered with Memorial Messages [Photo by Yonhap News]

Amid intense gender-based hatred, some in politics argued that the 'Gangnam Station murder case,' which sparked mourning because only women were targeted, is not a misogynistic incident but a simple criminal case.

On the 2nd, former People Power Party Supreme Council member Lee Jun-seok, appearing on Channel A's 'MZ Generation Talks Politics' debate, mentioned the 2016 'Gangnam Station murder case' and the 'Isu Station pub assault case,' saying, "Simple criminal cases like the Gangnam Station protest or the Isu Station incident are buried under gender frames," and criticized, "They established a social gender frame that the victim died because she was a woman, but do we say a man died because he was a man when Goh Yoo-jung killed her ex-husband?"

Former Dongyang University professor Jin Joong-kwon, who appeared alongside him, said, "Taking trivial matters and generalizing that feminism has gone too far in general policies may please 'Edae-nam' (men in their 20s), but it is inflammatory rhetoric." He added, "Lee Jun-seok keeps doing this because of his position within the party. Distorting social issues and offering distorted solutions based on his personal ideology to incite the younger generation leads to bad outcomes."

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