"Megal, Why Is Asking If Someone Is Feminist Considered Hate?"... This Is How Backlash Evolves

66.7% of Teachers in Their 20s Face Backlash Attacks at School
Experts Say "Backlash Is Uncritically Accepted by Government and Corporations"

Reference photo. According to a survey by the Korean Teachers and Education Workers Union, 4 out of 10 female teachers have experienced backlash attacks related to feminism in the educational field. / Photo by Yonhap News

[Asia Economy Reporter Kang Juhee] Backlash attacks that conduct ideological verification and target feminist figures, such as hate attacks against national archery representative Ansan and controversies over the index finger gesture, continue unabated. Recently, such backlash has been found to occur frequently in everyday life as well.

Additionally, it is common to see comments mocking others by asking if they are "Megalia" or "femi" as if conducting ideological verification, or saying things like, "Why is asking if someone is a feminist hate? They must be ashamed." Experts point out that recent backlash appears in an organized and aggressive manner, and that political circles and corporations indiscriminately accept such hateful sentiments, thereby encouraging them as if they were legitimate opinions.

According to a recent survey conducted by the Korean Teachers and Education Workers Union (KTU) targeting 1,130 teachers nationwide from kindergarten to high school (887 women, 235 men), 34.2% of all teachers (37.5% of women, 19.6% of men), especially 66.7% of female teachers in their 20s, reported experiencing feminist backlash attacks in the past three years.

Backlash refers to movements opposing support, systems, or progressive changes through social movements such as feminism aimed at socially disadvantaged groups. It mainly arises from people who feel threatened in their power or influence by such progressive changes.

The most common experience of backlash against teachers was being mockingly asked if they were "Megalia" or "femi" at 17.4%. This was followed by hateful remarks in official settings at 16.6%, and interference or refusal of gender equality classes at 8.2%. Other examples included writing "Megalia teacher" in teacher evaluations and advocating for the "abolition of the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family" during class time regardless of context. The very meaning of "feminist" is being used as a derogatory and mocking term.

The main perpetrators of these attacks were students at 66.7%, followed by fellow teachers (40.4%) and school administrators (18.7%).

A promotional poster for a GS25 convenience store event that faced backlash from some netizens for the image of a pointing index finger symbolizing misogyny. Photo by GS25

Earlier, at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, national archery representative Ansan was subjected to indiscriminate hate attacks by male-dominated community members simply because her hair was short. Online, comments verifying and criticizing the athlete’s ideology, such as "Short hair means feminist" and "Tell us if you are a feminist," continued.

Backlash against feminism is evident even by looking at the comment sections of articles related to women's issues. Representative comments include "If you are a feminist, why can't you say it proudly?" and "You hide it because you are ashamed yourself," which imply negative and mocking meanings toward feminists.

Backlash has also been directed at government agencies and corporations. Some netizens opposed the use of the index finger image in promotional materials by institutions and companies, claiming it symbolized misandry, leading some agencies and companies to delete the image or apologize. Despite the index finger being a commonly used gesture in daily life, the claim of misandry was accepted without much scrutiny, resulting in corrective actions.

In a previous survey conducted by the KTU, respondents identified the biggest cause of feminist backlash and sexual harassment/sexual violence in schools as "social perceptions and culture that view women as sexual objects" (56.8%). This was followed by "an educational culture that does not firmly address discrimination and hate" (46.9%), "media and political circles that rationalize discriminatory and hateful acts" (42.4%), and "backlash against feminism" (37.3%).

Experts pointed out problems in the responses of political circles and corporations that rationalize feminism hatred as one of the causes of backlash.

Lee Hyorin, Secretary General of the Korea Cyber Sexual Violence Response Center, stated, "Recent backlash shows different tendencies compared to the past. It has developed into an organized and aggressive form centered on online spaces. This has been uncritically accepted by the government, political circles, and corporations, leading to the perception that it is a legitimate statement or raising of issues. As a result, hate attacks gain more organized influence by aligning with specific groups."

She added, "I believe it is now time to respond to such backlash attacks in different ways. In the past, feminists used 'mirroring' to return hate attacks against misogyny in kind, but now, responses are needed that do not exclude other minorities or provoke further hatred."

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