All posts tagged: Gender Equality

Interview with BBC (August 15th, 2016)

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South Korea gaming: How a T-shirt cost an actress her job http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-37018916 I’ve been interviewed by the BBC for about thirty minutes regarding the recent Nexon incident and feminism in Korea in general. It’s interesting to see how news reporting works. I have to admit, the following quote isn’t what I’d have chosen to write out of that conversation, and it could use some elaborating, since the first sentence now makes it seem like I’ve had plastic surgery and that’s why I’ve taken my picture down – and it’s not clear why ‘Korean women are in such despair’. A blogger who writes under the pseudonym Emily Singh told the BBC she had taken her picture down from her own blog because she feared reprisals. She said that many Korean women were in such despair that they considered emigrating. But I’m happy to see the BBC is taking interest in feminism in Korea.

Facebook Korea and its gender-biased community policy: Kimchi Girl vs. Megalia

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Facebook Korea turns a blind eye on misogynic Pages while constantly shutting down satire-based feminist movement Megalia The SNS giant’s actions are puzzling as complaints filed regarding both groups fall under the same Community Guidelines Korean feminist group Megalia has continuously spoken out against Facebook Korea ‘s actions as the social networking website’s Korean regional office continues to ignore user’s complaints regarding the maintenance of Kimchi Girl Facebook, a Page dedicated to promoting posts on ‘Meninism’ and on bashing women, in particular well-known female Korean figures and the Ministry of Gender Equality. Meanwhile, Megalia’s pages have been temporarily shut down several times and its images have been removed without consent of the Page’s administrators. Complaints filed against both groups fall under the Community Guidelines – under which the website should block hate speech and call to violent actions. Kimchi Girl and its affiliate pages qualify for both, but despite continuous reports by users, it continued to operate until it was hacked and taken over by an unknown user in December 2015, who has since kept the …

The Battle Against Soranet, Korea’s Biggest Porn Hub

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I’ve previously written briefly about Korean women’s battle against Soranet. Today I’ll provide a more in-depth analysis. Soranet, Korea’s biggest pornographic website with over a million registered users, has come under fire several times during its 16-year history. The website, launched in 1999, has been crucial in distributing pornography, but also in encouraging and even brokering illicit activities. Its ability to keep avoiding legal action by constantly changing domains names and servers has kept it from being shut down, as it effectively stands outside the jurisdiction of South Korean law. The administrators announce its new domain name through Twitter – and so help tens of thousands of Koreans, mostly male, evade the Warning Window that blocks any pornographic website based in Korea (this system is highly ineffective, since most sites including Soranet have their servers in the US and VPN connections are on the go). The website and several of its members are currently facing charges for criminal activities ranging from ‘hidden cam’ videos illegally shot in public places, brokering underage prostitution and drug trafficking, violence against women including genital …

My Swedish friends discuss the English word “bitch”

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  “hen”: Swedish gender-neutral third person pronoun My friends Mow, Gee, Lanka, Eva and Bohr and I were having a little party at my house. The Swedes would call it a förfest (pre-party). Now, Gee is a Turkish graduate student from Lund, in Korea for one term to study the Saemaeul movement, as well as make some money working for Samsung (duh!). As we were in the company of Swedes, he teased them about the sing-along drinking games the merry tall folk play. Then it began. Swedish social drinkers Mow, Eva, and Bohr suggested we play this game, in which we would call the “it” person “bitch”. The trio began to hesitate in Swedish. The talk was hushed, but intense, and serious. Lanka, Gee, and I asked. What’s going on? Is the game too complicated to explain? No. It was that we had to call the person “bitch”. What did they mean? The word “bitch” apparently has a more gender-neutral equivalent in Swedish, while keeping the sassy tone. “What about man-bitch then?” “No, because that puts the …