Thursday, July 23, 2020

Yang Sanghoon: The Men & Women Who Live Off Of Women's Issues

The following is a translation of this article in the Chosun Ilbo.


The Men & Women Who Live Off Of Women's Issues 
 
 
Self-described feminist Pres. Moon, who was supported by the women who lit the fire of the #MeToo movement, is silent on the sexual harassment allegations against the late May. Park Wonsun, using the votes and [motives for] personal gain as a weapon 

 
 Women in their 20s & 30s began their wave of anti-conservatism during the Mad Cow disease affair. Pres. Lee Myeongbag had received much more support from women in their 20s & 30s than his opponent in the Presidential election. However, after the Mad Cow scare began, a massive shift was seen. There are many examples of women being reacting to health-related issues too sensitively. For instance, after the Fukushima meltdown [2011] many people were reluctant to visit other regions of Japan in spite of the fact that the radioactivity numbers were completely fine -- a trend that was more pronounced among young women. Now, most people look at the Mad Cow affair as a disturbance fueled by baseless myths, but it was a serious issue at the time. The gossip of girls in Jr. High & High School have been pivotal in spreading protests over fear that sanitary pads and makeup are actually dangerous. These protests have even included young housewives. After these affairs the polls among women in their 20s & 30s showed that support of Pres. Lee had dropped by 6%. 

 This phenomenon could not change even for the woman President Park Geun-hye. If anything, the trend grew stronger. In the 2012 Presidential election, the support for Pres. Park was less than half of that of Pres. Moon among women in their 20s. In the final polls [leading up to the election], Pres. Park had only 26% of the support [of women in their 20s], versus Moon's 63%. Although former Pres. park is a woman, many diagnosed the problem as younger women viewing Park as simply being 'an old man in the form of a woman' or an 'upper crust princess.' 

 It is difficult to find any record of Pres. moon being interested in women's issues. All that we can see are some instances of him giving the expected speeches at women's events as a party member. However, in spite of losing, the overwhelming support of young women in the 2012 Presidential election seemed to have given Moon the opportunity to see them as a great asset, and since then his attitude has changed. 

 The symbolic 2016 Gangnam station "Don't Ask Questions" murder (a reference to police dismissing the assault as the act of a schizophrenic) was a flashpoint in this. Women were shocked when a mental health patient murdered a young woman without any reason. There was a widespread perception that this event was caused by the man's hatred of women and the poor and vulnerable position that women have. The only people who understood the political potential of this situation were the people in Presiden't Moon's camp. Moon, who was a former representative at that time, went to gangnam Station by himself to commemorate the events with young women. He also shared the quote on Facebook, "In the next life, I pray that we can both be born as men." 

 At this point, a young women formed a fandom around Moon Jae-in. They created the phrase '[He'll] do everything we want done' and took out a congratulatory ad in a subway station for his birthday [a common practice of fandoms in Asia]. Their support was set in concerete and has not been shaken at all. In short, they are his loyal guard. Pres. Moon has declared himself a feminist (women's rights movement advocate) and has, without exception, stuck his head out every time any issue related to gender has come up. Even during the Burning Sun scandal, the Predient told the prosecutors and investigating police that "your fate hangs in the balance -- investigate well!"
 
Fake feminist Park Wonsun's [the mayor who recently committed suicide] demise has brought up the fundamental question of whether or not Pres. Moon's 'feminism' is truly his guiding philosophy reached after reflection and determination, or whether it was a pretense to gain the favor of young women and win votes. All of the folks in Pres. Moon's camp have insisted that the #MeToo movement and all of those affairs connected with it are legitimate women's rights issues and have indicated their desire to eliminate the evil roots of sexual violence.However, the bulk of the perpetrators in these cases have been fellow Democratic Party members who ran in elections for the aprty, public prosecutors, or artists. Nonetheless, Pres. Moon has still appeared to stay on the right side of women. 


 However, this was not really being on the side of women, just like like Tak Hyeonmin [man who wrote a book that was sexually explicit and critical of women]. He did not hesitate to criticize [Tak Hyeonmin's] vulgar commentary on women. He was even called up to be a Blue House advisor. And it was after the death of Mayor Park that Pres. Moon showed his true colors. He expressed his condolences for Mayor Park, but did not even give a single word of comfort to his victims. Rather than promising to root out all of the vicious causes of evil, he was silent. He remained silent in spite of the fact that numerous requests were made to reveal his position as President about an event that rocked the whole country. Even when the Democratic party paraded out the ridiculous placard of "I will remember Park Won'sun's spirit," he was silent. Pres. Moon's silence virtually acts to support people who sexually harass and abuse others. 

 Pres. Moon must have been cognizant of his enthusiastic supporters that basically embrace the perpetrators while criticizing the victims. This is the same as the women who championed the #MeToo movement but who are silent on Mayor Park. It was not just the Mayor of Busan, but also the Mayor of Seoul, that has even resulted in elections to fill their vacancies, and still it is become difficult for them to acknowledge the moral collapse of their own political camp. Pres. Moon's inaugural address was a cool affair but ultimately merely a pretense. National integration, the relocation of offices [reference to relocating important government offices out of Seoul], the authority of institutions, independence, fair selection of personnel, transparency, direct and open press briefings, equality - fairness - justice, etc., have all been reversed. And now we see the reversal of a Feminist President. 
 
 Someone referred to these women's organizations and the women parliamentarians who haven't made a single statement that they are "women who betray women." The same goes for all of the men who are using women in politics. They are those who use the political goals and votes of women as weapons. 
 

Very powerfully written - I will keep an eye on this columnist and try to bring you more of his stuff.   

No comments:

Post a Comment

Old Testament Interpretation & the Midianites

Understanding how to interpret the most controversial section of the Old Testament can be a challenge, but I think that once we get a good g...