Actor Yoo Ah-in cautions against ‘men vs. women’ debate on feminism


A star of critically-acclaimed film “Burning,” Yoo Ah-in recently talked about being branded “ant-feminist” by the public. He is among a growing long line of Korean celebrities who -- upon being labeled “feminist,” or “anti-feminist” -- get thrown into the line of fire of criticism from the public.

In a recent interview with BBC News Korea, the actor expressed concerns over the feminism-related discussions in the country that have taken the form of “men vs. women.”

“This movement (in Korea) has taken the form of us versus them, spreading out in form of violent movement... There is the structure of ‘men, the discriminator of women’ versus ‘women, the victim.’ We must co-exist in this world, and I believe that the way to do so must be discussed in a less aggressive, more peaceful way,” said Yoo, who has defined himself as a feminist and called it “the most important human rights movement of today.”

Yoo Ah-in (Yonhap)

Feminism is most-widely referred to a range of movements that strive to achieve equal rights between the sexes. But the terminology has taken on a rather different connotation in Korea, due to what can be seen as gender-bashing by some portion of the movement.

The phenomenon can be traced back to the misogynistic culture in some male-dominated online communities, mainly found in controversial websites like Ilbe. This, in turn, led to the creation of men-hating websites that “mirrored” the actions of their misogynist counterparts.

Being linked to “feminism” in any way has had severe repercussions for celebrities here.

“My Mister,” a tvN drama, was recently accused of being misogynistic for airing a scene where a female protagonist Lee Ji-an is beaten up by a loan shark. Her sarcastic comment “You like me, huh?” invited accusations that the scene attempted to romanticize dating violence, although there was no indication that the two characters were ever romantically involved and the character of the loan shark and the said scene were depicted in a negative way.

IU -- who played Lee Ji-an -- fell victim to verbal violence at “radical feminist” websites for “selling the fantasy of dating older men,” referring to her on-screen relationship with her older boss. The singer-actor on Monday announced that she will pursue legal actions against malicious online comments.

Comedian Yoo Byung-jae was embroiled in controversy after pointing out that the drama never intended to justify violence. His comment, “whenever I want to learn about feminism, they (women) push me away because I’m Han-nan-chung (Korean male bug), and the other side pushes me away because I’m hardcore-feminist,” made during a stand-up comedy show also sparked criticism.

Being labeled “feminist” has an equally negative impact on a celebrity’s reputation as well.

Seolhyeon (FNC Entertainment)

K-pop star Seolhyeon of AOA recently became the center of attention for un-following Yoo Ah-in, Yoo Byung-jae and IU on Twitter while following Luna of f(x), who openly supports feminism.

Despite the K-pop star remaining mum on the meaning of her move, it was interpreted as supporting feminism and invited criticism from male-dominated online communities. A local media outlet on Monday even published the article “Seolheyon, a traitor for male fans?”

In March, Irene of Red Velvet came under fire for saying that she read the feminist novel “Kim Ji Young, Born 1982,” as fans posted online burned and torn up photos of the K-pop star.


By Yoon Min-sik (minsikyoon@heraldcorp.com)