[Gender Prism by Yit-sul] Moon Jae-in’s
Problematic Feminism
By Yit-seul
Published on February 20, 2017
Translated by Kang Yieun
Ilda
editor’s note: Gender Prism is a column where feminists in their twenties and
thirties can voice their thoughts. Yit-seul is an activist at Unninetwork.
A
feminist president who defers the human rights of gender minorities?
In a meeting with conservative Christian
leadership (Christian Council of Korea, The Communion of Churches in Korea, and
The National Council of Churches in Korea) on the 13th of February, former
leader of the Minjoo Party of Korea (Together Democratic Party) Moon Jae-in stated
his opposition towards the introduction of a universal anti-discrimination law,
claiming it was the official party stance that further controversy was unnecessary
when the current National Human Rights Commission Act had already declared that
individuals should not be excluded or discriminated against based on sexual
orientation .
Mr. Moon promised an anti-discrimination law in
the run-up to the previous presidential election in 2012. He has also indicated
that he would introduce policies to protect the rights of same-sex couples.
On the 16th of February, gender
minority right activists attended the 7th Rectify the Republic of
Korea Forum (theme: “Gender equality opens up a new Korea”) hosted by the
think-tank Gungminsongjang, or People’s Growth, where Mr. Moon was the keynote presenter,
to protest. When one asked about his opinion on the anti-discrimination law,
Mr. Moon suggested the activist take the floor “later,” to which many of the
forum attendees shouted “later” to silence protesting activists. Quite a few supporters
of Mr. Moon are criticizing the “attitude” of the gender minority right
activists to this day.
 |
On February 16th, gender minority rights activists
demanded clarification of and protested against the views of Moon Jae-in, the
former party leader of the Minjoo Party of Korea who gave a keynote speech on
gender equality at the 7th Rectify Republic of Korea Forum. © Rainbow Activism
Against Gender Minority Discrimination
|
Mr. Moon did not change his opposition towards a
universal anti-discrimination law even when “later” came. He also postponed
[discussions of] legalization of same-sex marriage until “later,” citing a lack
of social consensus.
Ironically, Mr. Moon promised to become a
feminist president the same day. He declared that we cannot turn blind eyes to and
silence the victims of gender violence, which is widespread across society, and
that the country has to protect social minorities by stern punishment of gender
violence perpetrators.” His opposition towards a universal anti-discrimination
law that would protect social minorities from gender violence, however, was clear.
This reminds us of the retroactive instruction by the Ministry of Gender
Equality and Family to delete any mention of gender minorities from Daejoen
Metropolitan City’s Gender Equality Ordinance in August 2015. (The Ministry of
Women and Family sent an official message to Daejeon Metropolitan City asking
it to delete articles related to the protection and support of gender
minorities from the Gender Equality Ordinance, claiming that such articles contradict
the Framework Act on Gender Equality, which takes priority. In the end, Daejeon City Council adopted a
revised version without any mention of gender minorities under the title “Both
Sexes’ Equality Ordinance.”)
Can one achieve a society that puts humans first
and has gender equality while neglecting the realities of gender minorities and
diverse forms of family? Gender equality is never achievable if one’s
understanding of gender stops at the level of believing that “sex is between a
man and a woman” or “sex is a topic related to marriage between a man (father)
and a woman (mother).” Gender equality is never achievable with a policy that simplifies
gender violence into a conflict between cisgender heterosexual men and women,
recognizes only cisgender-heterosexual women as victims, and ignores diverse
gender identities and the infinite number of relations that exist.
If one has a modicum of understanding of human
rights that would allow one to see gender minorities as [human] beings and
their identities as things that affect their entire beings, it is impossible to
cater to the rights of half (the female part) of gay women’s identities while
postponing the rights of the other half (the homosexual part). I suggest Mr.
Moon listen to Emma Watson’s speech (on gender equality, given at UN
headquarters in September 2014) which asks, “If not me, who? If not now, when?”
instead of being offended by gay women protesting during his keynote speech.
 |
| “Are you not ashamed of yourself bowing down for Protestant Christian voters as a presumed presidential candidate?” Haneul from PFLAG Korea petitions for an anti-discrimination law at the 7th Rectify Republic of Korea Forum. © Solidarity for LGBT Human Rights of Korea. |
Moon’s feminism cannot understand gender violence
I am a gender minority who has been through
countless incidents of sexist discrimination, sexual harassment, and street
harassment. When I was accosted by a “Burberry-man” [flasher], I was upset because
I felt like it was not up to me whether I was seen as a woman or not. Upon
thinking about it, however, a gap is inevitable between one’s own gender identity
and the gender identity others see in one. [I realized that the] Burberry-man
incident had more to do with the gender identity imagined by the perpetrator,
not my truthful one. I was a victim not because the perpetrator knew my gender
identity or understood anything about me; rather it was because he had the
privilege of not needing to know or understand anything about the victim. I was
violated by being forcefully identified as a woman.
Therefore, I do not agree to the defining of what
I experienced as “a woman being violated by a man.” I do not want to deny any part
of my identity for the sake of being recognized as a victim. I believe that what
I experienced should be recognized as a trespassing of my rights without
compromising any of the periods I did not regard myself as a woman or the experiences
that made me wish not to be considered a woman. Can my experience of gender
violence be understood through the ministry’s definition of gender equality or the
feminism of Moon Jae-in, though?
An activist from an organization advocating for
the rights of migrant women started her question at the said forum by saying, “I
want to show my solidarity with sisters who had no choice but to interrupt to
be heard,” which made me think back to my days at a women’s right organization.
Sisterhood in that organization felt narrowly defined as achievable only by identifying
and being identified as a woman. I suspect that this sisterhood was a kind of intimacy
between “eonni” and “dongsaeng” who would never have sex with
or marry each other; where one believes the other to be “safe” because she must
be another heterosexual woman. This time, however, the word made me imagine a sisterhood
that would not antagonize gender minorities—it seemed possible, and also,
needed.
Any feminists should ask right now in unison– “Can
you divide human rights? Why don’t gender equality policies include equality
for gender minorities?” Let us shout out, “There’s no ‘later,’ only right now!”
Original article : http://www.ildaro.com/sub_read.html?uid=7776§ion=sc5
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