"We Need to Unite Like Feminists"... Men Taking on 'Mirroring'

Allegations of 'Misandry' in Online Ads and Content
"We Need to Show Ourselves to Reduce Feminist Influence," Men Unite
Some Criticize This Movement as 'Male Mirroring'
Experts Say "Discrimination and Violence Affect Socially Weak and Strong Differently"
"Fundamental Issues Must Be Recognized Through Education on Human Rights and Diversity"

Convenience store brand GS25's promotional poster for camping supplies posted on Instagram on the 1st. / Photo by Instagram capture

[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Juhyung] Convenience store brand GS25's advertisement suffered from so-called 'misandry controversy.' Although the company deleted the advertisement and posted an apology, some male consumers are raising suspicions of misandry in other advertisements and content, saying, "We should show men's solidarity on this occasion."

There is a view that this craze for 'finding misandry' is similar to the past 'mirroring' conducted by feminist circles. Mirroring refers to the act of exposing underlying prejudice and hatred by imitating a specific social group exactly. While feminists in the past used mirroring to reveal contradictions in male-centered society, it is now pointed out that mirroring has been reversed into a means to 'target feminism.'

The advertisement involved in the misandry controversy was a camping product promotion poster posted on GS25's official Instagram account on the 1st. The poster shows a night camping site with a campfire burning, the phrase "Let's go camping," and a small sausage and a hand drawn.

The problem was the sausage and the hand. Some male netizens claimed that the unique hand gesture of pinching the thumb and index finger symbolized 'Megalia,' a radical feminist internet community. According to these netizens, this hand gesture contains a mocking meaning toward a specific male body part.

As the controversy over alleged misogyny regarding the poster grew, GS25 removed the advertisement and posted an apology. / Photo by Internet homepage capture

As the controversy grew, GS25 deleted the advertisement poster and posted an apology under its name. In the apology, GS25 said, "This event was planned mainly around camping food to provide many benefits to customers with camping as the theme for May, the month of family," but also stated, "We judged that some design elements could cause discomfort to customers and immediately revised the design."

They bowed their heads, saying, "We take this matter seriously internally and will thoroughly monitor and carefully review and pay attention to any content that could cause controversy in the future."

This 'finding misandry' by male netizens is not the first time. Previously, hamburger franchise McDonald's faced fierce backlash from some male netizens after hiring female YouTuber Jaejae (real name Lee Eunjae, 31) as an advertising model.

These netizens called Jaejae "an openly certified feminist" and urged a boycott of McDonald's, saying, "We always curse inwardly, so nothing changes. Let's show them too."

One netizen wrote on an online community frequently used by men, claiming, "This person (Jaejae) is a representative feminist who graduated from XX University, the cradle of feminism, and held a non-marriage ceremony, boasting about it on broadcasts."

Another netizen called for collective action, saying, "We need to carry out an anti-feminist movement. We must unite well like feminists to get media coverage and reduce feminists' influence."

The hamburger franchise 'McDonald's,' which selected YouTuber Jaejae as its advertising model, faced strong backlash from some male netizens. / Photo by YouTube capture

Some argue that this search for misandry is mirroring against feminist circles. While feminist-leaning netizens in the past used mirroring to expose the evils of male-centered society, this time men are using mirroring as a means to counter feminism.

Mirroring actively appeared in domestic online communities starting from the 2015 Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) outbreak.

When news came out that two women who entered Korea from Hong Kong refused self-quarantine, some male netizens made misogynistic remarks such as "I knew kimchi women would do that" and "Kimchi women are selfish," and women who opposed this attempted mirroring to satirize the behavior of male netizens.

For example, female netizens at the time mocked by changing the term 'kimchi woman' to 'kimchi man.' The radical feminist community 'Megalia' is also known to have been born as mirroring of the internet community 'MERS Gallery,' where hateful remarks against women spread.

Mirroring is a social movement intended to show the rudeness and hateful consciousness of the other by imitating their behavior exactly, but concerns have been continuously raised that it may provoke the other and reinforce hatred.

Historian Jeon Wooyong warned in an article contributed to a media outlet in 2016, "If we replicate all the disgusting words bad men use against women and return them to men, will men repent?" He added, "Such acts will rather cause women to internalize 'violent masculinity,' expanding and reinforcing the base of violence."

Experts suggest that discrimination and hatred are not concepts equally applied to all groups and that the structural causes of gender conflict must be understood.

Kim Jihak, director of the Korea Diversity Research Institute, pointed out, "The current appearance of misandry mirroring is due to a lack of understanding of what gender-based violence is."

He explained, "Discrimination and violence do not appear equally in all groups. When discrimination is inflicted on vulnerable groups in society such as women, refugees, and foreigners, greater damage and prejudice occur. However, such harm does not affect men who are already dominant in society."

He emphasized, "Rather than turning anger toward those in worse conditions, education on labor, politics, human rights, and diversity should help people understand the fundamental causes of problems faced by themselves and others."