Gangnam murder sparks frank discussion on misogyny in South Korea

[jeeelim5]

Murder suspect admits he is misogynist

The man held on charges of murdering a 23-year-old woman told the police that the crime was motivated by his hatred for women.

The man is suspected of killing the victim, with whom he had no prior contact, in Gangnam on Tuesday night.

The suspect has since told the police that he committed the crime because he “

Comments

[maynardsong]

What country are you from? I'm American, but my parents immigrated from India, and it too is misogynistic with a LOT of grassroots feminist efforts going on. The government officially recognizes a lot of them, but that doesn't mean a whole lot. I mean, the caste system and dowry are also officially banned, but they're still going on.

[dorawa]

Thanks for the translations OP, I have been following myself and was going to translate in my free time but you beat me to it.

This is just SO scary. I have my own stories and my friends have stories about being harassed, catcalled, followed, etc. and this just amplifies my / our fear. The misogyny and "men are better" attitude is so prevalent here and I hate it so much. But it's so oppressive, I can't do much of anything about it.

Please stay safe.

[ishumy]

This is awful, terrifying and plain heartbreaking. Thank you OP for posting. I just heard about this today and I'm glad more publications seem to be reporting it, if only gradually.

[ioplokon]

This is so sad & horrible; thank you for translating and sharing. The memorial looks really nice though, and hopefully this will help people to talk about gendered violence and advocate against the harassment of women. At least maybe it is some small comfort to her loved ones as well as to women shocked and frightened by this to know that she is remembered & publicly mourned.

[belandlix]

Thanks so much for translating, OP! I'm so proud and encouraged by all the women who have been speaking up about their experiences.

Honestly, this is one of the reasons why I feel like I can't go back and live in Korea anymore, but when I try to talk about it with my family/friends still there, I feel like I'm not really entitled to speak about it because I'm an "American" now. And I get that I now come from a place of Westernized privilege - while things are still shitty for women here, the culture of silencing women is so much worse in Korea. I just hope the conversation turns into actual change.

Also WTF at the police saying it's not a hate crime. The attacker literally admitted to killing the woman based on her gender, but that doesn't count as prejudice??? Get your act together, ugh.

[lied_ohne_worte]

I studied with a lot of young women from South Korea, and some of the things they said about societal attitudes towards women, marriage, women working, the age at which they were considered to have "failed" if they had no husband, the fact that most of them didn't expect to work after returning to Korea and their studies were meant to raise their "market value"... I hadn't really imagined a modern, industrialised country to have a societal structure like that.

I know a few stayed here because after spending multiple years in another environment (where things aren't perfect, but where expectations what women should do with their lives have changed), the return became too difficult.

[belandlix]

Yeah, I'm a grad student in my mid 20s, but every time I see my relatives, they get on my case about not having found a husband. They tell me that "too much education" can make me "unmarriageable," lol

But on a more serious note, I agree that it's difficult to go back after experiencing relatively more freedom. The way women are treated in America is FAR from perfect, but there is at least more public discourse and awareness about it. I'm encouraged by more and more Korean women speaking up about their experiences, but it's not a welcoming environment to foster difficult discussions about sexism/feminism (or other social issues, for that matter).

[jeeelim5]

I decided to come to Korea for college because I grew up overseas and wanted to connect to my Korean roots, and dear lord, the experience has been..... interesting.

When I was applying to college, a lot of older women were telling me "Oh, you shouldn't go to SNU (top school) because it will be hard to find a husband. Women who are too educated are too tiresome." And on a regular basis, I'm told, "You're too outspoken for a woman," "Try and act a little dumber to make your future husband feel better about himself," "You should lose some weight if you want to find a good husband," etc etc

Every country has its hurdles when it comes to misogyny and other forms of discrimination, but I think it's exacerbated in Korea because of the combination of sexism + Confucian values + seniority/age hierarchy.