“I Am A Feminist, But . . .” Practicing Quiet Feminism in the Era of Everyday Backlash in South Korea

Bibliographic Data

ID21106920
AuthorsG Jung (0000-0001-7157-2370, Kyung Hee University, South Korea, corresponding author), Minyoung Moon (0000-0002-4746-2080, Clemson University)
Year2024
Volume38
Issue2
Pages216-243
Publication date2024-04-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueGender & Society (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0891-2432 • E-ISSN: 1552-3977
PublisherSAGE Publications (PUBLISHER • US)
DOI10.1177/08912432241230557
OpenAlexW4391785749
LanguageEN
Citations received24
References cited43

In this study, we investigate the practice of feminism among young South Korean women in the era of backlash. Drawing on interviews with 40 female college students in South Korea, we found that most of the participants self-identify as feminists who engage in feminist activities primarily in private offline settings on their college campuses. To understand this phenomenon of quiet feminism, which contradicts the global trend of postfeminist attitudes and online feminism, we link the students’ offline practice of everyday feminism with what we term everyday backlash. Our findings reveal that these young women have encountered widespread antifeminist sentiments in both online and offline everyday contexts since the rapid popularization of feminism in South Korea in the late 2010s. We argue that this pervasive everyday backlash not only motivates the students to create safe spaces within their college campuses but also discourages them from publicly disclosing their feminist identities. Through this research, we contribute to the literature on contemporary feminist practice and its relationship with backlash by offering a nuanced understanding of the local context in South Korea

Backlash · Feminism · Feminist movement · Political science · Sociology · Engineering · Gender Diversity and Inequality · Gender Studies · Gender, Feminism, and Media · History · Labor Movements and Unions