#YouToo response to #MeToo movement signals looming battle of the sexes

The #MeToo movement that has swept South Korea since January has been met with a backlash from some men, who insist the movement is prejudiced against them.

More men have begun to criticize past #MeToo allegations raised by women and the feminism-related perspectives associated with them. 

Male advocates also voiced their views through the recently launched “#YouToo” Facebook and Twitter accounts. The “#YouToo” hashtag is designed to encourage male survivors of sexual assault and harassment to post their experiences in order to raise awareness and highlight its commonality. 

According to the “#YouToo” Facebook account manager, the group “opposes the feminist movement that creates secondary damage and suffering to men as a side-effect of sexism against men.” 

An online commenter recently posted on a crowdfunding site, describing a project called, “Kim Ji-hoon: Born in 1990.” Some have pointed out that the project is a parody of the Korean feminist novel “Kim Ji-young: Born in 1982” by Cho Nam-joo.

The author of the post reportedly prepared the short novel geared toward addressing men’s suffering due to sexism in the 1990s. He stressed the “critical need” for people to “realize the hypocrisy of women.”

By Catherine Chung (cec82@heraldcorp.com)