As TV personality Kang Yu-mi's YouTube video has sparked a debate over misogyny, voices are growing among female students calling out male students' misogynistic remarks and behavior. Earlier, Kang posted a video of the so-called "son mom" (a mom with a son), and a heated argument has erupted over whether the video mocks a specific group or is satire.
Female students have posted one after another their accounts of harm, including sexual harassment they experienced at school, in the video's comments and online communities, insisting that "misogyny on campus" is real.
They urge that before parents point out Kang Yu-mi's video as misogynistic, they should first educate male students not to engage in misogynistic behavior.
Kang Yu-mi posted a video titled "middle-aged nam-misae" on her YouTube channel on the 1st. As of the 8th, the video surpassed 1.4 million views and drew more than 15,000 comments.
"Nam-misae" is a derogatory term, short for "a woman crazy about men," referring to a woman who obsessively fixates on men and bases all judgments and actions on men.
In the video, Kang Yu-mi plays a working mom with an only son and a middle-aged "nam-misae," and it caused a major stir upon release. As with TV personality Lee Su-ji's "Daechi mom" video, criticism followed that Kang's video contains ridicule aimed at a specific group and misogynistic content.
But others countered that it is merely satire showing internalized sexism among middle-aged women.
Posts also poured in saying they had heard countless times in daily life lines like those spoken by Kang Yu-mi in the video: "Do you know how crafty female students are these days," "I tell my son that if girls hit him, he should hit back," "Daughters have severe mood swings and are sensitive," and "I am a future bad mother-in-law."
The debate, which had been unfolding mainly on parenting communities, spread to social media (SNS) such as X (formerly Twitter) as middle and high school girls joined in.
Female students shared cases of misogyny on campus in the YouTube video's comments, and screenshots spread across online spaces, drawing sympathy.
여학생들은 유튜브 영상 댓글로 학내 여성혐오 피해 사례를 공유했고, 이를 캡처한 사진이 온라인 공간 곳곳으로 퍼지면서 공감을 얻었다.
Posts such as "(Male students) giggled while saying, 'wench, just spread your legs, I want to f—,'" "They make misogynistic, anti-family, and Ilbe (Ilgan Best Archive)-related remarks every day," "They secretly take pictures of girls and upload them to group chats," "If you take the case to the school violence committee, the bullying gets worse and the punishment is light," and "I am a deepfake victim. Please raise your sons well," received thousands of likes.
Teachers also agree that misogynistic remarks and behavior on campus have reached a dangerous level. The problem is that even if such sexist remarks are made, punishment is impossible unless they target a specific individual, and even with guidance case by case, it is hard to fundamentally change thoughts and speech that have hardened into habits.
Experts stressed that strengthening and supplementing sex education is essential to build students' gender sensitivity and alleviate misogyny on campus.
Heo Min-suk, a legislative researcher at the National Assembly Research Service, said, "An analysis of the four major violence prevention programs currently conducted in schools is needed," and noted, "We must verify how this education affects teenagers' gender bias, aggressiveness, propensity for violence, and recognition of respect."