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Womad (website)

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Not to be confused with the music festival WOMAD (World of Music, Arts and Dance).

WOMAD (Korean: 워마드) is an online community of women based in South Korea. It was founded in 2016, after it split from Megalia, another radical feminist online community, after Megalia began restricting the use of homophobic and transphobic slurs.

워마드
WOMAD
Type of site
Textboard
OwnerUnknown
URLwomad.life
CommercialFree board is open to everyone without charge
RegistrationOptional
Launched2016

The website is highly controversial in South Korea. It is widely considered to be misandric, homophobic, and transphobic.[1][2][3]

Overview

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WOMAD split from Megalia on January 22, 2016.[4][5] "WOMAD" is a combination of the words "woman" and "nomad".[6] It formed due to Megalia issuing a ban on the use of certain explicit slurs against gay men and transgender people. This change in policy led to the migration of anti-LGBT members.[7] WOMAD users respond to discrimination against women in South Korea by "mirroring" it against men.[7] According to experts, this is a reaction to Ilbe Storage, a right-wing website that is also based in South Korea.[8] The website has contributed to an anti-feminist backlash in South Korea. However, according to WOMAD itself, its users are not a feminist group.[8][9]

WOMAD has caused controversy due to extreme online trolling, such as postings that boast animal abuse.[10] Others show extreme hatred towards gay and transgender people;[11][10] for this reason, WOMAD has been called "Korean-style TERFs".[12][13] They have also been described as "neoliberal".[14] Users of the site remained supportive of the former President of South Korea, Park Geun-hye, after she was imprisoned following the 2016 South Korean political scandal.[14] It was embroiled in a number of accusations for mocking Korean War veterans, the Catholic Church, and labor rights activists.[15][10] A number of posts mocking the deceased actor Kim Joo-hyuk caused further controversy. Following such incidents, critics lambasted WOMAD as a "hateful website that is aggravating conflict and division of society" among South Koreans.[16][17]

The site has a voting system similar to Reddit, allowing users to upvote or downvote posts. It uses a swastika symbol in the 'thumbs-up' button,[18] with '워념글 추천' written below, meaning 'suggest this as an insightful article' in Korean. Its favicon is a representation of a vulva, with red dot at the center of it representing both period blood and fire. [citation needed]

Incidents

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Claims of murders targeting men

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In 2016, multiple posts appeared on the site, claiming that they had killed men with titles such as "I fed men coffee mixed with car antifreeze liquid" and "I killed a man by pushing him into a reservoir".[19] The Ulsan Metropolitan Police Agency and the Gwangju Metropolitan Police Agency started an investigation after receiving police reports on July 28, 2016. Several shutdown requests have been made against the community, but Daum Kakao dismissed the requests stating that "some posts have been hidden, but there is insufficient illegal activity within the community to shut it down".

Child-abuse incident in Australia

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On November 19, 2017, a member wrote a post on the WOMAD forum claiming that she had drugged and raped an Australian boy.[20][21] She uploaded photos and videos allegedly portraying her raping the boy.[18] WOMAD members showed support for the writer, leaving comments saying that they would pay to watch the videos of the sexual assault. News of the post quickly spread online and a petition was started on Cheong Wa Dae’s bulletin board requesting that the person responsible be caught.[22] On November 20, 2017, a 27-year-old Korean woman identified as "Areum Lee" was arrested by the Australian Federal Police in Darwin, Northern Territory in relation to the incident. The suspect is charged with producing child abuse materials.[23][24][16] AFP announced that she will remain in custody until a court hearing scheduled for mid-January 2018.[25] According to interviews with the victim's parents, it is suspected that her identification and credentials are fake and that she could have broken immigration and labor laws.[26] WOMAD members actively defended her, claimed that Areum Lee was innocent and conducted an online fundraiser for her lawyer appointment. In addition, they sent a petition to the Australian police to "release Areum Lee" and protested the victim's parents. Many were shocked by this incident.[27][28][29]

Hidden camera incident

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Main article: Hyehwa Station Protest

In 2018, a WOMAD user posted a nude photo of a male model, obtained using a hidden camera (or molka). The user was quickly arrested. WOMAD users alleged that she was arrested quickly due to her gender. The incident led to the Hyehwa Station Protest.[6][14]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ Gibson, Jenna. "Rapper Symbolizes Backlash Against South Korea's Feminists". thediplomat.com. Retrieved November 10, 2024.
  2. ^ "폭력엔 폭력, 억압엔 억압… 피해자 될 바엔 가해자가 되겠다". The Dong-A Ilbo (in Korean). December 22, 2018. Retrieved November 10, 2024.
  3. ^ 조, 성은 (February 17, 2020). "페미니즘 이름 걸고 '소수자 혐오'를 하다니". Pressian (in Korean). Retrieved November 10, 2024.
  4. ^ Kim Seo-yeong (김서영) (July 8, 2016). ‘메갈리아’ 성향 따라 워마드·레디즘 등으로 분화 [Megalia splits off Womad and Ladism that are of a different flavor]. Kyunghyang Shinmun (in Korean). Archived from the original on July 24, 2016.
  5. ^ Shinyun Dong-uk (신윤동욱) (January 13, 2016). 어떤 입으로 말하고, 누구의 귀로 들을까? [Whose mouths, whose ears?]. The Hankyoreh (in Korean). Archived from the original on October 7, 2016. Retrieved January 27, 2017.
  6. ^ a b Lee, Hyun-Jae (2020). "A Critical Study of Identity Politics Based on the Category 'Biological Woman' in the Digital Era: How Young Korean Women Became Transgender Exclusive Radical Feminists". Journal of Asian Sociology. 49 (4): 425–448. ISSN 2671-4574. JSTOR 26979894.
  7. ^ a b Kim, Ashley (September 8, 2019). "Womad: The New Face of Feminism in Korea?". Berkeley Political Review. Retrieved October 2, 2021.
  8. ^ a b Jae-heun, Kim (August 12, 2018). "Controversy over radical feminist website growing". The Korea Times. Retrieved October 2, 2021.
  9. ^ Hines, Spencer; Song, Jay (July 30, 2021). "How Feminism Became a Dirty Word in South Korea". The Diplomat. Retrieved October 2, 2021.
  10. ^ a b c Cepeda, Cody (July 25, 2018). "Radical feminist group stirs controversy for anti-gay stance, violent hate speech". Philippine Daily Inquirer. Retrieved August 30, 2022.
  11. ^ 최형진 (Choi Hyung-jin) (November 21, 2017). ‘아동 성폭행 논란’ 워마드, 그 시작은 “성 소수자 혐오” ['Child sexual abuse controversy' WOMAD, the beginning of the website is "sexual minority hatred"]. Asia Economy (in Korean).
  12. ^ "한국형 TERF인 '워마디즘' 비평" [Korean-style TERF "Womadism" criticism]. HuffPost Korea (in Korean). November 1, 2017.
  13. ^ Lim ye-in(임예인) (December 1, 2017). "[2030 세상보기] 워마드와 미러링의 그림자" [[2030 World View] WOMAD and shadows of 'mirrroing']. Hankook Ilbo (in Korean).
  14. ^ a b c Koo, JiHae; Kim, Minchul (April 13, 2021). "Feminism Without Morality, Neoliberalism as Feminist Praxis: A Computational Textual Analysis of Womad, a South Korean Online "Feminist" Community". International Journal of Communication. 15: 21. ISSN 1932-8036.
  15. ^ Kang so-yeong (강소영) (June 24, 2016). ‘남혐’ 커뮤니티 워마드, 6.25 참전용사 조롱 논란 “대한민국 최대 고기파티” [Misandry Community WOMAD, "Korea's largest meat body party" Korean war veteran ridicule]. CNB News (in Korean).
  16. ^ a b Lim Jeong-yeo (November 21, 2017). "Female suspect faces probe over Australian child sexual assault allegation". The Korea Herald.
  17. ^ Hwang in-seong (황인성) (December 2, 2017). '그것이알고싶다' 워마드 논란, 누리꾼 "김주혁 모욕 논란과 동물학대·호주에서 일어난 아동성추행 실상을 알려달라" ['I want to know it' WOMAD, Kim Joo-hyuk disdain and animal abuse and Australian child molestation controversy]. KNS News (in Korean).
  18. ^ a b Koo, JiHae (August 17, 2020). "South Korean cyberfeminism and trolling: the limitation of online feminist community Womad as counterpublic". Feminist Media Studies. 20 (6): 831–846. doi:10.1080/14680777.2019.1622585. ISSN 1468-0777. S2CID 197704343.
  19. ^ 이, 재길 (July 28, 2016). ""남성들에 부동액 타먹이자"…남성혐오 사이트 충격"". CBS 노컷뉴스. Retrieved February 2, 2018.
  20. ^ "Korean woman who abused child could face new charges in Australia". AsiaOne. November 25, 2017. Archived from the original on November 30, 2017.
  21. ^ Heewon Kim (November 20, 2017). "Korean Radical Feminist Allegedly Committed Child Sexual Assault in Australia". Korea Daily.
  22. ^ Lim Jeong-yeo (November 20, 2017). "Netizen claims to have sexually assaulted Australian child". The Korea Herald.
  23. ^ "Woman arrested over Australian child sexual assault allegation". Asia One. November 22, 2017. Archived from the original on November 22, 2017.
  24. ^ "27-year-old Korean national charged producing child exploitation material". AFP. November 21, 2017.
  25. ^ Lim Jeong-yeo (November 22, 2017). "[Newsmaker] Australian police detain Korean woman indicted on producing child abuse material". The Korea Herald.
  26. ^ Lim Jeong-yeo (November 24, 2017). "'Womad' woman could face new charges in Australia". The Korea Herald.
  27. ^ Kim Jae-Myung (김재명) (November 25, 2017). [인터넷 이슈 브리핑] ‘괴물 흉내인가 괴물인가’ … 호주 워마드 사건 파장 [[Internet issue briefing] 'Monster imitation or real monster'... WOMAD incident in Australia]. GeumGang Ilbo (in Korean).
  28. ^ Kim Hye-Ran (김혜란) (November 21, 2017). 워마드 ‘호주 남아 성폭행’ 의혹 27세 女 체포…네티즌 수사대 지목 그녀? [WOMAD 'Raping Australian boy' a 27 year old woman has arrested, Is she the one that netizens point to?]. Dong A (in Korean).
  29. ^ Park Hyun-Jun (박현준) (November 21, 2017). '논란' 워마드 '호주 남아 성폭행녀', 일부 네티즌 신상공개 파문 [WOMAD Australian child rape controversy, netizens reveal the identity of criminal.]. CNB News (in Korean).
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