[Editorial] We Detest the Misogynic Gaze on the Murder of a Woman Near Gangnam Station (Kyung-hyang)

#hate_crime #misogyny #gender

Society’s reaction to the murder of a twenty-something woman by a man in his thirties in a bathroom near Gangnam Station in Seoul has been explosive. A temporary memorial has been installed at the subway station near the crime scene, and the chrysanthemums that citizens have brought form a pile that reaches higher than a person’s knees. On the outer walls of the subway station exit, hundreds of memos have been posted in memory of the victim while others criticize a society that discriminates against women. The Labor Party, the Green Party, and various women’s groups have released a series of statements and a candlelight vigil was organized last night. Women are pouring out their thoughts on misogyny intensifying in our society.

Society is focusing on the latest case because the motive of the murder: misogyny. The suspect’s statement, “Women looked down on me” and the fact that he had waited over an hour for a woman to enter the unisex bathroom make it difficult to argue that misogyny was not the motive. When we think of whether the suspect would have attempted the crime against the male population if he had been slighted by men, the answer becomes clear. The suspect did not target the men who entered the bathroom that day. The police stressed the suspect’s history of being admitted to hospitals four times for schizophrenia. In other words, his misogyny and paranoia could be the manifestation of schizophrenia.

However, it is clear that this case is at least a murder targeting a specific group: women. Otherwise, there is no way to explain why countless women sympathize with the fear and remember the victim on the Internet and at Gangnam Station. Given that the perpetrator did not target an unspecified mass, but women in particular means it is unreasonable to call this a “random” crime. This incident revealed the reality in South Korean society, where a woman faced an outrageous death just because she was a woman. Any woman in this country could fall victim to a crime anytime and anywhere, and this incident shows that women must face fear in their daily lives. According to a survey by the Korean Women’s Development Institute, an overwhelming 98% of the perpetrators of violent crimes such as murder and robbery are men, while 84% of the victims are women. In a situation where the victim and perpetrator of a crime can be clearly distinguished by gender, the fear women have is indeed specific and realistic.

In the social context, what we must focus on is society’s perspective of this case, as well as the dangers this case reveals. The opposition stirring from one side of those who are busy remembering the victim and reflecting on existing views is problematic. They argue that we should not generalize the crime of a mentally ill person to a crime of misogyny. We can dismiss this as a controversial topic. But attempts to seek the motive of the murder in the way the woman was dressed and how much she had drunk is absurd. Treating this issue as a gender conflict and an issue of reverse discrimination against men is also a big problem. Some users of Ilbe, an online community of extreme right-wing conservatives, made gestures with their fingers and posted pictures of them tearing off the messages posted at Gangnam Station. Such patriarchal views that look down on women clearly show us where the hotbed of misogyny lies. The suspect in the latest case did not just fall from the sky. We must not deny the fact that the misogynic posts and sexist language overflowing on the Internet brought on this horrible crime. In a crime where the perpetrator had targeted the entire female community, a twenty-something woman was sacrificed. A society that cannot even denounce such sexual discrimination, which was the fundamental cause, is dangerous.

What we should despise is not just the act of murder triggered by misogyny. The misogynic eyes looking at the women remembering the victim are also something to detest. In this world, South Korea may be a society where women have a low social status, but even so, it is truly shameful that the discourse making groundless attacks on women is spreading in plain sight. We all need to reflect on how the South Korean society became so sick.