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Megalia ( ko, 메갈리아) was a controversial
radical feminist Radical feminism is a perspective within feminism that calls for a radical re-ordering of society in which male supremacy is eliminated in all social and economic contexts, while recognizing that women's experiences are also affected by other ...
online community based in
South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korean Peninsula and sharing a land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed by the Yellow Sea, while its eas ...
. It was launched in 2015 to protest the language policy of the South Korean
Internet forum An Internet forum, or message board, is an online discussion site where people can hold conversations in the form of posted messages. They differ from chat rooms in that messages are often longer than one line of text, and are at least temporar ...
DC Inside DC Inside ( ko, 디시인사이드), frequently noted under the initialism DC, is a South Korean internet forum. Initially established as a community dedicated to digital cameras and photography, it has met broad notoriety in Korea due to its u ...
, which some users deemed
discriminatory Discrimination is the act of making unjustified distinctions between people based on the groups, classes, or other categories to which they belong or are perceived to belong. People may be discriminated on the basis of race, gender, age, rel ...
against women.


Overview

In the spring of 2015, South Korean
Internet forum An Internet forum, or message board, is an online discussion site where people can hold conversations in the form of posted messages. They differ from chat rooms in that messages are often longer than one line of text, and are at least temporar ...
DC Inside DC Inside ( ko, 디시인사이드), frequently noted under the initialism DC, is a South Korean internet forum. Initially established as a community dedicated to digital cameras and photography, it has met broad notoriety in Korea due to its u ...
started "MERS Gallery" as a forum for sharing information on the
Middle East respiratory syndrome Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS) is a viral respiratory infection caused by ''Middle East respiratory syndrome–related coronavirus'' (MERS-CoV). Symptoms may range from none, to mild, to severe. Typical symptoms include fever, cough, ...
(MERS) outbreak. When a false rumor spread that two women who had contracted MERS refused quarantine and instead went on a shopping trip to
Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China (abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delta i ...
, it prompted bashing in this forum. These supposed health code violators were derogated with the term "kimchi woman" (; ''gimchi-nyeo''), a misogynist term for women who only have shopping on their minds. As this continued, an influx of feminist users started using reactionary terms, coining "kimchi man" (; ''gimchi-nam'') a reclaimed term which mocks Korean men. DC Inside intervened by instituting a policy, which forbade usage of "kimchi man". A portion of its users regarded the measure as
discriminatory Discrimination is the act of making unjustified distinctions between people based on the groups, classes, or other categories to which they belong or are perceived to belong. People may be discriminated on the basis of race, gender, age, rel ...
, and found these rules constraining and moved to other forums at DC Inside, eventually launching their own website, ''Megalia''. The name "Megalia" is a
portmanteau A portmanteau word, or portmanteau (, ) is a blend of wordsEgalia's Daughters'', a feminist novel by Gerd Brantenberg.


Culture

In Megalia, there are several boards, including the "best" board, "new posts" board, "Menyeom (meaning suitable for Megalia) board", "news" board, "data" board, "lecture" board, "capture" board, "humor" board, and "free" board.


Movement


SoraNet shut down Project

Megalia began a movement to halt the porn-sharing site ' () distributing non-consensual secretly photographed video content, and has moved on to petition the shutdown of the site itself, which was notorious for various types of illegal pornographic content. Eventually, ''SoraNet'' was shut down.


Post-it Project

They put a lot of post-it notes with phrases that protect women's rights on the walls of shared toilets, elevators, etc. And they took a certification shot and gave it to their community. Participants expressed their identity by writing the phrase 'Megalian in action' at the end of the phrase.


No hydrochloric acid sales online Project

Megalia led a campaign to ban sales, pointing out the problems of high concentrations of
hydrochloric acid Hydrochloric acid, also known as muriatic acid, is an aqueous solution of hydrogen chloride. It is a colorless solution with a distinctive pungent smell. It is classified as a strong acid Acid strength is the tendency of an acid, symbol ...
being sold in online open markets. As a result, the Ministry of Environment has blocked online sales of high concentrations of hydrochloric acid by signing agreements with three open market companies.


Controversies

Online critics claim Megalians' mirroring tactic is hateful and
misandrist Misandry () is the hatred of, contempt for, or prejudice against men. Men's rights activists and other masculinist groups have criticized modern laws concerning divorce, domestic violence, the draft, circumcision (known as genital mutilation ...
; to supporters, they are reclaiming a male-centered language that threatens and discriminates against women. Their logo is taken by some men and Megalians as a derogatory and deliberately provocative reference to the size of Korean penises. Many, including some feminists, say Megalia's tactics are unproductive and divisive. Some Megalia posters have
outed Outing is the act of disclosing an LGBT person's sexual orientation or gender identity without that person's consent. It is often done for political reasons, either to instrumentalize homophobia in order to discredit political opponents or to com ...
gay men who are married to women. On October 17, 2015, a kindergarten teacher anonymously uploaded a post declaring their desire to have sexual intercourse with a ''Jonnini'' (), which is Megalia slang for a male child. The poster (referred to by the media as "Ms. A") later addressed this, and while admitting the gravity of her statement, claimed that she was merely trying to bring awareness to the fact that male-dominated boards such as Ilbe allegedly routinely discuss sexual desires for underage girls (referred to as ''lolini'' (, 'Lolita girl'). (
Naver News
')
Users of Megalia have posted gory images of men whose genitalia have been severed or severely damaged and publicized explicit photos without consent. In October 2018, following the Isu Station assault case, more than 129,500 Koreans signed an online petition asking for the presidential office to take measures against
Womad WOMAD ( ; World of Music, Arts and Dance) is an international arts festival. The central aim of WOMAD is to celebrate the world's many forms of music, arts and dance. History WOMAD was founded in 1980 by English rock musician Peter Gabriel, w ...
and Megalia.


Derived websites

* ''
WOMAD WOMAD ( ; World of Music, Arts and Dance) is an international arts festival. The central aim of WOMAD is to celebrate the world's many forms of music, arts and dance. History WOMAD was founded in 1980 by English rock musician Peter Gabriel, w ...
'' () is a website derived from Megalia on January 22, 2016. It is a splinter group that formed when Megalia issued a ban on use of slurs against gay men. * Megalia 4 is a Facebook page that derived from Megalia in 2016. * ''Ladism'' () is a website that derived from Megalia in 2016.


Explanatory notes


See also

* Feminism in South Korea *
Gender-based violence Gender-related violence or gender-based violence includes any kind of violence directed against people due to their gender or gender identification. Types of gender-related violence include: * Violence against women (sometimes referred to simply a ...
*
Misogyny Misogyny () is hatred of, contempt for, or prejudice against women. It is a form of sexism that is used to keep women at a lower social status than men, thus maintaining the societal roles of patriarchy. Misogyny has been widely practice ...
*
DC Inside DC Inside ( ko, 디시인사이드), frequently noted under the initialism DC, is a South Korean internet forum. Initially established as a community dedicated to digital cameras and photography, it has met broad notoriety in Korea due to its u ...
*
WOMAD WOMAD ( ; World of Music, Arts and Dance) is an international arts festival. The central aim of WOMAD is to celebrate the world's many forms of music, arts and dance. History WOMAD was founded in 1980 by English rock musician Peter Gabriel, w ...


References


External links

*
archived
{{in lang, ko

101 East, Al Jazeera English, April 2017 (video, 25 mins) Internet properties established in 2015 South Korean websites Internet forums Feminism in South Korea Feminist websites Radical feminism