Global Roundup: S. Korea's Young Women Protesters, India Court Upholds Lesbian Couple's Rights, Indonesian Textile Workers, Queer Climate Activism, Japanese Women's Literature

A participant holds a K-pop light stick during a rally near the National Assembly in Seoul, Saturday. Korea Times photo by Jung Da-bin

Demonstrations against South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol's declaration of martial law have drawn participants from all generations. Teenage girls and young women have been the most active in opposing a president known for his disdain for feminism and minorities.

About a third of participants in the massive rally calling for Yoon's impeachment in front of the National Assembly on Dec. 7 were women in their 20s and 30s, according to the analysis of the city's latest living population data.

On the other hand, men in the same age group accounted for only about 8 percent of the estimated 1 million crowd, accounting for the lowest participation rate among all age groups.

Women in their 20s and 30s came out waving light sticks for K-pop artists instead of candles and led a new protest culture with bright colors and dynamic K-pop songs.

Experts believe that the striking participation of young women is the result of the Yoon administration's anti-feminist politics and the nation's online feminism movement.

Yoon had advocated abolishing the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family as a presidential candidate and repeatedly claimed there was "no structural gender discrimination" in this country. Then he drastically cut the budget for violence against women and deleted "women" and "gender equality" from policy terms, stirring anti-feminist sentiment across the nation.

Several women participants confirmed such motivations at the scene.

I have been outraged by the anti-feminist politics of the Yoon administration for years. From dating murder to deep-fake sex crimes, I constantly felt that women cannot stay safe in Korea. Then I felt I couldn’t stand it anymore when he declared martial law. -Shin, 27

Experts believe the reason for young men’s absence from demonstration are complex and combine their lack of experience in building solidarity and adherence to conservatism.

Women have learned over the past decade to fight against gender violence that women are collectively subjected to, such as deepfake sex crimes and the #MeToo movement. Of course, many young men also believe that Yoon’s declaration of martial law is ridiculous … But not only are they unfamiliar with revealing themselves and speaking up in social or public places, they also lack any network of males to share it with. -Kim Hyun-mee, professor of cultural anthropology at Yonsei University

Experts told the Korea Times that young men are turning conservative while women's education standards are rising.

With the emergence of meritocracy, the status and privileges that men had monopolized were no longer useful to men. While they feel that traditional masculinity could no longer be a privilege, they find it more advantageous to incorporate into the existing patriarchal system of order. -Lee Hyun-jae, professor of urban humanities at the University of Seoul

One of the young men who did join a demonstration told the Korea Times that he had learned a lot from attending.

Women, people with disabilities and the LGBTQ communities took the podium today (Saturday) and told stories I have been unaware of and I learned a lot. The participation rate of young men was low this time, but I hope that fellow citizens of my age will also come to the square and contribute to building a discourse where people share opinions and learn to leave no one behind in our society. -Jang, 27