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| Korean and Japanese women have recently begun exchanging encouraging messages showing support for women's rights movements in their countries. / Korea Times graphic by Bae So-young |
By Jung Da-min
Japanese women are throwing their support behind Korea's feminist movement through hashtag messages.
Twitter users of both countries have recently started using hashtags to exchange encouragement. They come in Korean, Japanese and English and include #WeAreInSolidarityWithKoreanFeminists, #WeCanChangeTheWords, #LanguagePower and #LanguageRenewal.
#WeCanChangeTheWords is aimed at removing gender-biased words from everyday conversation.
To press the case for a change in the linguistic approach to gender equality, a Japanese publisher has begun translating a Korean feminism manual, "Reclaim the language: How to deal with a sexist."
The Korean book was published in 2016 through public funding and has gone viral online. The Japanese version will come out next year.
Many Korean women are excited about the solidarity between the two countries.
"When I read a message that Japanese women and Korean women are in solidarity, I feel reassured knowing that there are some people abroad who fight together with us," one Twitter user said. "The word solidarity is resonating."
Japanese women also sent messages of support on Twitter to Korean women who took to the streets to fight for their rights.
"For my dear Korean comrades," read one June 9 tweet that was re-tweeted more than 4,400 times in five days. "I am Japanese but I want to cheer for those who took to the street and who showed support for the rallies. I also want to thank those who shared the information about the rallies and shared the hashtag messages with us Japanese."
On May 19 and June 9, the largest women's rights rallies in recent memory were held near Hyehwa Subway Station in Seoul. In total, more than 36,000 women participated, calling for gender equality and fairness in law enforcement.
Only women were allowed at the rallies that denounced the police for "gender-biased investigations."
