| Website of Womad / Captured from its website |
By Oh Young-jin
People can dismiss Womad as the website of an extreme bunch of man-haters ― misandrists or feminazi.
It shouldn't be, or can't be.
Womad is in the spotlight after photos of a nude male model were uploaded to the group's site and went viral.
The case is very much like a mirror to misogyny.
Police are investigating, questioning students from the drawing class at Hongik University and professors, and collecting their mobile phones for a forensic probe.
The model has remained in seclusion, telling friends that he can't go back to normal life.
He also filed a complaint against two Womad members who posted disparaging remarks. Tens of thousands of people have joined a petition to close the site.
The law provides a penalty of up to five years behind bars or a 10 million won fine for taking photos of a person against their will and uploading them.
The photos of the model went viral on May 1. They were removed from the site on May 3. But a look at Womad's text board shows it overflowing with disparaging remarks, drawings and photos.
A contest calling on Womad members to submit drawings of the model began. Comments criticized him for physical defects, arguing that he had only himself to blame.
There was no sense of fear among those making the postings because of the protection given to them by online anonymity. Remorse was even harder to find thanks to members controlled by “groupthink.”
From the comments on the model case and others, a couple of elements stand out.
One is an obsession with the physicality of manhood. Terms frequently used are about size ― the bigger the better.
It reminds one of a mundane criteria applied by men ― behind women's backs ― to judge women's beauty.
Then, there is the animosity ― not against all men, but against Korean men, taking pleasure from bashing them.
This characteristic may be attributed to male dominance in Korean society and, on the other side of the same token, an expression of women's superiority that threatens to manifest with the weakening of male control.
Then there is the peculiar language used with many postings that makes them read as if that they are the work of one person.
The website name ― Womad ― is a portmanteau of women and nomad.
According to Wikipedia, the site was formed in 2016 by a group splintered from Magalia, also a feminist site.
Womad shows extreme hatred toward not just men but also sexual minorities. In 2016, some postings appeared claiming the group killed a man after having him drink coffee laced with antifreeze and tossing him into a reservoir.
Police investigated without finding those responsible and Daum Kakao rejected calls for a shutdown of the website.
In 2017, an anonymous writer posted on the Womad site that she raped an Australian boy, and its members supported her. A Korean woman was then arrested in Australia.
Womad members also have mocked the late actor Kim Joo-hyuk, among others.
There is no question that the current case involving the model should be resolved and the responsible party held to account.
But equally urgent is an ardent search for the reasons that make this hate website flourish and to address them before man-hating turns as serious as misogyny in terms of damage to our society and lives.