ABSTRACT




Competition and Coexistence Toward the Discourses on Misogyny
: Based on Kim Ji Young, born 1982



Hyeon Kim




Department of Communication, Graduate School
Chungnam National University
Daejon, Korea


(Supervised by Professor Byung Woo Sohn)




Korean society has witnessed the emergence and spread of the ''Kim Ji Young phenomenon.’ Kim Ji Young, born 1982 is a novel that sharply brought the theme of misogyny into the public sphere. The purpose of this paper is to discuss the novel as a discourse about the resistance to the structure of a misogynistic society.
First, this study analyses the narrative of Kim Ji Young, born 1982 within a societal context. Then, an attempt is made to identify the influence of the novel on the dominant and counter discourses on misogyny by examining diverse discourses surrounding the ''Kim Ji Young phenomenon.’ The research will reveal how the novel raised questions about misogynistic gender relations in actuality.
According to the narrative analysis, it could be inferred that the novel raised counter discourses on misogyny with three strategies.
First, the novel secured public support for counter discourses on misogyny by using empathetic stories and legitimate discourse. It attempted to popularize the concept of misogyny as being defined from a feminist perspective based on popularity.
Second, it demonstrated the effects of self-multiplication of misogyny on women''s lives, and it also explained why misogynistic gender relations were not recognized as a problem in reality. It revealed the women as ‘the others’ and suggested a way to overcome misogynistic gender relations by women''s solidarity. Consequently, it has created a social atmosphere from which counter discourses on misogyny can be formed.
Third, the novel described how the subjectivity of women in a neo-liberalist context concealed gender inequality and expressed that neo-liberal gender norms put women in trouble. In postmodern neo-liberalist thought, the dominant discourse on misogyny claims that women and men are already equal. The novel has been demonstrated, however, that the premise is wrong through the discussion so far.
Based on these strategies, Kim Ji Young, born 1982 carried the change in reality beyond the novel. For example, it has made it acceptable for the public to raise questions about the (re)production of media that multiplies and solidifies the gender ideology. Furthermore, it encouraged women, who heavily sympathized with the novel, to openly talk about their misogynistic experiences to wider audiences. In particular, the parody, Park Ji Hyun, born 1972, ignited the spread of the ''Me-too movement'' in Korea, and showed that a woman can be a subject, not an object of society.
Although it was a very small opening, it was enough to elicit a variety of reactions from forces who have dominated the existing male-centered society. They attempted to reduce the power of the novel by stigmatizing women who speak out and act on the novel Kim Ji Young, born 1982. Meanwhile, parodies such as Jeong Dae Hyun, born 1979 and Kim Ji Hoon, born 1992 branded the novel as misandry and prompted outbursts of gender conflicts. These neutralized or fiercely criticized counter discourses on misogyny. Their intentions, however, did not work as planned, and they fell into self-contradiction and internal conflict. As a result, Kim Ji Young, born 1982 brought differences and changes that can no longer be restrained in the dominant discourse on Misogyny.
This study has explored the possibility that the novel can draw attention to problems of misogynistic social structure, and it has discussed the resulting change of the discourse topography on misogyny. In conclusion, this study suggests the possibility of disintegration in misogyny and gender inequality ingrained in Korean society.

Keywords : Kim Ji Young, born 1982, Misogyny, Counter discourse,

Gender, Neo-liberalism