In an era where the differentiation of women's language and the counterattack of male power are intertwined,
A new challenge to find the path of Korean feminism!
"Now is the time to revolutionize feminist discourse."

Jeong Hee-jin, who is once again at the forefront of feminism
A provocative and radical debate on sexual politics!

Heejin Jeong, a pioneering feminist scholar, multidisciplinary researcher, and provocative book critic, reframes the issues of sexual politics that permeate everyday Korean society and asks what path feminism should take.
The author, who brought about a shift in the feminist paradigm by creating a rift in Korean society, which had been tamed by male language, through the 2005 feminist textbook “The Challenge of Feminism,” is once again unfolding a subversive perspective on feminist discourse after 18 years.

Since the popularization of feminism in 2015, feminism has become a basic part of women's lives. However, male culture has not been able to let go of the outdated discourse of power in Korean society, and is launching a counterattack bordering on "hate."
Meanwhile, within the women's movement, those who emphasize the identity of "women" and exclude other minorities, including transgender people, refugees, and people with disabilities, have emerged in the name of feminism.
In an age of deepening discord and disparity, what should the language of feminism say, and how should it change reality?

"The Challenge of Feminism Again" analyzes the increasingly complex gender power and feminist discourse in Korean society in the Anthropocene era, where each individual survives amidst the rush of capital.
From sharp issues of "gender conflict" such as sexism, femicide, the world's lowest birth rate, and female quotas, to feminist discourses such as "victim-centeredness," "sexual self-determination," and "resourceization of femininity," it sharply criticizes and reinterprets the debates in contemporary sexual politics.
A new challenge for feminism begins: to break down the dichotomy of right and wrong, to think about boundaries, and to attempt a subversive reinterpretation of established discourse.

Does victim-centeredness benefit women?

As time goes by, the 'victim-centered' logic seems to gain more strength.
Some women believe that this is a kind of epistemological 'bonus' in a male-dominated society (the belief that the victim's position in gender-related cases is more objective) and that women's positions should be 'given' more consideration.
On the other hand, male society objects, saying that feminism is strange enough, and that it is ridiculous to call it 'victim-centered' when 'women = victims'.
What women who advocate victim-centeredness and men who oppose it have in common is that they make discussion impossible.

--- p.24

The argument that a woman's word must be unconditionally believed paradoxically shows how low women's status is.
Victim-centeredness is not only disadvantageous to women, it is also an unfeasible concept.
Everyone's speech, including that of the victim, can vary greatly depending on the other person and the situation.
However, victim-centeredness presupposes a normative image of the victim.

--- p.25

Why Women Avoid Marriage and Childbirth

The biggest cause of women's non-marriage is the awakening of women due to inequality between men and women, that is, the imbalance in consciousness between men and women.
Across the construction sector, women's workload and social experiences have changed dramatically and purposefully compared to previous eras, but men's views on women, society, and self-perception have not kept pace with women's changes.
In reality, discrimination against women occurs, but the imbalance of consciousness between men and women allows for the illusion that “men are victims” and a sense of victimization.

--- p.32

The problem is that men with more time on their hands do less housework because of their inferiority complex as they lack social resources and economic power.
This state of affairs among men is the most crucial reason why women avoid marriage and epitomizes the reality of gender discrimination.
There is no woman who does not know how much housework is looked down upon in our society ('driving the lid of the pot', 'go home and look after the kids'...) and how much the women who do housework are looked down upon.
Male culture portrays housework as a symbol of being a loser.
Women saw through this structure.

--- p.35

Is 'criticism of Kim Gun-hee' a misnomer?

Misogyny refers to a male culture that can even 'demote' the president to a 'woman'.
This is a case where Misojini attacked former President Park Geun-hye's mismanagement with her naked body.
At the time, I did not support former President Park, but I opposed the cultural phenomenon in which his public sphere status was reduced to a female gender role.
On the other hand, Mrs. Kim Kun-hee has secured resources by actively practicing the normative femininity desired by the patriarchal system based on her economic power.

--- p.49

Feminism is not the argument that “all women are good, women should not be blamed, and no matter how much crime women commit, they are weaker than men and should not be blamed.”
Quite the opposite.
Feminism is an ideology that pursues and aims for a society in which neither femininity nor masculinity is a resource.

--- p.50

How long do we have to prove that there is gender discrimination?

Male culture cites conscription, female quotas, and the fact that “women’s status has improved compared to before” as reasons why men are “discriminated against.”
But even if all this is true, it doesn't apply to older men.
That means it's not a gender issue.
It is useless to argue that not all men experience conscription in the same way, whether they serve, what their positions are, or how they work, and that conscription was not created by women.
There is no solution if we package the class struggle among men as a gender conflict and refuse to recognize reality ourselves.
The cries of “Reviving the military service bonus system” and “Women should also join the military” should be made only after reaching an agreement among men.

--- p.54

Because women's entry into 'society' is essentially double labor across the public and private sectors, women choose to remain single to avoid overwork and career interruptions, which leads to low birth rates and a life with animals.
How long do we have to prove that there is gender discrimination?

--- p.55

Korean men's 'problematic' gender perceptions

Flowers cannot move on their own, their purpose is to please the eyes of men, and they wither easily when broken.
It is not sexual harassment when both the woman and the man are people or flowers.
But if men are people and women are flowers, then it is a violation of human rights.
Because the fate of a flower depends on people.

--- p.121

Prostitution is at the core of not only sexual culture but also male-centered thought systems.
Sexual violence, sexual harassment, male sexual complex, and disparagement of women are all variant cultures that have prostitution as their apex.
All men are potential, indirect, and actual sex buyers.
There is no free man within that magnetic field.
Men can still attract women's attention even if they don't directly purchase sex or are merely sexually 'well-behaved'.
When there are too many 'bad guys', any guy who isn't a bit like them automatically becomes a 'good guy' without any effort.
It is the basis of male solidarity politics.

--- p.126

Feminism that opposes refugees and excludes transgender people?

Refugees are a mirror of ‘us’.
Because attitudes toward differences, such as acceptance or aversion, are a measure of democracy.
Citizens first? No, who are citizens? Look at the polarization everywhere.
No society is homogeneous.
Feminism is not identity politics.
It's just the most creative thinking among the many arguments for social justice.

--- p.89

Are transgender women not women? Are they taking away women's rights? Women-first feminism? No one has the right to define another's gender.
Until now, the women's movement has resisted male-centered social movements that have monopolized the concepts of nation/people/citizen and insisted on a hierarchical order of human rights (“women's issues come later”).
If feminism distinguishes between real and fake women and takes the lead in excluding them, why is such feminism necessary?

--- p.188

The controversial issue of 'sexual self-determination'

When women make the 'self-determination' to use their sexuality as a resource, it becomes a very controversial issue.
In other words, the right to sexual self-determination can be asserted not only for matters that violate sexual self-determination, such as sexual violence, but also as the right of women to use their bodies as resources, investments, 'punishments', and 'abuses' of their own free will (usually in ways demanded by male society), such as prostitution, dieting, appearance management, and female infant abortion.

--- p.17

When a woman's body becomes a space as an object of the subject, whether by men (the ideology of purity) or by women themselves (sexual self-determination), the body always becomes passive and subject to the rule of reason.
In this logic, the body is still subordinated to reason and consciousness-centeredness, and the resistance of individual women as bodies is difficult to give meaning to.
Beyond sexual self-determination, we need to explore new concepts of resistance to sexual violence that do not colonize the body.

--- p.269

Prostitution as an 'unfair exchange'

What is important in prostitution is not the act of buying or selling itself.
Anyone can buy or sell anything, including their own body.
The question is whether there is any industry where the gender separation between buyers and sellers is so absolute.
No matter what changes come, the gender of the sale is irreversible.
Gender does not change.
This is the problem.

--- p.227

Prostitution is 'not' a problem of commodification.
This is an era where all humans are commodities.
Many people work day and night on self-improvement to make themselves better and more attractive products in the labor market.
Why can't the feminist camp convince anyone by emphasizing that "sex" isn't the only thing that can be traded?
Because this debate is surprisingly difficult, feminism has emphasized only the "serious harm" to emphasize that prostitution is a violation of human rights and violence.
And other feminists who have reacted against this criticize that women in the sex industry are not 'one-sided victims'.

--- p.228