Wed, Jul 26, 2023 page8

• Ko and the proliferation of misogyny

  • By Chang Yueh-han 張約翰
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  Last week, a series of anonymous complaints allegedly made by the same bride-to-be who used the name “K” in the “roadside wedding banquet chaos” furor in January once again sparked controversy on social media.

  “K” first caused a backlash when she wrote on Facebook that she found roadside banquets to be “low-class,” and insisted on holding her wedding at a hotel. Many Internet users accused her of having a bad case of “princess syndrome.”

  The recent complaints revealed a similar profile to “K” — a gold digger who is self-centered, jealous, deluded and suffers from “princess syndrome.”

  However, as media outlets could not secure interviews with the mysterious “K,” and no one else involved in the story chose to come forward to corroborate the story, “K” could very well be a fictional character, involving a classic case of misogyny.

  It would have been easy for Internet users to tap into existing social stereotypes and incite conflict using a fictional story filled with bigotry in a bid to encourage engagement and gain users on certain platforms or social media pages, then exploiting them for other benefits. This is not an uncommon approach.

  As misogyny is one of the most common forms of discrimination, it gives people the opportunity to create a stir among misogynists using a fictional story.

  The word misogyny is formed from the Greek words misos (“hatred”) and gune (“woman”). Women have been scapegoats throughout human history. Men have blamed them for major political or military failures. Some think women should be subjected to a subordinate role or that they should give up competing with men because of how their bodies are built. Some even accuse women of using their bodies as an excuse to evade responsibility. In short, women have to “pay” for being women.

  The prevalence of this kind of ideology has spawned misogynists who think of their values as the norm instead of being offensive to women. They could be henpecked husbands or mama’s boys, allowing only their wives and mothers to spoil or oppress them, assuming they behave like this because they are women.

  Following this logic, it is understandable why misogynists fail to comprehend their flaws, because they do not think they are being discriminatory or being disrespectful to women. After finding an echo chamber with like-minded people on the Internet, misogynists and others have given birth to terms like “the sow cult” — a catchphrase for misogyny that originated from an online bulletin board — or “misogyny chef” — a derogatory word to refer to those who support misogyny. These words have shone a light on the mentality of misogynists.

  At the housing justice rally on July 16, a woman was quietly holding a placard with a list of former Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je’s (柯文哲) sexist remarks. She was afterward harassed and “trialed” by misogynist Internet users and Internet celebrity Holger Chen (陳之漢), while Ko called the remarks “mudslinging,” and asked: “What has it [the incident] got to do with me?”

  As Ko’s infamous misogynous remarks can all be verified by looking at video clips online, his response was apparently modeled after former US president Donald Trump’s playbook of lie, deflect and deny.

  Whenever Trump and Ko get into tight spots, they lie first, and when lies do not work, they accuse the accusers of lying. As for his response to misogyny, Ko must have thought there was no need to apologize or reflect as no misogyny had occured in the first place.

  Even though Ko started out as a political neophyte, his denial of his gaffes and off-the-cuff remarks has started to take a toll on the public. Ko could risk losing support if he fails to see the problems with his gender-biased mindset.

  Chang Yueh-han is an adjunct assistant professor in Shih Hsin University’s Department of Journalism.

  Translated by Rita Wang
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