Gender equality has become a polarizing issue in South Korea's presidential election

Gender¹ equality has become a polarizing issue in South Korea's presidential election

Transcript²

Progress in gender equality in South Korea has been met by an anti-feminist backlash among young men. It's an issue in this week's presidential election, in which young swing voters are the key.

RACHEL MARTIN, HOST:

Voters in South Korea head to the polls to pick a new president tomorrow. One of the most contentious³ issues of this election has been gender equality. NPR's Anthony Kuhn reports from Seoul that recent progress in women's rights has been met with a backlash against feminism, which is driven by young men.

ANTHONY KUHN, BYLINE⁴: The latest polls ahead of the election show the two main parties' candidates in a dead heat. Minor⁵ parties' candidates lag far behind. Lee Jae-myung is the liberal ruling Democratic Party candidate. Yoon Suk-yeol represents the conservative opposition⁶, People Power Party. Yoon argued last month that structural⁷ gender discrimination does not exist in South Korea. Lee asked him in a debate last week if he still believes that.

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YOON SUK-YEOL: (Speaking Korean).

KUHN: "I can't say there's none," he said. "But what's important is that we don't divide men and women into groups and approach this as an issue of gender equality." Yoon Suk-yeol has also promised to abolish the Ministry⁸ of Gender Equality and Family. That pledge increased his support in the polls, but enraged⁹ feminists¹⁰.

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UNIDENTIFIED PEOPLE: (Chanting) Lee Jae-myung. Lee Jae-myung.

KUHN: At a rally for Lee Jae-myung in Seoul last week, activist¹¹ Park Ji-hyun argued that the ministry doesn't just promote equality, it helps victims of sexual violence and single mothers with kids. And Yoon's policies threaten those women.

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PARK JI-HYUN: (Through interpreter) Our survival depends on who gets elected. Misogyny has never come to the fore¹² like it has in this election.

KUHN: South Korea still lags behind other developed economies in terms of the wage gap between men and women and women's political participation¹³. Many young South Korean men, though, feel they're losing out to women in the cutthroat competition to find jobs, schools and homes. The political rise of the young men is personified by People Power Party leader, 36-year-old Harvard graduate Lee Jun-seok. In a TV debate last year, he said that he's not against women. He just feels affirmative action is no longer necessary.

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LEE JUN-SEOK: (Through interpreter) I never called for women to be put at a disadvantage. All I said was that these benefits are excessive. They amount to reverse discrimination and should be amended¹⁴ now that times have changed.

KUHN: He has also compared radical¹⁵ feminists to terrorists. But Kwon Soo-hyun, director of the civic¹⁶ group Korea Women's Political Solidarity¹⁷, argues that the young men are not the heart of the problem.

KWON SOO-HYUN: (Through interpreter) Rather than seeing the 20-something men's perception of reality too negatively, I think we should point out that politicians are using it in this election.

KUHN: Kwon argues that candidates can look like they're heeding¹⁸ the young men's demands simply by making a few easy changes that actually help the men very little.

KWON: (Through interpreter) The key is that these politicians are actually not interested in the real problems experienced by the 20-something men. The demands the men are making are not that hard to meet.

KUHN: Polls show that South Korean young males tend to vote more conservative and young females more liberal. Kwon notes that 20-something female voters show the strongest support for smaller third parties, and she'll be looking at how they vote Wednesday to gauge¹⁹ the chances of a shift away from the current two-party system.

Anthony Kuhn, NPR News, Seoul.

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1 gender   

n.（生理上的）性，（名词、代词等的）性

参考例句：

• French differs from English in having gender for all nouns.法语不同于英语，所有的名词都有性。
• Women are sometimes denied opportunities solely because of their gender.妇女有时仅仅因为性别而无法获得种种机会。

2 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

3 contentious   

adj.好辩的，善争吵的

参考例句：

• She was really not of the contentious fighting sort.她委实不是好吵好闹的人。
• Since then they have tended to steer clear of contentious issues.从那时起，他们总想方设法避开有争议的问题。

4 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

5 minor   

adj.较小(少)的，较次要的；n.辅修学科；vi.辅修

参考例句：

• The young actor was given a minor part in the new play.年轻的男演员在这出新戏里被分派担任一个小角色。
• I gave him a minor share of my wealth.我把小部分财产给了他。

6 opposition   

n.反对，敌对

参考例句：

• The party leader is facing opposition in his own backyard.该党领袖在自己的党內遇到了反对。
• The police tried to break down the prisoner's opposition.警察设法制住了那个囚犯的反抗。

7 structural   

adj.构造的，组织的，建筑（用）的

参考例句：

• The storm caused no structural damage.风暴没有造成建筑结构方面的破坏。
• The North American continent is made up of three great structural entities.北美大陆是由三个构造单元组成的。

8 ministry   

n.(政府的)部；牧师

参考例句：

• They sent a deputation to the ministry to complain.他们派了一个代表团到部里投诉。
• We probed the Air Ministry statements.我们调查了空军部的记录。

9 enraged   

使暴怒( enrage的过去式和过去分词 )； 歜； 激愤

参考例句：

• I was enraged to find they had disobeyed my orders. 发现他们违抗了我的命令，我极为恼火。
• The judge was enraged and stroke the table for several times. 大法官被气得连连拍案。

10 feminists   

n.男女平等主义者，女权扩张论者( feminist的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Only 16 percent of young women in a 1990 survey considered themselves feminists. 在1990年的一项调查中，只有16%的年轻女性认为自己是女权主义者。 来自辞典例句
• The organization had many enemies, most notably among feminists. 这个组织有许多敌人，特别是在男女平等主义者中。 来自辞典例句

11 activist   

n.活动分子，积极分子

参考例句：

• He's been a trade union activist for many years.多年来他一直是工会的积极分子。
• He is a social activist in our factory.他是我厂的社会活动积极分子。

12 fore   

adv.在前面；adj.先前的；在前部的；n.前部

参考例句：

• Your seat is in the fore part of the aircraft.你的座位在飞机的前部。
• I have the gift of fore knowledge.我能够未卜先知。

13 participation   

n.参与，参加，分享

参考例句：

• Some of the magic tricks called for audience participation.有些魔术要求有观众的参与。
• The scheme aims to encourage increased participation in sporting activities.这个方案旨在鼓励大众更多地参与体育活动。

14 Amended   

adj. 修正的 动词amend的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• He asked to see the amended version. 他要求看修订本。
• He amended his speech by making some additions and deletions. 他对讲稿作了些增删修改。

15 radical   

n.激进份子，原子团，根号；adj.根本的，激进的，彻底的

参考例句：

• The patient got a radical cure in the hospital.病人在医院得到了根治。
• She is radical in her demands.她的要求十分偏激。

16 civic   

adj.城市的，都市的，市民的，公民的

参考例句：

• I feel it is my civic duty to vote.我认为投票选举是我作为公民的义务。
• The civic leaders helped to forward the project.市政府领导者协助促进工程的进展。

17 solidarity   

n.团结；休戚相关

参考例句：

• They must preserve their solidarity.他们必须维护他们的团结。
• The solidarity among China's various nationalities is as firm as a rock.中国各族人民之间的团结坚如磐石。

18 heeding   

v.听某人的劝告，听从( heed的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• This come of heeding people who say one thing and mean another! 有些人嘴里一回事，心里又是一回事，今天这个下场都是听信了这种人的话的结果。 来自辞典例句
• Her dwarfish spouse still smoked his cigar and drank his rum without heeding her. 她那矮老公还在吸他的雪茄，喝他的蔗酒，睬也不睬她。 来自辞典例句

19 gauge   

v.精确计量；估计；n.标准度量；计量器

参考例句：

• Can you gauge what her reaction is likely to be?你能揣测她的反应可能是什么吗？
• It's difficult to gauge one's character.要判断一个人的品格是很困难的。