South Korea’s military erases feminist critique: systemic erasure of gendered symbols in institutional spaces

Indigenous feminist traditions often reclaim symbols of oppression as tools of resistance, contrasting with the military’s erasure of Megalia’s gesture. In South Korea, Hanbok-inspired feminist art has repurposed traditional motifs to critique patriarchal norms, yet such practices are ignored in institutional spaces like the military. The erasure of Megalia’s gesture reflects a broader colonial mindset that pathologizes non-Western feminist expressions as 'radical' or 'foreign.'

The Megalia movement emerged in 2015 as a response to online misogyny and state inaction on gender-based violence, drawing parallels to 1970s U.S. feminist consciousness-raising groups. South Korea’s military has a documented history of gender apartheid, including the 2014 'spy cam' scandal and the 2021 suicide of a female soldier after harassment, yet these precedents are omitted. Globally, feminist symbols have been policed during wartime (e.g., suffragette hunger strikes) to maintain patriarchal control.

In Turkey, feminist protesters using the 'three-finger salute' (a symbol of resistance) have faced arrests under anti-terror laws, mirroring South Korea’s conflation of gestures with 'man-hating.' The #MeToo movement in China saw state media label survivors as 'Western tools,' showing how authoritarian regimes universalize the suppression of feminist iconography. Conversely, Indigenous Australian feminist collectives use body paint and gestures in land-rights protests, framing them as ancestral reclamations of agency.

Research on gendered symbolism (e.g., Lakoff’s *Women, Fire, and Dangerous Things*) demonstrates how gestures acquire meaning through cultural context, not inherent properties. Neuroscientific studies show that exposure to feminist symbols activates threat responses in individuals with high patriarchal beliefs, explaining institutional aversion to such imagery. The military’s removal of the poster aligns with cognitive dissonance theory, where institutions suppress dissent to maintain internal cohesion.

Feminist artists in South Korea, like the collective 'Unnies,' have transformed 'ugly' gestures into performance art critiquing militarized masculinity, yet such works are excluded from mainstream discourse. In Korean shamanic traditions, hand gestures (mudras) are sacred tools for healing and resistance, offering a counter-narrative to the military’s secular erasure. The Megalia gesture’s resemblance to Buddhist mudras (e.g., Dharmachakra) suggests a deeper cultural resonance that the military seeks to suppress.

If the military continues to police feminist symbols, it risks radicalizing younger generations, as seen in Thailand’s 2020 youth-led protests where feminist iconography became central. A potential future sees South Korea’s military adopting 'gender-neutral' recruitment posters, but without structural reforms, this would be superficial. Long-term, the erasure of feminist symbols may backfire, as seen in Poland’s 2020 protests where banned symbols became rallying cries for democracy.

Military women, who face systemic harassment (e.g., 2021 reports of 1,000+ cases of abuse), are erased from this narrative, as are queer and non-binary soldiers. Megalia’s leadership, predominantly working-class women, are framed as 'radical' while elite feminist groups (e.g., Haeil) are given platform. Global South feminist movements, which often face similar erasures, are entirely absent from the discussion.