Natalie Kim (she/her) is a senior at Georgetown School of Foreign Service, majoring in Culture and Politics. For over seven years, she has been actively involved in gender equality and social justice movements in South Korea. Previously, as a Legislative Assistant at the National Assembly of the Republic of Korea, she spearheaded a groundbreaking bill to ensure women’s access to In Vitro Fertilization (IVF) regardless of marital status. Beyond her legislative work, Natalie has contributed to LGBTQ+ advocacy as an organizer of the Seoul Pride Parade since 2019. Her dedication to social impact began in high school when she founded the We The Teen Feminists Network (WETEE), a teen-led nonprofit that successfully pushed for policies protecting students from sexual assault in Korean schools. Natalie aims to pursue a legal career in international human rights law, focusing on gender equality and policy reform, to advocate for and empower marginalized communities.
Research Project: Emerging “Gender Conflict” Metaphor in South Korean Media and Political Speech
This study investigates the development and impact of the metaphorical expression “gender conflict” in South Korean media and political discourse since the late 2010s, particularly concerning gender inequality issues. The term “gender conflict” has become prominent in framing public debates on gender, often reducing structural gender inequality to a simplistic conflict between men and women rather than addressing it as a systemic issue. This research examines news articles from five major South Korean news platforms—Chosun, Joongang, Donga, Hankyoreh, and Kyunghyang—starting from 2016, a pivotal year marked by the Gangnam Station femicide that sparked a renewed focus on women’s rights in Korea. The study traces the evolution of the “gender conflict” metaphor, grounded in the conceptual metaphor [CONFLICT is WAR]. This framing simplifies the complexities of gender inequality by presenting it as a “conflict” between equal parties, thus downplaying systemic oppression and excluding non-binary and LGBTQ+ identities from the discourse. The research further explores how this metaphor influences public perception and policy trends, particularly during the 2022 South Korean presidential election, where discussions of “gender conflict” significantly shaped political narratives. The study highlights how this metaphor reinforces patriarchal norms and marginalizes non-binary perspectives. It aims to call for a more inclusive approach to gender issues in South Korea.