A critical analysis of TERF politics in South Korea: The contradictory constructions of “Western feminism” and its legitimizing effects

Abstract

ABSTRACT This paper investigates how the Korean TERF movement constructs and positions itself in relation to “Western feminism” to legitimize its anti-trans ideology. Since 2018, Korean TERF discourses have been shaped by factors including the understanding of Korea’s relationship to the West within the movement and the movement’s self-proclaimed identity as feminist outside the West. This process allows the movement to build a “rational” framework to distinguish the characteristics of various “feminist” movements worldwide from itself. Korean TERFs arbitrarily critique “First World Western feminism” for endorsing “gender theory” based on Western privileges. Simultaneously, they break down the category of Western feminism into “US feminism,” tainted by “gender ideology,” and “UK feminism,” opposing this ideology. Through these contradictory strategies, they assert superiority over “US feminism” while acknowledging “UK feminism” as a reference for possible solidarity. This study highlights that TERFism outside Western societies, which has imported “transgender debates” from Anglophone and European discourses, connects to and defines the West in various ways. By showing how Korean TERFs insert themselves within a global conversation rather than constructing an opinion in isolation, this paper underscores the need for a multi-located global framework to critique TERF and anti-trans movements in the non-West and Korea specifically.