Asia | Rebels without much cause

Meet the incels and anti-feminists of Asia

They threaten to make the region’s demographic decline even worse

A group of Asian women walk past a window where an solitary Asian man sits at a laptop with his back to them — Illustration: Anuj Shrestha

Jun 27th 2024|Seoul and Tokyo

KIM WOO-SeoK, a 31-year-old chef in Seoul, grew up questioning the way society treats women. He felt sorry for his stay-at-home mother. He considered himself a feminist. But over the past few years, his opinions have shifted. When he came across women activists online, he was shocked to see some of them were making demeaning comments about men, including making fun of small penises. “I felt like my masculinity was under attack,” says Mr Kim. He believes that, since the 2010s, Korean society has become more discriminatory against men than women. Although he has a girlfriend, many of those who share his beliefs in the region do not.

This article appeared in the Asia section of the print edition under the headline “Meet Asia’s incels and anti-feminists”