The Rise of Antifeminism and Neo-Machismo in South Korea and Its Spread Among Young People through the Discourse of the 신 남성연대 (New Men's Solidarity) Foundation.

The rise of neoliberal discourses and the far right in the world has led to a proliferation of anti-feminist discourses as a new form of machismo. There is also an increase of neomachismo, which, unlike traditional machismo, it adopts a politically correct discourse and does not openly express the belief in women's inferiority, but refuse to feminist discourses, depoliticize the realities of gender inequality and believe that gender equality was already achieved.

While there is a general trend in the discourse globally, such as the return to the debate on biological differences or that there is supposed “reverse discrimination", there are also particularities in the discourse by region and country. In South Korea, a visible face of anti-feminist groups is 신 남성연대 (New Men’s Solidarity) led by young South Korean boys with a strong presence in the online world.

This research analyzes the rise of contemporary neo-macho discourse in South Korea and its dissemination on online platforms of great accessibility for Korean and Asian youth in general. More specifically, we focus on the discourse of the leader of New Men’s Solidarity not as an anecdotal case of machismo in South Korea, but as a reflection of the popularization of anti-feminism as a new form of male chauvinism among many groups of young people. The discourse will be analyzed through a long 40-minute interview published on one of the most impactful YouTube channels for Asian youth, Asian Boss. The analysis is interspersed with references to the South Korean social and political context, as well as relevant research that has analyzed the discourse of these youth groups allowing discussions on the form and content of this discourse.