Nowadays, some people insist on rejecting their designated biological gender instead opting for their mental gender. Although it has become a society that respects individual choices, transgenders seem to be still living in a transitional period. This CBT reporter had an interview with Park Jeong-mi, a Sociology professor at CBNU, about transgenders in modern society. -Ed.

  The ‘T’ in the acronym ‘LGBT’, stands for transgender. Focusing on sexual orientation, it can be distinguished as heterosexual, bisexual and homosexual. On the other hand, transgender is related to gender identity and the question ‘Who am I’. In 2018, the WHO (World Health Organization) classified a transgender’s sexual identity as a mental illness, but, deleted the articles related to the issue in their International Classification of Disease and moved ‘sex-mismatch’ to a category which  covered ‘the state connected with sexual health.’ Sex-mismatch means that there is a ‘sustained discord between the gender experienced by individuals and their specified physical gender.’
  Let’s consider two cases: A non-commissioned officer identified as female and a transgender student registered for a women’s college. They both had to give up as they were denied and forcibly transferred because many people were opposed to it. The controversy grows bigger and bigger because gender change happens based on an arbitrary decision without regard to the law.
  Those who oppose the admission of transgenders into women’s colleges cite the following reasons: Women’s Universities were founded to give women space and opportunities to overcome discrimination against women. They point out that the transgender person is trying to use the women’s college as a means for men to be recognized as women. Also, the students’ anxiety has intensified as there have been recent cases in which men are recognized as women without undergoing gender reassignment surgery. Even though the appearance is still the same, it is possible for men to impose on private spaces designated for women just by identifying as women. Sookmyung Women’s University says this is a sensitive issue because it is not simply an aversion to sexual minorities, but a crime and safety issue, as there were incidents of trespassing after illegal filming and cross-dressing.
  However, some students in the same school disagree. They opposed banning transgenders arguing that it’s discrimination since they are legally women and they do have the necessary grades and conditions for entrance admission. They also pointed out that they didn’t buy into the idea of the school countering discrimination against women and that it only created another form of discrimination and more hatred. Claiming that true feminism lies in protecting the weak, they also called for reflecting on this abomination and raising the awareness of sexual minority human rights.
  Professor Park Jeong-mi has majored in social studies, history sociology, policy and social movements of Gender and Sex, and lectures on “Korean Society Read as Women.” This CBT reporter had an interview with Professor Park. She clarified whether the opposition to transgender attempts to enter women’s society is discrimination against the weak or a move to protect women’s rights.  I posed three questions to Professor Park:
 
1. A transgender noncom hopes to work as a female soldier and another transgender student wants to enroll in a women university. What do these new examples mean today?
 
  Transgenders have existed for a very long time, but they remained in the closet without revealing their identity. And many transgenders made a living through various forms of sex industries. However, in 2000, Harisu, a Korean transgender singer,  became famous as a TV star. After that social perception in Korea changed a lot, and many other transgenders revealed their true sexual identities. However, still, limits have remained and very few transgenders worked in the entertainment industry. In other words, most of the transgenders are forced to continue working in sex industries.
  Recently, transgenders are trying to overcome the limits and social perception. Also, they began to demand an institutional strategy to cater for their needs. This trend shows that Korean society has evolved and gained more respects for human rights.

2. What do you think about the situation where many people are refusing transgenders to being a real part of women society?

  Recently, feminists espousing “radical feminism” protested transgender admission to Sookmyung Women's University, and it became a big issue. Now, as you know, a lot of violence occurred by abnormal men. For example, illegal public toilet filming, revenge pornography shooting and sharing, and so on. The more serious issue is that it occurs collectively beyond individuals. In daily life, they threaten women’s safety and I also agree with the fear and anger towards men. However, their anger should not be directed at minorities. Opponents of transgender student’s admission insist that they are not real females. Then, how does one distinguish between true women and fake women? MTF transgenders recognize themselves as women through the action of the brain. According to biological determinism, aren’t they female biologically? I disagree with biological determinism, but their argument is a more narrow-minded sex determinism than biological determinism.
  Radical feminism describes transgender student’s admissions as an invasion, intrusive and threatening. It is war language that divides foes or allies. We learned from historical events how dangerous it is to use these words. These words produce foes based on racial and sexual differences. Radical feminists should not share these war terms. Also, we should reflect on ourselves for the present situation.

3. What is the right attitude for our society to have towards transgenders?

  Currently, in Korea, many people are attacking transgenders. In contrast, in Switzerland, discrimination against the LGBTI was prohibited by 63.1% of the vote on February 9, 2020. An interesting point is that Switzerland lags behind other countries related to LGBT issues. Already, 49 various countries have made laws granting LGBT rights. This shows the trend of human rights for the LGBTI community. The ideal feminist society would be where people haven’t been compulsively coerced into their sexuality.

  We thank CBNU Professor Park Jeong Mi for her insights. She argues that the negative view of transgenders is an obvious hatred of the weak. Also, she hopes to change feminism to ideal feminism. Currently, South Korea is at the start of a disputation about transgender issues and rights. Therefore, this issue will grow bigger and bigger, but at the end of the discussion, CBT hopes we can find common ground by understanding each other.

By Jung Jin-ju | asd030@cbnu.ac.kr
By Baek Han-na | backna@cbnu.ac.kr