Idaenam

Idaenam (Korean: 이대남; Hanja: 二代男),^[1] abbreviated from Isipdaenamsung (20대 남성; 二十代男性; lit. man in his twenties), is a term used in South Korea to refer to men in their 20s. The term first emerged in the late 2010s to refer to men who have voting rights but recently it is often used to men with negative tendencies toward feminism.^[2] Its political and social antonym is Idaenyo (이대녀; 二代女), abbreviated from Isipdaeyosung (20대 여성; 二十代女性; lit. woman in her twenties).^[3][4]

At the end of 2018, the term Idaenam began to emerge after a poll rating the Moon Jae-In administration's first-year plunged. In particular, media began to pay attention to the large gender gap in a poll of 20s. Moon Jae In's approval rating among Korean men in their 20s fell below 30%. The figure is the lowest among all age groups, including the elderly with strong conservative tendencies. On the other hand, the approval rating of President Moon among women in their 20s was 63.5%, the highest among men and women by age group.^[5]

In Han Gum Young's analysis examining the phenomenon of Idaenam, men in their 20s were the most conservative in subjective ideological orientation and evaluation of presidential performance.^[6] The use of the word Idaenam exploded as the proportion of Oh Se-hoon's votes among men in their 20s exceeded 70% during the Seoul mayoral election of the 2021 by-elections.

Idaenam have a negative tendency toward feminism. They have been compared to "Angry Young Men" in Susan Faludi's 1991 book Backlash.^[7] Idaenams are strongly opposed to misandry ('남성혐오' or '남혐').^[8]

In 2021, a survey by National Human Rights Commission of Korea found that 70 percent of men in their twenties opposed affirmative action for women.^[9] Many Idaenam believe that the gender quotas are discriminatory.^[10] In addition, according to statistics from 2021, men in their twenties and thirties ("Idaenam") are less receptive to LGBT rights than men in their 40s and 50s ("386 Generation male"), but more than men above the age of sixty.^[11]

The Idaenam phenomenon often leads to political conservatism or populism (Including both left and right sides). The JoongAng Ilbo, a South Korean centre-right publication, reported that Lee Jun-seok, the then leader of the People Power Party, uses anti-feminist investigations to win the votes of Idaenam.^[12]

South Korea's liberal Moon Jae-in government implemented a more feminist policy than the previous conservative government, and men in their 20s had severe antipathy against it.^[13] Yoon Suk-yeol of right-wing conservative People Power Party and Lee Jae-myung of liberal Democratic Party of Korea, who were the main candidates for the 2022 South Korean presidential election, took a negative attitude toward feminism to win the votes of Idaenam.^[3]

Centrist conservative-liberal People Party's Ahn Cheol Soo criticized Yoon and Lee for promoting misogyny to pander to sexist Idaenam.^[14] In particular, South Korean right-wingers and social conservatives are trying to make Idaenam their main supporters by actively attacking feminism.^[13][15][16]

• Gangnam leftist
• Feminism in South Korea
• Ilbe Storehouse, internet forum
• Sung Jae-gi, South Korean anti-feminist

General:

• Suicide in South Korea
• Reverse discrimination
• Backlash (sociology)
• Identity politics
• Incel
• Manosphere
• Politics of resentment
• Angry young man (disambiguation)

• Last Look: South Korea's surprising anti-feminist movement (CNN)