Yoo Ah In Shares Honest Thoughts About Gender Discrimination

Yoo Ah In revealed his opinions on gender discrimination on the January 19 episode of his talk show KBS1’s “Do Ohl and Ah In Go In All Directions” (literal title).

During the episode, one female audience member confessed, “I can feel the gender discrimination in how males tend to become the department representatives [in college]. But on the other hand, there are a lot of people who think that when there are heavy things to lift in part-time work, women need to receive protection. I can feel the gender discrimination inside of us.”

Yoo Ah In began by saying, “Biologically, there is a difference in male and female physical ability. Having men’s and women’s matches separate in the Olympics is not discrimination. It is acknowledging that there is a difference.” He continued, “It can be that a strong man has to carry heavier things. It’s awkward for a strong man to just watch. It’s important to maximize each other’s uniqueness and strengths.”

The show then turned to discuss the controversial Isu station assault case, a recent incident where three men assaulted two women by the Isu subway station after getting into a verbal argument about feminism. The case sparked a heated debate online regarding gender issues, sparking government petitions and video editing that distorted the facts of the case. The incident was further fueled by San E’s “Feminist” controversy.

His co-host Do Ohl commented, “It seemed like it [started with] an argument about who’s right and wrong at a bar, but I think it has been blown up to become too much of a competition between genders.” Yoo Ah In added, “The voices of the weak have not really been accepted by our society.”

Yoo Ah In remarked, “They say there were voices of the weak and minorities that were not accepted by those with power. I think that’s why our society doesn’t accept compromised, warm demands, and aggressive, violent voices appear. I wish that differentiation between men and women wouldn’t come out in these discussions. We all need to think open-mindedly. We can all say that something is irrational, and I think that we have an opportunity to change that.”

Yoo Ah In has always been vocal on social media about his opinions on feminism, drawing both agreement and criticism. In a recent interview, he shared, “Even if it is through trial and error, if something can be useful for society, then I don’t want to hide while being cautious of others.”

He added, “I think if you judge someone through only one side of that person, then there’s no choice but for misunderstandings to form. I think that we need the kind of attitude where we don’t judge a whole by one side. With that in mind, rather than being upset at the misunderstandings people form about me, I’m excited about what I can show in the future.”

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