Wikipedia

Finger pinching conspiracy theory

The finger pinching conspiracy theory[a] is an antifeminist conspiracy theory that originated in South Korea and claims there is a deliberate plot to spread and promote misandry through hand-gesture imagery. It asserts that radical feminism groups have propagated the hidden messages to mock small penises.

It first gained prominence in May 2021 when convenience store chain GS25 faced accusations of allegedly shoehorning a hand signal that disparaged penises in an advertisement, causing the company to retract it and issue an apology. Since then, numerous organizations were met with protests from theorists and announced similar apologies.

The conspiracy theory is regarded as a hoax due to contradictory claims and a general lack of evidence. Despite having failed to prove such a plot exists, the theory persists, notably in its video game industry, where Nexon led a public allegation against its collaborators. It is viewed as one of the antifeminism backlash movements in South Korea and has been analyzed as a symptom of gender inequality in the country.

Claims

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In June 2024, finger pinching theorists accused Nexon of misandry as a woman's hand clasping in MapleStory illustration (left) was deemed to taunt their small penises. The company updated the image with the hands altered (right).[4]

According to authors who consider it false, the finger pinching conspiracy theory is based on a belief among South Korean men that feminists are planning covertly to worsen their lives or harm them.[5][6] Most versions of the theories claim that users of Megalia, a defunct radical feminism website, were successful in infiltrating various organizations.[7] The theory argues its remnants started to plant the "feminism hand gesture", commonly referred to as the "finger pinching,"[b] a hand gesture with an index finger and a thumb facing each other, which connotes small penis humiliation by implicitly signaling Korean men's penises are small. It also resembles Megalia's website logo.[9]

The place where the finger pinching is spotted varies between theories. There is a general consensus among theorists that the feminist pinch finger is found in a depiction of hands pointing at seemingly innocuous items, such as a credit card, a can of Starbucks espresso, or a COVID-19 vaccine.[10] Some theorists argue Megalia's sabotage isn't exclusive to the finch-pinching because it can also be associated with other inanimate objects, which include a tent, a constellation, and a bay laurel.[11]

History

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Background

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South Korea of the 2020s has been described as having gender inequality in a number of aspects. As of 2021, the gender pay gap was at 35 percent, the widest among advanced economies, and 65 percent of public companies on the Korea Exchange had no female executives.[10] Gender-based violence in South Korea is described by Human Rights Watch as "shockingly widespread". In 2021, a woman was murdered or targeted for murder every 1.4 days or less.[12]

The social inequality is exacerbated by severe gender conflicts in the country. There have been organized social movements by women, referred to by The New York Times as "Asia's most successful MeToo movement".[12] Since the late-2010s, there has reportedly been an increase in the number of antifeminist young men who view feminism as a supremacy movement that oppresses men. Reasons given for this belief include that women are not subjected to compulsory military service, intense job competition, the lack of political representation, refusal to take responsibility for the toxic masculinity of older generations, and being unfairly stereotyped as potential criminals.[13][14][15] A 2021 survey claimed that 79% of South Korean men in their 20s believe they are victims of reverse discrimination.[16][17][18] Antifeminists reportedly adopted terms like "femi"[19] or "man haters" to discredit feminists.[16]

In 2015, a radical feminist website named Megalia was founded. The website focused on antagonizing men.[20] It became infamous for its logo that depicted an obscene hand gesture, with an index finger and thumb in a pinching motion; this was intended to mock alleged small penises.[9] Megalia was shut down in 2017, although criticism of the group and its symbolism has reportedly persisted.[21]

Origin and spread

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On May 1, 2021, GS25's local retail firm GS Retail sent a digital notice letter to its customers via mobile messaging app KakaoTalk, announcing future promotional events in that month. The message contained a poster for camping-related items, which had a pictogram of hands grabbing a sausage. That same day, a rumor emerged that the picture was an intentional reference to the Megalia logo.[22] The rumor reportedly spread quickly; it was first posted on a website called Ppomppu at 10:15 and reached other communities within an hour. GS25 responded to the incident before 13:00.[23]

GS25 reacted by issuing apology letters and altering the poster twice that day. Each alteration was reportedly met with more allegations of radical feminist symbolism.[22] A crescent was accused of being the logo of a feminist club in Seoul National University, and its tagline was suspected to have an acronym of Megalia's name.[24] After going through multiple revisions, GS25 removed the poster altogether and issued another apology on social media on May 2.[25][26]

Protests continued after GS25's announcement. On May 2, a petition on National Petition to the Blue House was launched to remove the GS25 business chain from the Korea Armed Forces; it received 42 thousand signatures in a day.[27][28] Support for a boycott spread, with an image that referenced a 2019 boycott of Japanese products.[26] One GS25-affiliated store owner put up a signboard that supported "equality of outcome and opportunity" and denounced feminism.[29]

The integrity behind the online backlash was questioned by GS25 officials and third parties. Food industry retailers interviewed by The Hankyoreh described the accusation as "esoteric" and showed concerns that incidents like it would demoralize their business.[30] A person claiming to be the graphic designer of the GS25 poster contested the controversy on the anonymous worker community Blind on May 9, 2021. In a now-deleted statement, she said she "doesn't support any ideology" and her design didn't contain an expression of hate for men.[10][31] Nevertheless, GS25 announced on May 31 that the graphic designer would be disciplined, and the GS Retail president was demoted.[10][32]

MapleStory scandal

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On November 25, 2023, finger pinching theorists suggested there was a vulgar display of misandry in Nexon's video game MapleStory, as its recently published trailer, promoting the new class Angelic Buster, featured a character that allegedly performed the finger pinching for 0.1 seconds.[33][34] Theorists searched for similar gestures in other Nexon trailers, including Dungeon Fighter Online and Blue Archive. Theorists scrutinized the animation production studio that produced Nexon's trailers, Ppuri.[35][36][37]

Nexon reportedly contacted Ppuri on November 26 and suggested it issue an apology. Accordingly, Ppuri posted its first apology letter at 16:12. Three hours later at 19:00, MapleStory director Kim Chang-seop announced that Nexon would remove all visual works created by Ppuri and condemned the animation studio in a YouTube livestream. Kim said that he was against people who implicitly express hatred, and promised Nexon would pursue legal action.[38][37][39] Dungeon Fighter Online director Lee Wonman and Blue Archive director Kim Yongha expressed similar sentiments on the matter. Ppuri's works for those games were removed as well.[40][41]

Nexon's response was followed by a major backlash from finger pinching theorists against Ppuri. A female Ppuri animator was doxed; her social media posts were analyzed and alleged to be confirmation of planting misandrist symbolism.[42][43] Pressure from the theorists and their critical business relationship with Nexon (which composed 80 percent of their work at the time), Ppuri president Jang Seonyeong issued a second apology letter on November 27 in which she promised to fire the animator.[42] The public apology was taken down on the same day.[44] Ppuri later overturned the decision of removing the employee from her position. Jang Seonyeong and Ppuri director Kim Sangjin then explained that it was unjust to admit to a misdeed the studio has never done, and the director wanted to protect its animators from online harassment.[45]

Nexon's public reprimand of Ppuri was positively received by its associated developers. Nexon union leader Bae Suchan likened the fingers to the English slur "nigger", saying an expression must be redacted if it can be read as hate speech.[46] When its umbrella organization, the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions, joined the press conference in front of Nexon's headquarters to condemn Nexon's action, Bae Suchan said they'd consider leaving the KCTU because it focused more on political activities than efforts to protect the rights of its members.[47][48] Supercat, the developer behind mobile game The Kingdom of the Winds published by Nexon, started in-house training that taught its workers not to express feminism in the game and included Ppuri animator's tweet as an example.[49] On Blind, anonymous Nexon employee criticized Ppuri for putting the burden to fix the game on its developers.[39][50]

Later investigations performed by news media and Ppuri's interviews in December 2023 found that the allegations led by Nexon and the finger pinching theorists were erroneous. Worksheets provided by Ppuri revealed that the "feminist hand gesture" scene in the Angelic Buster trailer was not drawn by a female employee, but a male animator in his forties.[51][52][53] Other vetted rumors include: that Ppuri has voided its offices and ghosted its clients (it never did, although a number of employees were temporarily relocated to other places in light of threatening phone calls and several unidentified people visiting and taking photos of the main office);[45] that Ppuri interposed additional key poses between the original works and failed to notify Nexon (all works were closely supervised and approved by Nexon, including the alleged hand gesture scene);[45] and that Ppuri has performed similar practice on a promotional video of Street Fighter 6 (the company did not work on said animatics).[51]

Nexon has eluded subsequent contacts from Ppuri afterwards.[1] The company faced additional complaints from Nexon players after the scandal, who insisted there're more pinch fingers in MapleStory. Each was resolved with Nexon removing the finger pinching.[54][4]

Since the scandal, Ppuri sought to pursue legal actions against internet trolls who harassed its employees. Ppuri's press conference in December 2023 mentioned it had collected over thousands of internet posts of cyberbullying against the company and its animators;[55] 308 posts were eventually chosen to press criminal charge through the Seocho District police.[56] The police initially dismissed Ppuri's charges in July 2024, on the basis that it's logical for defendants to criticize Ppuri animators for allying with feminists.[57][58][59] The police re-opened the case two days later, after its decision was met with public condemnation and a request for reinvestigation from prosecutors' office.[60][56]

List of notable responses

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Date of response Entity Details
May 1, 2021 GS25 See § Origin and spread
May 2, 2021 National Police Agency In light of the GS25 controversies, a promotional flyer of the Road Traffic Act posted by Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency and Gyeonggi Bukbu Provincial Police Agency was met with decry from theorists.[61] The flyer contained a hand pointing to its phrase. The police explained in a subsequent announcement that the hand is to emphasize the news and, to avoid confusion, promised it'd withdraw the flyers and replace them.[62]
May 7, 2021 Genesis BBQ In May 2021, Genesis BBQ received condemnation from theorists for featuring a pinch finger in its advertising poster, where a hand picked up a sausage with its fingers. The company apologized on May 7 and suspended distribution of the poster.[63]
May 7, 2021 Kyochon Kyochon's fried chicken advertisement came under scrutiny when its social media posts featured an image that depicted two fingers grabbing its product, which was found by theorists offensive due to resembling the pinch finger. Kyochon denied any intention of misandry, but removed the image nonetheless.[63][64]
May 3, 2021 Musinsa On April 26, 2021, Musinsa commenced a collaborative event with Hyundai Card and posted a promotional flyer in which both hands were grasping a wallet and a credit card. This caused a turmoil in male-centric internet forums, which found the flyer similar to "Megalia hands." Musinsa initially published an announcement on May 3 that the flyer is meant to symbolize barter. This wasn't the first time Musinsa was accused of misandry, as the company issued coupons for female customers in March 2021, only for it to cancel them when the promotion was criticized for being a "reverse discrimination" against men, with its president Cho Manho giving an apology on social media.[65] On June 3, Cho Manho announced he'd step down from president, taking full responsibility of aforementioned two incidents.[66]
May 3, 2021 Emart Emart24 announced a promotional event to win a prize on May 1, 2021, and posted a related poster. The poster, where a man was shown pointing to stars with his hand, was met with uproar from the theorists due to resembling pinch finger, spurring Emart to remove the hand on May 3.[67]
May 17, 2021 Pyeongtaek In May 2021, the Pyeongtaek city hall received online protest when it distributed a poster for competition, which included an image of a group of people, one of which was found offensive by the finger pinching theorists due to having a hand gesture similar to "misandry fingers." A city hall official spoke on May 17 that they apologized for upsetting the theorists and decided to discard the existing copies, having to reprint approximately 32 banners, 200 posters, and 4,000 flyers.[68]

In August 2021, the Pyeongtaek city hall was condemned by theorists again when it shared a guide on social media about how to prepare for heat waves in the area, which included an illustration of a farmer wiping his sweat with a hand gesture that allegedly looked like a pinch finger. The city hall reacted by removing the guide.[69]

May 17, 2021 MMTG On May 13, 2021, Jaejae, the producer of SBS program MMTG, participated in the Baeksang Arts Awards and ate a chocolate bar on red carpet as impromptu performance, which was publicly broadcast on television. Finger pinching theorists took issues with her action, as picking up the chocolate bar with fingers was seen as an act of misandry. The production team behind MMTG denied the rumor and suggested to stop spreading controversies without proofs.[70][71] Jaejae later described her experience dealing with finger pinching theories at the time to have been stressful.[72][73]
May 25, 2021 Rankingdak Rankingdak's wrapping paper caused controversies for featuring a hand pointing at taglines, which looked like finger pinching to theorists. The company apologized and promised to change the design on May 25.[74]
May 27, 2021 KakaoBank KakaoBank apologized for implying misandry with its promotional material, which had a woman pointing at her cellphone.[75]
May 27, 2021 Ministry of National Defense On May 22 and 26, Ministry of National Defense uploaded announcements about its welfare system on its social media, which contained images of soldiers doing a salute. This was considered a controversial move by theorists, as the images had what's perceived as pinch fingers.[76] Its spokesperson Bu Seungchan officially apologized on May 27 during its regular briefing, for causing a "certain misunderstanding and controversy."[77]
June 7, 2021 War Memorial of Korea On June 6, 2021, theorists protested against the War Memorial of Korea through its website board, claiming one of its facilities is featuring a finger pinching gesture on its dedicated photo spot. They argued that a Megalia user has assimilated the organization to present the pinch finger gesture and men and must be relieved from their position immediately, despite the fact that said work was on display since 2012 or 2013, predating Megalia's establishment in 2015. Nevertheless, an official apologized to the theorists on the next day and removed the work.[78][79]
August 6, 2021 Ministry of the Interior and Safety A poster distributed by the Ministry of the Interior and Safety drew ire from theorists in August 2021 as it featured an image of a man shutting a window, whose pose was claimed to promote misandry. On August 6, the ministry apologized for causing misandry controversy and removed the image.[80][81] On October 26, 2021, theorists rallied additional campaign as another poster was subject to similar hand controversy; the ministry accepted the accusation on October 27 and apologized as well.[82]
August 26, 2021 Smilegate In August 2021, Smilegate's MMORPG Lost Ark received accusations of featuring the offensive hand gesture. One of its avatar icons was an "OK sign," with an index finger nearly touching a thumb, which some of Lort Ark began claiming was a sexist insult against men. This icon has been in the game since March 2018, but the publisher quickly complied with the demands for removal, promising to policy "game-unrelated controversies" in their products.[21][83]

On November 28, 2023, Lost Ark director Keum Kang Sun announced that, following the MapleStory scandal, the game would remove what's perceived as finger pinching to ensure users wouldn't be offended. This included Bikini Island, an in-game level whose geometry on the minimap is shaped like a pinch finger. Keum Kang Sun said the theorists are reasonable, remarking "If [the geometry] didn't mean anything, there's no reason to not change it."[84][85]

Also in November 2023, in light of Nexon's public condemnations against Studio Ppuri's animatic works, Smilegate's Epic Seven faced an accusation that its promotional trailer, also worked by Ppuri, contained pinch fingers. The director Kim Yunha announced in the following statement that he's ordered to take down related promotional videos and conduct a thorough investigation.[36][86]

March 25, 2022 Starbucks Starbucks RTD published an advertisement on Instagram about an upcoming summer event on May 25, 2022, in which there was a shadow of a hand grabbing its product. This drew uproar from internet forums that considered it too similar to the finger pinch. Starbucks RTD pulled the ad later that day and issued an apology.[87]
July 19, 2022 Line In July 2022, Line was accused of promoting misandry by the theorists because, when they typed "small" in its text prompt, the software recommended the finger pinching emoji via autocorrection. The Line development team denied the rumor when it talked to The Chosun Ilbo about the matter.[88]
November 26, 2023 Nexon See § MapleStory scandal
November 26, 2023 Kakao Games Kakao Games announced on November 26, 2023, that Eternal Return has removed its opening animation produced by Ppuri following the MapleStory scandal.[89] In July 2024, theorists suspected another finger pinching was present in the game. The developer Nimble Neuron reacted by removing the trailer in question and promising to discipline the person in charge.[90]
November 28, 2023 Posco In August 2023, Posco uploaded an animated employee recruitment video on its official YouTube channel. On November 28, 2023, the video came under fire from the theorists for featuring multiple incidents of finger pinching gesture. Posco took down the video without publishing a statement on the same day.[91][92]
December 7, 2023 Ministry of Health and Welfare The Ministry of Health and Welfare distributed a poster for the 2023 Medical Scientist Conference, which caused uproar from theorists as it featured an image of a woman pointing a finger and therefore implies misandry. The ministry announced on December 7 that the image was created by a British company on April 24, 2021, having nothing to do with the finger pinching, but it's nonetheless replaced the poster with a new one.[93][94]
December 2023 Binggrae Prior to controversies, Binggrae was running an advertising campaign featuring Binggraeus, a brand character based on its corporate image. In December 2023, Binggrae pulled off the original promotion and replaced it with a new character design that depicts Binggraeus' hands as flat circles. This change was interpreted by the news media as a corporate decision to conform to the theorists.[95][96]
June 30, 2024 Renault In June 2024, Renault Korea Motors, the Korean unit of French auto group, revealed showcase videos on its corporate YouTube channel. The videos were accused by theorists as a dog whistle of misandry, as they allegedly featured multiple incidents of a female employee doing a finger pinching hand gesture. Renault Korea blocked public access to the videos on June 30 and wrote it sincerely apologize to everyone who felt discomfort due to its recent internal promotional content.[97][98][99] The female employee in the video issued an apology on June 29 on the YouTube channel's community, saying, "I was aware that a certain hand gesture was problematic, but I didn't know my presentation in the video could be interpreted that way." She was adamant that she didn't do it on purpose. The apology was shortly deleted that day.[100][101] There were reportedly internal complaints against Renault's handling of the incident and the employee herself;[102] the company later claimed it had issued a suspension on her.[103][104] The Korea Herald reported that Renault mishandled apology because it underestimated the gravity of the issue.[105]

The employee was doxed shortly afterward, which Womennews ascribed to male-dominated internet communities.[106] On July 4, an online death threat against her was discovered.[107] Renault Korea president Stephane Deblaise announced on July 3 that the company acknowledged the situation and would open a personnel committee with experts to discuss it.[108]

July 1, 2024 Volvo Cars A Korean Volvo employee posted on Blind that there's an unpleasant display of pinch fingers in Volvo posters from June 2024. They were presented by theorists as proof of feminists "ruining the automotive industry".[109] Volve Korea removed the posters that day.[104]
July 15, 2024 Hyundai Heavy Industries union On July 12, 2024, the union of Hyundai Heavy Industries published an article in its newsletter, which condemned its company's alleged use of finger-pinch on its outdoor signage. The newsletter claimed that feminists were suffering from "mental leprosy" and must be locked up in asylum.[110][111]
August 21, 2024 Ministry of Employment and Labor On August 2, 2024, the Ministry of Labor and Employment released public materials that detailed safety hazards and warned fatal fall. The ministry received complaints over the safety infographic for the worker's hand resembling the finger pinching, and announced on August 21 that the image was revised.[112][113]
August 23, 2024 Korean Red Cross A poster created by Korean Red Cross' Gyeongnam branch drew controversies from theorists, who argued that a female soldier's salute resembled the finger pinching and evoked misandry. After protests through Anti-corruption and Civil Rights Commission website, Red Cross official announced that the organization scrapped the prints, and apologized for images that could cause misunderstanding.[114][115]
August 30, 2024 Gwangju Nambu Police Station On August 27, 2024, the Gwangju police station created a poster for prevention of deepfake sexual crime, and distributed it to schools within the city. It caused outrage for what's perceived by theorists as the finger pinching hands in the image. The police announced an official statement on August 30 that the poster was withdrawn and would be replaced with new one.[116]
September 6, 2024 Seoul Milk Dairy cooperative Seoul Milk started a promotional event on September 3, 2024, looking for potential influencers to recruit for its product marketing. One of the guidelines in the notice was to "avoid a hand gesture that can cause controversies when you grab products or open yogurt", which meant the "misandry hand gesture", as later confirmed by Seoul Milk official.[117] The event became controversial on social media for allegedly appeasing the finger pinching theorists. Seoul Milk revised the notice to remove the line on September 6.[118][119]
October 10, 2024 Hyundai Motor Company In 2023, Hyundai has uploaded a series of videos named Electric Car How-TO, providing guides for the company's all-electric vehicle models. In October 2024, theorists alleged that the one posted in March 2023 featured the finger pinching. Hyundai took down all of Electric Car How-TO videos and apologized with an announcement that the company would tighten up self-censorship on its contents.[120]

Discourse

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The finger pinching conspiracy theory is widely agreed to be a hoax.[1][6][10][7][121][11][122] No robust evidence suggests that radical feminist groups are planting the gesture to promote misandry.[24][53] Some argue that the structure of the human hand results in the gesture being unintentionally formed many times a day.[123][124][125] Some analysts have argued that isolating single frames from animation is meaningless, as animations exist in motion.[9] Other sources agreed that theorists engaged in doxing and cyberbullying.[126][127][128]

South Korean organizations that appeased the theorists were criticized and described as enabling their behavior.[126] Several authors argued that such appeasement reinforced the confirmatory bias of the theorists, and infringed on people's rights to labor and expression.[10][123][8] Noh Jimin, of Media Today, criticized news outlets that she felt did not critically analyze the truthfulness of the GS25 and MapleStory incidents.[24][129] Social activist Hong Myeonggyo claimed that the finger pinching controveries came from Korean society's poor ability to process ideological phenomena.[130]

Internet trolling

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Critics of the finger pinching theory have focused on the impact of online communities, addressing their role in spreading rumors and encouraging online harassment against victims. Numerous authors have argued that a considerable number of theorists are exposed to male-dominated internet forums and social media.[2][131] A 2021 The Hankyoreh report found that the accusations against GS25 in May 2021 came from and were subsequently spread by male-focused websites, including DC Inside, MLBpark, FMkorea, and Ruliweb. Based on its research, The Hankyoreh suggested these websites were pivotal to the backlash pattern.[132] Other websites that some argued influenced the theorists include Namuwiki and Arcalive.[46][133] Writing on Hankook Ilbo, Lee Hyemi argued these online communities misled their users by exaggerating the presence of now-defunct Megalia even though it was short-lived and, at its prime, didn't have nearly as many members as other active websites like Ilbe Storehouse and FMkorea.[7] SisaIN interviewed Ppuri animator regarding the 2023 MapleStory scandal and discussed how misinformation is spread through male-centric communities. Users of Namuwiki, a wiki website, compiled alleged incidents on a "misandry controversy" article; the article falsely concluded that the Ppuri incident was a conspiracy.[46]

Some commentators compared the theorists to supporters of other conspiracy theories. Semyung University professor Sim Seoktae compared the theorists to flat Earthers.[1] Hankook Ilbo journalist In Hyeonu compared the theorists to Gamergate, which involved similar cherrypicking of information and harassment. In also compared the movement to Trumpism because of perceived neotribalism. He reported that Seoul National University professor Kim Sua suggested a counter-information campaign and to pass an anti-discrimination law.[134] Several authors referred to the finger pinching theorists as "incels".[135][136]

Writers for Kyunghyang Shinmun claimed that the emergence of the finger pinching theory is not an isolated incident, but a part of the ongoing antifeminist backlash movement on the South Korean internet since at least 2009.[28] Several writers for The Hankyoreh listed nine other similar antifeminist backlashes that occurred in 2021.[132]

Politics

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Lee Jun-seok (picture), a politician of Korea, was supportive of Nexon in regard to the 2023 MapleStory scandal.[137]

Several politicians have shown either support or objection for the conspiracy theory, sometimes conflicting within the same party. In 2021, Lee Jun-seok, an antifeminist figure and future party leader of the New Reform Party, first expressed support for the theory after the GS25 incident.[138] In 2023, he affirmed his support for the theorists after the MapleStory scandal.[137] Ryu Ho-jeong, a self-proclaimed feminist and also future founding member of the New Reform Party, also supported the theory and criticized Ppuri. Formerly a game developer at Smilegate, Ryu argued that Ppuri had hurt other developers in the video game industry.[139][140]

Other politician supporters included People Power Party member Heo Eun-ah and former Democratic Party member Lee Sang-heon, who both supported Nexon during the MapleStory scandal. Heo Eun-ah told an interviewer that Ppuri committed antisocial behavior and instigated gender conflicts, which she believed must be penalized.[141] When Lee Sang-heon was later informed by Kyunghyang Shinmun that Nexon's allegations had errors, he stood by his opinion and said that "the point is not a gender issue, but that there's a certain alignment buyers find uncomfortable".[c][143][144]

Politicians who rejected the theory included Jang Hye-young, a Justice Party member. Jang criticized Lee Jun-seok and expressed sympathy to the people the theorists impacted.[145] Democratic Party politician Woo Won-shik stated that it is the government's job to protect workers, and called for special labor supervision in video game industry.[146]

In regard to the politicians' support, several argued that the theory's staying power originates from South Korean society's attempt at appeasing idaenam (a term referring to, sometimes derisively, South Korean men in their twenties).[28][147][148] Kyunghyang Shinmun argued that the 2021 South Korean by-elections for the mayor of Seoul, where 72.5% of the male twenties supported Oh Se-hoon from the People Power Party in contrast to 22.2% for Park Young-sun from the Democratic Party, were a wake-up call for both parties, motivating politicians to shift their focus to courting Idaenam.[28] Some authors proposed that politicians stop using the gender conflict as a means to win over a certain group's votes.[8][126][15] Sociologist and writer Choi Taeseop also suggested that the government abandon the attitude that "there's no systemic sexism,"[d] and act first as a role model.[126]

Video game industry

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The country's video game industry was often central to the discussion of the controversies by many authors, some of which grounded their arguments on insider testimonies, who have suspected video game companies of being involved in removing people who support feminism. Several publications claimed the finger pinching controversies are an extension of the industry-wide feminist discharge that started back in 2016.[151][152][127][153] Pressian's Park Sanghyeok claimed that the industry's irresistance to the conspiracy theory stemed from its skewed population over male demographics; according to Game Industry White Paper, in 2022, only 19.1% of video game industry workers in South Korea were female.[4][154]

The Counter-antifeminism Emergency Response Committee, founded in March 2024 as a collaborated effort to respond to antifeminism in the video game industry, claimed that they received 77 reports of shunning feminists within the industry from August to December 2023, of which 17 cases were workplace bullying, 9 were cyberbullying, and 7 were unfair dismissal.[155] In one alleged instance, an interviewee was promised by a company that, after the 2023 MapleStory scandal, it'd start to screen out female applicants who were suspected feminists. In another alleged instance, a developer was fired after he reportedly claimed that it was natural for men to follow female college students home at night.[155][156][157][158][159]

Nexon received significant criticism for allegedly prioritizing appeasing the theorists. Insiders contacted by Segye Ilbo claimed that, when the company replaced a voice actor in July 2016 in reaction to players accusing her of radical feminism, Nexon's internal meetings concluded the action was successful in enlarging its playerbase. Segye Ilbo argued this foreshadowed Nexon's actions in the MapleStory scandal.[152] An insider report from Kyunghyang Shinmun stated that Nexon ran a web scraping software biased toward male-dominated forums, as well as a program that rewarded community posts to form public opinion to its liking, though Nexon has denied this allegation.[160] Kyunghyang Shinmun's Yu Seonhui cited a separate fiasco involving officially sanctioned Dungeon & Fighter convention, which predated the MapleStory scandal by a couple weeks and was seen by Yu as a precedent of the Nexon developers promoting misogyny. Prior to the event, Nexon requested its participants to submit their social media account ID, a rule that didn't exist until that year. When questioned, Nexon emphasized "user's right to know." Yu argued that Nexon's policy change coincided with the feminist blacklisting movement from finger pinching theorists, who demanded all participants' Twitter history be searched, and that Nexon made a deliberate move to enable harassment against female players. Yu also cited another incident during that time, where Nexon delisted Dungeon & Fighter YouTube promotion of a singer who supported feminism.[161]

Korean WomenLink, a women's rights organization, performed a protest in front of Nexon headquarters as an act against the MapleStory scandal, and later sent the company a written opinion compiled from approximately ten thousand people.[162][163]

Notes

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  1. ^ Korean: 집게손가락 음모론. Coined by a series of articles published in December 2023 by Kyunghyang Shinmun, in reaction to Nexon endorsing the theory when its video game, MapleStory, was accused of hiding finger pinching image in its promotional trailers.[1][2][3]
  2. ^ Alternative translation includes "crab hand".[8]
  3. ^ "어쨌든 중요한 점은 젠더 이슈가 아니고, 소비자, 구매자의 관계에 있어서 구매자들이 불편하게 여길 수 있는 기호가 들어갈 수 있다는 점"[142]
  4. ^ A direct quote of the South Korean president Yoon Suk Yeol's interview in February 2022, one month prior to his victory in the presidential election.[149][150]

References

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  1. ^ a b c d Lee, Honggeun; Jeong, Hyojin; Kim, Eunseong (December 5, 2023). "메이플 '남혐 집게손가락'의 끊이지 않는 음모론" ['Men-hating Pinch Fingers' in MapleStory, a neverending conspiracy theory]. Kyunghyang Shinmun. Retrieved July 27, 2024.
  2. ^ a b Lee, Honggeun; Kim, Eunseong (December 14, 2023). "'집게손가락' 헛짚은 넥슨, 음모론에 빠진 이유는" [Nexon barking up the wrong tree with "Finger pinching" and why it believes in the conspiracy theory]. Kyunghyang Shinmun. Retrieved July 5, 2024.
  3. ^ Lee, Honggeun (January 2, 2024). "뿌리의 '집게손가락 음모론' 설명회, 유저는 한 명도 오지 않았다" [Ppuri's 'finger pinching conspiracy theory' press conference, no user coming to the site]. Kyunghyang Shinmun (in Korean). Retrieved July 27, 2024.
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  158. ^ Lee, Jimin (March 6, 2024). ""게임업계, 페미니즘 사상검증 만연"…공동대응위원회 출범" ["Video game industry has a feminist hunt problem"... Counter-antifeminism Emergency Response Committee founded]. Segye Ilbo (in Korean). Retrieved July 24, 2024.
  159. ^ Kim, Taeyeon (March 6, 2021). ""집게손 논란 후 사상검증 지속"... '여성노동권' 수호 대응단체 출범" ["Oppression on thought prevails after the finger pinching controversy"... Organization to protect 'women's work rights' established]. Hankook Ilbo. Retrieved August 31, 2024.
  160. ^ Lee, Honggeun; Kim, Eunseong; Yun, Gieun (November 30, 2023). ""넥슨, 편향된 정보에 쏠려 집게손가락 사태 오판"" ["Nexon, misjudgement over biased information]. Kyunghyang Shinmun (in Korean). Retrieved July 24, 2024.
  161. ^ Yu, Seonhui (November 30, 2023). "게임행사 참가자들에 "SNS 주소 내라"…OST 여성 보컬 영상도 삭제" [Demanding social media accounts to video game convention participants... Also removing the OST of a female singer]. Kyunghyang Shinmun (in Korean). Retrieved July 23, 2024.
  162. ^ Choi, Huijin (November 28, 2024). "넥슨 사옥에 몰려든 여성단체 "돈 써줄 고객층 누구일 것 같나"…업계 발칵 뒤집은 '0.1초 집게 손' 논란 뭐길래?" [Women's rights organization in front of the Nexon headquarter "Who do you think are the consumers"... Industry-breaking '0.1 second finger pinching' controversies, what is it?]. SBS News. Retrieved July 24, 2024.
  163. ^ Yun, Gieun (December 15, 2023). "넥슨에 의견서 전달한 1만명의 시민들" [A written opinion from ten thousands people handed over to Nexon]. Kyunghyang Shinmun (in Korean). Retrieved July 24, 2024.
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