Comedian Park Na-rae Facing Backlash For Sexual Jokes During Her Show?

The South Korean comedian Park Na-rae was accused of sexual harassment for making inappropriate remarks and gestures with a male doll in her YouTube show Hey Narea. Police launched an investigation after receiving a public complaint. Park will likely be reviewed under a law that prohibits the distribution of obscene material.

The now-deleted YouTube video reportedly showed Park Na-rae arranging a children’s action figure in a sexual pose and making jokes about it. Park placed the action figure’s arm between its leg to resemble a penis and made lewd jokes during the segment.

Male critics accused Park Na-rae of sexual harassment, Park made several apologies, and her YouTube show was ultimately cancelled. In her apology, Park said that she was “given an opportunity to reflect” and added that she would do her best to not make such mistakes again.

According to Sohn Hee-jeong, a professor at the Centre for Cross-Culture Studies at Kyung Hee University, the backlash is due to growing antagonism towards women’s activism. Sohn Hee-jeong said that “As women’s voices are getting louder and feminism’s influence expands, the so-called ‘victimised men’ have appeared.” She added that the controversy displayed that South Korean society was still uncomfortable with women talking about sex freely.

Citizens of South Korea asked how police had time to investigate the sexual harassment of a doll when sex crimes against women often go unpunished in the country.

Other people complained about double standards and mentioned that male celebrities, especially rappers received little backlash for their sexually explicit content.

Some people held that Park Na-rae deserved the backlash but added that the male celebrities who have done similar things deserve the backlash too. On the other hand, some people believed that Park’s actions were worse than the actions of male celebrities since she made the gestures when there were several men surrounding her.