The Main Squeeze: How a Constricting Marriage Market Leads to a Conservative Backlash

• In Event: Exploitation, Gender, and Social Policies

Abstract

In recent years, many countries have witnessed a rise in backlash against women’s empowerment. South Korea is one such country. I examine the role of marriage market dynamics in understanding the rise of anti-feminist backlash. I highlight two aspects of the marriage market that may engender gender backlash. First is the marriage market squeeze, a phenomenon referring to an excess of men over women seeking partners for marriage. As women opt out of marriage at much higher rates compared to men, men are more likely to exhibit gender backlash, opposing policies intended to increase the status of women and adopting more conservative attitudes toward women’s role in marriage. Second, increasing economic inequality exacerbates the gender backlash effects of the marriage market squeeze among men with lower socioeconomic status because they are more likely to be adversely affected by the marriage market squeeze. Testing my hypotheses in South Korea using a novel survey experiment and a regression discontinuity design, which leverages an exogenous “shock” that affected the marriage market squeeze, I find that the marriage market squeeze is a pivotal factor that has contributed to the rise of gender backlash in South Korea today. Insights from semi-structured interviews with over 60 citizens and political elites further showcases the regressive effects that the marriage market squeeze is having on men's attitudes towards women's social and political empowerment.

Author

• Soosun You, University of Pennsylvania