A consensual qualitative study on the conflict of “escape the corset” within the group of Korean feminist women in their 20s

This study conducted a Consensual Qualitative Research to explore the perceptions and experiences of conflict of “Escape the Corset” (ETC) movement among Korean feminist women in their 20s. The participants were divided into two groups: the Support ETC (SE) advocate for ETC and the Non-Support ETC (NSE) do not. The analysis yielded three domains: Perception of ETC, Conflict about ETC, and Effect of ETC. Key findings are as follows. First, The Purpose of ETC: SE participants generally saw it as “Escaping from social femininity,” while NSE participants viewed it as “Escaping from the gaze of others.” Second, Reasons for supporting or not supporting ETC: NSE participants generally cited “Censoring women in a normative way” and “Resistance to the imposition of ETC” as their reasons for not supporting ETC, whereas SE participants typically believed “Corsets are forced on women” as the reason for supporting ETC. Third, Significance of ETC: Both groups acknowledged “Social impact of ETC” and “Physical and mental comfort” as shared significances. Fourth, Limitation of ETC: Both groups acknowledged “Censoring women in a normative way” and “Negative perception of surroundings and society” as limitations of ETC. Fifth, Effect of ETC on feminist identity: Both groups experienced “Internal conflict” as a result of their perspectives on ETC. In addition, the study discussed the limitations of the research.