Ma Kwang-soo

{{cquote|[[Yahweh]] is a woman with a sexier body and face than [[Marilyn Monroe]]. <br> [[Jesus]], crucified, is a [[masochist]] who feels pleasure through pain.|||Ma Kwang Soo.<ref>Book : ''추억마저 지우랴'' (2017)</ref>}}
'''Ma Kwang-soo''' (마광수; 馬光洙) {{lived|1951|2017}} was a professor and novelist from [[South Korea]].

He was the first intellectual to call for [[Sexual revolution|sexual liberation]] in a highly conservative South Korean society in the pursuit of sexuality.

He has argued that the novel was a proxy excretion of his desire. He despised those who discussed spiritual values without the liberation of the body and free sex. He was the first person in South Korea to actively shed light on women's sexuality and sexual desire through the erotic novel.

Ma Kwang-soo was criticized by the nation's mainstream conservative, mainstream liberal, and mainstream [[feminists]]. Conservatives during his lifetime accused Ma Kwang-soo of causing [[AIDS]] and seducing young people into the corrupt path of sex. Mainstream liberals and feminists criticized that him for the [[Sexual objectification|objectification of women]]. (He said he was not a feminist, because mainstream feminists in Korea did not support sexual liberation.)

The level he criticizes progressives and feminists, he levels did not as strong as criticizing conservatives, but he criticized mainstream liberals and feminists because they thought they were trying to suppress male sexuality. He argued that the problem was 'sexual [[conservatism]]' and that sexual objectification was not the problem. He strongly argued that the "body only is true" for a lifetime. Ma Kwang-soo's claim was the perfect opinion to be ostracized in South Korea, which has a culture that believes spiritual values overtake material or physical values!

Ma defended [[Wilhelm Reich]]'s ideas about sexual freedom, but he did not agree with Reich's [[pseudoscientific]] ideas<ref>[http://www.hani.co.kr/arti/culture/culture_general/333209.html 성과 파시즘(Sex and Fascism)]. ''한겨레(The Hankyoreh)''. January 14th, 2009.</ref>, saying, "Korean society is extremely negative about physical sex, and that is why people have become obsessed with honor and lust, leading to authoritarian society, and that discrimination against the socially weak and culture of obedience to the strong are also related to this sexual oppression." In fact, unlike most developed countries, South Korea is a country where even [[pornography]] is illegal.

Ma Kwang-soo criticized, "A society where sexual oppression is rampant during one's lifetime, or a society where sexual oppression is not seen on the outside, but where sexual desire is not properly resolved, causes [[fascism]]." In fact, many of the [[far-right]] supporters are men without sexual partners.<ref>[https://basil83.blogspot.com/2016/04/21-1997-3-6-147.html 마광수, "사도마조히스틱한 사회"]</ref>

During his lifetime, he thought of the {{wpl|May 1968 events in France}} very positively and thought that Korea needed it, too.<ref>[http://t558.ndsoftnews.com/news/articleView.html?idxno=879 마광수 ˝그들은 표현의 자유, 상상을 잡아갔다˝]</ref> He attributed the 1968 protests  to the creation of a society in which Western countries would be more egalitarian. He claimed that prior to the 1968 protests, Western society was so [[Discrimination|discriminatory]] and [[authoritarian]] that it was no different from the non-Western region.

Ma Kwang-soo defended the [[Pro-choice|legalization of abortion]], pornography, [[prostitution]], and Real Doll and urged the South Korean government to stop its crackdown on sexual media.

He died in an apparent [[suicide]] in September 2017. He was a virtual outcast in the Korean literary world before his life ended, but his depression-induced suicide set the stage for reevaluation of him. He was the '''first intelligent person in South Korea to discuss sexual liberation.'''

== Criticism ==
His only blemish was positive about [[Traditional Korean medicine|TKM]] and he was very interested.<ref>[http://www.donga.com/news/article/all/20130216/53074917/1 소설가 마광수… 한의학 파고들다 무릎을 쳤다 “몸이 머리를 지배한다]</ref> he doesn't know much about medicine.

== See also ==
* [[Sex-positivity]]
* [[Frank Zappa]]

==References==
{{reflist|80%}}

[[Category:Anarchists]]
[[Category:Atheists]]
[[Category:Authors]]
[[Category:Libertarians]]
[[Category:New Left]]
[[Category:Sexuality]]

Categories: Anarchists, Atheists, Authors, Libertarians, New Left, Sexuality