Meera Choi
Education:
M.A. Sociology, Ewha Womans University 2018
B.A. Sociology and Psychology, Ewha Womans University 2016
Areas of Interest:
Gender, Sexuality, Social Movements, Popular Culture and Media, Political Sociology, Transnational Feminist and Queer Theory
Email:
meera.choi@yale.edu
Meera Choi is a sociology Ph.D. candidate at Yale University. Meera investigates how evolving gender dynamics and politics shape gendered and sexual identities, relationship formation, intimacies, and care work in South Korea, a social landscape marked by low fertility. As a feminist sociologist, she critically examines “the politics of lowest fertility”— the sensationalization of “lowest fertility rate” as a national crisis, while minimizing the impact of gender and sexual politics.
In her dissertation, “The Rise of Heterosexual Refusal: Gender Politics and Family Change in South Korea,” she introduces “heterosexual refusal” as both a novel theoretical and analytical framework to understand demographic shift and relationship (non-)formation. She examines the impact of popular feminism, misogyny, and anti-feminist politics on heterosexual relationships, which has worldwide implications beyond the South Korean context.
Her research on the 4B Movement and heterosexual refusal has been featured in prominent media outlets, including The Atlantic, NPR News, CNN International, NPR Radio (The Brian Lehrer Show), and Sirius XM Radio (Mornings with Zerlina). Her work is supported by the Council of East Asian Studies at Yale University. She has received the Martin P. Levin Dissertation Award from the American Sociological Association’s Sexualities Section and an Honorable Mention for the Coser Dissertation Proposal Award from the Eastern Sociological Society.