At least 6,000 photographs of women have been released, according to the organizers of the campaign.
South Korea has the twelfth largest economy in the world, considered a technological powerhouse, but it remains a male-dominated society with a poor record on women’s rights.
An, 20-year-old has won two gold medals at Tokyo 2020 in the women’s team and mixed team archery events and added 680 points in the women’s individual classification to break an Olympic record in force since 1996. She is aiming in this event, which is ongoing, for her third gold medal.
Despite her success, messages from men on social networks accused An of being a feminist for wearing her hair short, accusing her of expressions that apparently are used with misandrist overtones in radical feminist communities… they even asked him to “return” his Olympic medals and apologize.
The controversy comes as an anti-feminist backlash grows in the country and companies accused of endorsing “extreme feminism” face boycotts from men and issue public apologies.
“We did not train or feed you with tax money to do feminist acts,” wrote one of the men on An’s Instagram account.
The Korea Archery Association did not immediately respond to request for comment from AFP.
Do we really believe that women’s short hair is something that deserves to be criticized in 2021?
However, more than 1,500 messages of support for the athlete have been published on the association’s website.
An San doesn’t need to explain anything. Even if she is a feminist, she shouldn’t be criticized for that.
Young women in South Korea have enjoyed unprecedented campaign successes in recent years, fighting to legalize abortion and joining the global #MeToo movement, leading to the largest women’s rights demonstrations in the country’s history.
The reactions of a strongly macho society against a haircut, however, at the end of the game Mexico vs. South Korea, it was possible to see the players collapsed on the court of the Yokohama Stadium crying over that 6-3 loss at the hands of the Greens. Will we see such a critical reaction from the South Koreans?
These emotional expressions are not necessarily well seen by this society, although the possibility of medals in South Korea exempts them from exercising Military Service in that nation, which is mandatory for all male citizens between 18 and 35 years of age. However, there are exceptions where it can be avoided, mainly for athletes and characters with significant political or social power who represent the country in some international competition or event.