The shortcut to feminism: How an attack changed Korean women’s perspective

JINJU: Up-and-coming South Korean writer at Ji-goo She never considered herself a feminist, but changed her mind after being physically attacked by a man for having short hair.
The attacker shouted, “I know you’re a feminist,” while beating her at the grocery store where she worked part-time.
The attacker, aged in his 20s, also violently attacked an elderly man who tried to intervene, telling him: “Why don’t you support a friend?”
Ten suffered hearing loss and severe trauma but insisted on pressing charges; This resulted in a landmark ruling last month that, for the first time, a court in South Korea recognized misogyny as a motive for hate crime.
“I think I’m a feminist now,” On, who asked to use her pseudonym for security reasons, told AFP in an interview.
The Changwon District Court decision “has historical significance, but it seems to have even greater meaning for me personally,” he said.
The attack sparked outrage in South Korea, and On became the unintended hero of the country’s women’s rights movement.
Short hair is very loosely associated with feminism in South Korea, which remains socially conservative despite its booming economy and the global popularity of K-pop and K-drama content.
Same-sex marriage is not recognised, and female labor force participation rates are relatively low among developed economies, resulting in one of the worst gender pay gaps.
– Militant moments –
As part of the global #MeToo movement that emerged around 2017, South Korean women staged massive rights demonstrations and won victories on issues ranging from access to abortion to harsher penalties for camera crimes.
At their most militant, some campaigners went viral by destroying make-up or cutting their hair short on camera to protest the country’s harsh beauty standards.
It also saw the emergence of the extreme 4B movement, which refuses to date, have sex, marry or bear children with men.
The movement, which means “Number Four” in Korean, has been on the agenda since Donald Trump won the US presidential election.
But South Korea has also seen a recent anti-feminism backlash, with President Yoon Suk Yeol courting young men on the campaign trail as he rejects institutional discrimination against women and promises to abolish the Ministry of Gender Equality, which his supporters claim is “outdated”.
This backlash has previously ensnared innocent victims like three-time Olympic archery champion An San, who was bullied online for her short hair during the 2021 Tokyo Games.
Author On said he followed the outrage at the time and even reported the online harassment he received.
“When I first heard that having short hair meant you were a feminist, I thought it was ridiculous,” On said.
“Athletes often find short hair more appropriate when training,” he added, noting that he cut his hair short due to the hot weather last year before he was attacked.
On said that Archer An had never officially commented on the online harassment and that his “pride and confidence, as well as his ability to ignore the negativity, are truly impressive.”
“Over time, I found myself inspired by her sense of dignity and self-confidence… I found myself wondering: ‘Do I really have anything to be ashamed of?'”
Is it getting worse?
This summer, several high-profile cases of deepfake pornography targeting female students and staff at the country’s schools and universities were uncovered.
A Seoul court last month sentenced a perpetrator to 10 years in prison for attacking women attending the country’s top Seoul National University, saying his actions were motivated by “hatred towards socially successful women.”
One victim, whose campaign name was Ruma, told AFP that the attacker “wanted to emphasize that no matter how successful a woman is, she can be trampled on by men and treated like a practical joke.”
Activists like Jung Yun-jung, who supported On at his trial, say the situation could get worse as inequality and job competition increase.
South Korea has one of the lowest birth rates in the world and declining marriage rates. Experts point out that intense competition for jobs and housing is a factor that drives young people to despair about their future.
On still uses medication to treat the mental and physical scars of her attack, but she has found purpose in supporting other women who find themselves victimized in similar situations.
Feminism, she said, is ultimately about believing that “women’s rights are equally important.”
“In that sense, I was really a feminist before the incident.”