Women's 'short hair campaign' unfolds online following assault against short-haired part-timer

This image captured from X, also formerly known as Twitter, shows an ongoing campaign in which women with short hair share their photos, which began after a female part-timer in her 20s, who was working at a convenience store, was assaulted by a man in his 20s simply because of her short hair. Captured from X

Should women with short hair be labeled as feminists? And do feminists harm men?

Such questions, which sound a bit peculiar, have been raised in Korea, once again, following a recent incident, in which a female part-timer in her 20s, who was working at a convenience store, was assaulted by a man in his 20s simply because of her short hair.

The incident immediately led to an online campaign encouraging women with short hair to share their photos under #women_shortcut_campaign.

According to police, the assailant was caught assaulting the part-timer at the convenience store in Jinju, South Gyeongsang Province, on Saturday. The man also assaulted a male customer in his 50s who was trying to stop the attack.

At the time of the attack, the attacker said to the victim, “You must be a feminist as you have short hair. The feminist should get punished,” according to the police.

The police said an additional investigation into details of the incident will be carried out as soon as the victims recover from their injuries.

A woman with short hair shares her photo on Instagram under the hashtag #women_shortcut_campaign. Captured from Instagram

Angered by the latest incident that apparently stemmed from anti-feminist criticism that is prevalent in the country, many women with short hair began sharing their photos through Instagram, X, formerly known as Twitter, and other social media platforms.

“A short cut does not make me a man,” one Instagram user wrote with her photo, while an X user wrote, “Each of us lives our own life. Why do you care about others’ hairstyle?”

It is not the first time that the so-called women’s short hair campaign has been brought up in Korea.

In 2021, archer An San, who won two gold medals in the mixed team and women’s team events at the Tokyo Olympics, was targeted by slander originating from male-dominated online groups that questioned her short hair and the fact that she was enrolled at a women’s university.

Labeling her as a feminist, these online haters deluged An’s Instagram account with offensive language.

In response, an online campaign to defend An unfolded simultaneously, with politicians and celebrities, including Rep. Ryu Ho-jeong of the progressive minor opposition Justice Party, and actor and film director Koo Hye-sun, joining forces.

Feminism in Korea has a somewhat different character than the feminist movements of much of North America and Europe. Here, the term "feminist" is often associated with being a man-hater; with public discourse being degenerated into a battle of the sexes.

Some reactionary, male-dominated online groups ― mostly comprising young men ― claim that men are being treated unfairly by so-called feminism-focused policies and that women’s success comes at their expense.

The anger of these men against women largely stems from the belief that men have been unfairly treated in Korean society where competition in college entrance examinations and unemployment are serious.

All able-bodied Korean men aged over 19 are obliged to serve in the military for about 18 months, which some cite, arguing it leaves men falling behind women in the most important time in their lives.

They also point out that there are women-only universities in the country, but no men-only universities.

But statistics offer a different story.

Korea ranks at the top among the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) members when it comes to the difference between the earnings of men and women. The figure stood at 31.1 percent as of 2021, meaning that women earned 31.1 percent less than men on average. The OECD average, in comparison, is 11.9 percent.

The country also ranked low ― 99th among 146 countries ― in the 16th Global Gender Gap Report, an index used to gauge gender equality, announced by the World Economic Forum last year.