‘An San’s hair is short, therefore she is a feminist:’ Women athletes’ hair, feminist movements, and nationalism

Abstract

At the 2020 Tokyo Summer Olympics, South Korean archer An San received national attention for her short hair, when anti-feminists accused An of being a feminist. The anti-feminists’ online assaults made national headlines and evoked a strong feminist countermovement. In this paper, we ground this incident in the context of Korean nationalism and its relation to sport, and South Korean feminist movements. Using social media and news sources as our data, we analyze the meanings of women athletes’ hair length and styles, revealed in the case of An San. We explore meanings of hair in Korean women’s elite sport, and within the context of the tal-corset feminist movement. We argue that the An incident sheds light on the complex interplay between nationalism, feminist movements, and physical cultures of hair, and see the An incident as one that drew increasing public attention and support for the feminist movement in South Korea.