A 20-year-old South Korean archer who clinched two gold medals in the Tokyo Olympics has become the target of online abuse from men over her short hair, AFP reported.

Male netizens demanded An San apologise and have her Olympic titles stripped on the grounds that her hairstyle suggested she was a feminist.

They also flooded the Korean Archery Association with calls demanding for her medals to be returned, and spammed her social media accounts with hate speech, slamming her past use of online slang which anti-feminist groups have deemed as anti-male, Yonhap News Agency reported.

Won two medals, broke a 25-year-old world record

An had won two gold medals in the women's team and mixed team archery.

She also scored 680 out of 720 points, to top the women's individual qualification, breaking a record that has stood since 1996, World Archery reported.

Lawmakers and women come out in support of An

In response, many women and lawmakers have since come out in support of An, decrying the attacks, Yonhap News Agency added.

Lawmaker Jang Hye-yong tweeted: "Even if you win an Olympic gold medal with your own skills and abilities, as long as sexism persists in our society, you get insulted and asked to be deprived of your medal just because you have short hair."

She also added that despite South Korea's archery being the best in the world, the country's national dignity was being thrown to the ground as a result of sexism.

이렇기 때문에 능력만이 문제가 아니라 차별의 구조를 바꿔야 한다고 주장하는 겁니다.
기껏 한국 양궁을 세계 최강으로 만들어놓았더니 성차별로 국격을 이렇게 땅바닥에 내팽개치는 기이한 오늘을 우리는 마주하고 있습니다.

— 정의당 장혜영 (@janghyeyeong) July 29, 2021

Another lawmaker, Woo Won-shik, criticised the abuse as equivalent to a "hate crime", adding:

"Unilaterally defining (another person's) thoughts based on (his or her) appearance or origin and targeting certain thoughts for indiscriminate criticism constitute an extreme case of senselessness and is tantamount to a hate crime."

Around 6,000 photos of women with short hair were also been reportedly posted on social media platforms in support of An, with Actress Koo Hye-sun among those showing their support.

https://www.instagram.com/p/CR5CTA2hfqN/

What's driving the misogyny in South Korea?

According to Reuters, public policy focusing on women's rights have become a hot topic in the country.

AFP further reported that South Korean women have made unprecedented success in recent years in the decriminalisation of abortion, and taking action against the secret filming of spycam videos in public places, which led to the largest demonstrations over women's rights in the country's history.

However, this has triggered a backlash in the country, with feminism perceived as selfish and misandrist.

Top photo by Justin Setterfield/Getty Images