[How about this book] Daughter, Mom, Daughter-in-law?..."I am Me" Female Characters Breaking Stereotypes

'Shoorup' 'Gugyeongi' 'Golddaenyeo'...
Revisiting Progressive Women in Popular Video Content
"The Newly Spread Female Image Influences Society Again and Circulates"

Popular culture content serves as a gauge that keenly captures the spirit of the times. It is like a mirror that fully reflects the current trends. Unlike niche works for enthusiasts, popular culture content with a broad spectrum reflects the era according to existing inertia while introducing fresh cracks in conventional wisdom. The key here is adjusting to the audience’s perspective. Overemphasizing conformity to conventions provides a sense of stability but is prone to boredom, while being too progressive can exceed public acceptance and provoke rejection. Many contents have maintained such a balance and guided the public toward their respective goals. Women, Becoming Stories Beyond the Screen (Jo Yoon Communication) focuses on works that center on “women.” It highlights the changing image of women through popular culture content that places women?who have so far been passive subjects or objects of observation rather than active agents?at the forefront. In particular, it pays attention to the shift in women’s positions, who have not existed as independent subjects. It mentions works that elevate women, who were known only as peripheral figures such as someone’s mother, wife, or daughter-in-law and called by anonymous names like Anseong-dak or Suwon-dak, to a subject position.

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A representative work that overturns conventional female characters is the drama Shuroop. Although it sounds like a foreign word, it is the pure Korean word for “umbrella.” Set in the Joseon Dynasty palace, the drama depicts Queen Im Hwa-ryeong becoming a reliable umbrella for women, breaking existing stereotypes about female characters. The queen rescues a slave woman who was beaten while pregnant after being raped by a nobleman and delivers a timeless line to the concerned slave: “I have already interfered in your life.” She also establishes ‘Haewolgak’ to foster solidarity among women outside the palace. The independent and autonomous characters do not end there. Cheongha, a noblewoman who pursues love straightforwardly, compares the grounds for expelling a wife, ‘chilgeojiak’ (seven grounds for divorce), with the grounds for not being able to expel her, ‘sambulgeo’ (three exceptions), and protests, “There are seven spears but only three shields?why is that?”

Additionally, the book highlights fresh perspectives on female characters through dramas like Gugyeongi, which fills the male-dominated crime investigation genre with female characters, and Ghost, an anti-Japanese female warrior action piece. In The Red Sleeve Cuff, the concubine Seong Deok-im is introduced as a new character unseen in previous historical dramas, requesting friends rather than the king before her death. To the grieving king, Deok-im says, “His Majesty can live well without me, but I have no friends except them, so I just feel sorry to leave them behind.” The author explains, “Seong Deok-im is a groundbreaking character who mourns becoming the king’s woman,” adding, “As times change, the portrayal of women in historical dramas is also evolving.”

There is also a noticeable movement away from emphasizing women’s bodies as “sexual objects.” The real soccer program Goal Ddaerineun Geunyeodeul (literally “The Girls Who Rock Soccer”) was highly praised for portraying women not as sexually objectified passive bodies but as passionate athletes competing with zeal. The author commented, “They thoroughly shattered the prejudice that women are weak in team play,” and the show actually led to the revitalization of women’s soccer clubs. Regarding Siren: Fire Island, a survival competition featuring women working in six professions traditionally considered male domains?firefighters, soldiers, police officers, bodyguards, stunt performers, and athletes?the author explained, “Their shared physical capabilities and strong mental fortitude in these male-dominated fields created a deep sense of solidarity.”

Through works like Samjin Group English TOEIC Class, which deals with female employees who are undervalued because they only have a high school diploma, and Park Won-sook’s Let’s Live Together, which portrays middle-aged and older single female celebrities, the book explores women’s “solidarity.” Particularly, Song Eun-i & Kim Sook’s Secret Guarantee is introduced as a highly notable case that has even inspired academic research from a feminist perspective. In the early 2010s, as variety shows like Infinite Challenge and 1 Night 2 Days boomed and women entertainers’ positions shrank, Song Eun-i and Kim Sook produced their own show. It was highly praised for providing a platform for women entertainers who had no place and for achieving female liberation through the public discussion of sexual discourse. The author mentions the exhilarating feeling of women openly discussing previously taboo topics such as cohabitation, overnight stays, going braless, and love gels, stating, “By bringing such stories into the public sphere, it plays a certain role in freeing women from sexual oppression and discrimination.” Although the show does not intentionally adopt a feminist stance and has some conservative aspects, the author explains that this can be “a clever feminist strategy in 21st-century South Korea, where gender conflicts are erupting.”

The drama The Glory examines societal notions of motherhood. The author emphasizes that while female revenge dramas have often been justified in the name of motherhood, the legitimacy of this drama lies not in motherhood but in the solidarity of victims. Situations such as a mother who selfishly obstructs her daughter’s revenge and a mother who, though seemingly caring, ultimately becomes an aggressor even to her daughter clearly defy existing conventions. The author states, “The so-called ‘normal family’ does not appear at all in the drama,” adding, “It is a meaningful drama that candidly shows the changed family image of our times.”

The author concludes, “The ‘law of visibility,’ where unfamiliar things become natural and accepted once frequently seen, is a trait best demonstrated in popular culture. The new image of women disseminated through popular culture then influences society again, creating a cycle,” and expresses hope that “a near future will come when such changes no longer feel strange or new.”

Women, Becoming Stories Beyond the Screen | Written by Heo Eun, Lee Eun-sook, Jeong Young-hee | Jo Yoon Communication | 240 pages | 17,600 KRW

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.