K-Drama Cliches

I'm a huge fan of Korean dramas (TV shows), or for short, K-Dramas. However, I'm also a huge fan of a strong female lead--someone who inspires you and makes you feel proud to be a girl. Unfortunately, when it comes to strong female leads, the history of K-Dramas is a bit disappointing. 

 

Any K-Drama fan knows the classic cliches that are abundant in these shows: the rich guy and the poor girl's romance, a girl gets super drunk and the guy gives her a piggyback ride, the guy gets hurt and the girl fixes him up, girl almost gets hit by a car, but the guy saves her, etc. It doesn't stop there. While there are so many of these overused K-Drama cliches, they often always paint females as helpless women who needs a guy to save her. To young impressionable girls, this obviously isn't the most empowering message to promote.

The world of K-Drama cliches reflects the traditional gender roles that are present not only in Korean society, but worldwide. Traditional gender roles and stereotypes place women in a position that is inferior to their male counterparts and are often characterized by being more emotional, graceful, naïve, and accepting. In addition, women are also stereotyped to perform domestic behaviors (ex. Taking care of kids, cleaning, cooking, etc.) and have less positions of power in the workplace. On the other hand, men are expected to be confident and aggressive, perform more physical tasks, and have higher-paying jobs. One example of how K-Drama cliches perpetuate these gender stereotypes is the classic poor girl and rich boy romance. Some of the most famous examples with this K-Drama cliché include the shows Boys Over Flowers, Coffee Prince, What’s Wrong With Secretary Kim, Jugglers, and more. In this kind of plot, the female is often poor and works under the guy, who is the son of a very wealthy family or a CEO of a company. The male then saves her and provides her with protection, wealth, and sometimes a visual makeover. This puts the male in a position of power and paints women as inferior and needing a man’s help in order to succeed. It also plays into classic occupation stereotypes, with women performing clerical work such as a secretary, while the men are strong, capable CEOs.

 

Noticing these cliches in Korean media is significant to understanding how gender is often represented in Korean culture and society. Especially in older generations, Koreans are often more conservative. When I have a meal at my grandmother’s house in Korea, I am not allowed to eat until my father begins eating. After our meal is finished, the women clean up and chat in the kitchen while the men often have a coffee or beer in the living room. At a national scale, men are required to serve 2 years in the military while women often “wait for them to come back home and get married.” In addition, women often speak to their husbands in formal Korean as a sign of respect, but it is not always the same the other way around. In this way, Korean culture and its patriarchal society often places women in the traditional domestic gender role whereas boys are encouraged to become strong, confident males who can protect their wives, daughters, and sisters. Looking at traditional Korean society, it is not hard to understand where these K-Drama cliches originate and why they are so commonly used.

 

However, lastly, I would like to note a positive change in Korean society. While it’s not perfect and may never be, there is a growing number of K-Dramas that feature strong, female leads that show women as “saving” the men and men as emotional and soft beings. These K-Dramas contradict traditional gender roles and reflect the changing Korean society that moves past traditional gender stereotypes.