BREAKING THE MOLD: EXPLORING FEMALE FANS' ONLINE REACTIONS TO THE REPRESENTATION OF WOMEN IN K-DRAMAS

Abstract

Korean dramas have gained enormous popularity throughout the world, particularly among female viewers, thanks to their compelling stories and cinematography. However, the number of research papers exclusively focusing on “Korean drama studies” remains limited, which is perhaps partly due to the relative youth of this field in English. The present thesis investigates gender dynamics, specifically the representation of women in three internationally recognized Korean dramas set in different years: Boys Over Flowers (2009), The Heirs (2013), and Business Proposal (2022). The paper aims to analyze the evolution in the portrayal of female characters, also touching on feminist activism on the Internet, known as cyberfeminism. Using the three K-dramas as the research object, the paper also explores female fan reactions to the heroines by examining fan comments on social media pages and movie websites. As a research methodology, the study employs an interpretive, contextualized, and descriptive approaches. Based on the content analysis of the comments the thesis argues that older K-dramas uphold patriarchal values and reinforce traditional gender roles which portray female characters as dependent and resilient in the face of abuse. The study highlights a contrast in contemporary K-dramas, which demonstrate progress in the representation of women and consider the fans’ opinions. The analysis of audience reception of female characters in K-dramas is conducted through the lens of Cultivation Theory, questioning susceptibility to transmitted media messages. Lastly, the paper also applies the concept of “cyborg” to address the new transformed images of female characters in contemporary K-dramas, which notably diverge from previous representations.