What do most people think of when they think of Korea, my home country? Kimchi? K-pop stars? Over the last decade, K-dramas have also become one of Korea’s biggest cultural exports.
This year saw the release of one of Korea’s most popular dramas to date. Exported to 32 countries and registering more than 2.3 billion internet streams in China alone, Descendants of The Sun, pulled on the heartstrings of fans around the globe. It tells the story of a patriotic Korean soldier and a successful surgeon falling in love despite the many pitfalls of their conflicting professions.
But besides breaking viewing records, The Descendants was also unique in its challenge to Korean gender norms. Growing up with K-drama all around me, I’ve spent countless hours watching dramas, but this was the first time I’ve seen a drama with such a strong female voice. Usually women in K-dramas are portrayed as introverted, or minor characters, and often getting picked on by men who certainly don’t lack hubris. Despite some qualms, it was refreshing to finally see a woman with an out-going and bold attitude, a women existing outside traditional Korean norms, a woman who looked like me.
In Western cinema, there are plenty of outgoing, smart, strong female leads. Challenging gender norms might not seems so revolutionary, but in Korea it is. This is what it looks like to defy.
A Woman With An Attitude
No good romantic drama is without its fair share of squeal-inducing flirting scenes. When Koreans flirt in dramas, it’s typically a very forward, confident man leaving a woman speechless, self-conscious and full of self-doubt. These women often respond with a few soft, sweet whispered words, or perhaps nothing at all.
This drama made it clear their woman was different. Mo Yeon, the female lead surgeon, rejects hearthrob Shi Jin, the Korean solider, not just once or twice, but an embarrassing amount of times.
In the first episode’s romantic scene, Mo Yeon is stitching up one of Shi Jin’s military wounds and he hits on her. He says, “You don’t have a boyfriend because you are too busy as a doctor.” It’s a complex line. He’s trying to feel out whether she’s interested in him but he doesn’t pose it as a normal question; he tells her she doesn’t have a boyfriend because of her career. The heroine that she is, she not only rejects his backhanded offer to date, but also does it in a truly unapologetic manner. Repeating his words right back to him, she says you don’t have a girlfriend either. She just leaves it at that.
I was taken aback by the dynamic; a woman that’s not easy-going, sweet, or responsive!? She rejected him!? I found it frustrating, but also refreshing. It’s not something most Korean girls, like me, are used to seeing on their TV screens. Lead female roles aren’t usually portrayed as strong, bold or kind of…unlikeable.
Not Just a Pretty Face
Mo Yeon breaks conventions not just in her romantic life, but in her professional life as well.
A talented and dedicated surgeon, Mo Yeon was constantly praised by colleagues and her mentor, the Chief Surgeon. After slaving away, night-shift after night-shift, she had strong hopes that she would be promoted to title of 강교수 (Professor-Surgeon). However, a rich yet highly unqualified doctor won the promotion instead because of nepotism. In a spiteful act meant to demean Mo Yeon, the promoted doctor told Mo Yeon to take her interview spot on a TV talk show.
Being on the medical TV show was not something a highly regarded, skilled surgeon would do, it is a “poster girl” role. She is valued for her looks rather than her mind, forced to spend an important early-career year on TV rather than in the surgery room. She gets demoted for trying to reach “too high”. The idea that beauty is a woman’s greatest asset is deep-rooted in Korean culture, actually in most cultures around the world.
But, unwilling to give into sexist stereotypes and still ambitious, Mo Yeon becomes famous by displaying her intelligence and medical prowess. Through her TV performances, she wins favor with the hospital executives and it’s VIP patients, securing her a coveted position in the VIP hospital wing. She cultivates for herself a dedicated following of powerful, rich clients and works her way up the ladder again.
Turning the Tables
Throughout the series Mo Yeon proves herself a master at turning the tables. The chairman of the hospital takes an interest in her after her surprising TV success. He invites her on a date which ends up being nothing more than a trip to his apartment. When she arrives he treats her like a prostitute, he asks her to shower first and starts undressing himself – his intent is clear. She’s nothing more than a sexual object. Mo Yeon hits him with her bag and walks out. Ego-wounded, the Chairman punishes her by sending her to a hardship post in a poor, foreign country called “Uruk.”
It may have seemed like punishment at the time, but Mo Yeon shows her strength by not only turning him down but by turning the experience into something empowering. She works diligently and saves a powerful local politician, dozens of marred construction workers after a devastating earthquake, and even saves a local girl from human tracking.
Mo Yeon upends Korean gender stereotypes by proving to be so much more than a pretty face, more than a sexual object, more than the barriers thrown in her way. Mo Yeon is complicated and perhaps frustrating at times, but she’s a female heroine at each step of the way.
A Reckoning
Despite my account of how great and unique a female Mo Yeon was, I was surprised by how frustrating I found her, especially her relationship with Shi Jin. Her attitude and obstinacy was maddening. Turning down Shi Jin so often, I sometimes thought that he should just give up on her; she was a waste of his time.
I started to ask myself why I felt this way. Why was she so vexing? Why was she “rude”? Why didn’t I like her?
Well, perhaps it’s because she didn’t behave like a conventional woman, instead she was bolder, more independent and blunt. Even as a fairly progressive, critical teenage female myself, I can still fall into the trap of society’s stereotypes of women. I realized, if I can easily feel this way, it shows just how much women are still underestimated in Korean society today.
I live in a society that is rampant with gender stereotyping. It is challenging to get rid of these deep rooted norms, we need to take serious steps forward to actively promote new ideas of women. A way to achieve this is a better portrayal of women starting in the Korean entertainment industry. Perhaps Mo Yeon and all her “unlikeable” qualities is a good start.
