Colby Miyose and Erika Engstrom
than aesthetics (Jung, 2010). From this idea, the creator of the manga series
replaced the literal meaning of the word dango from “dumplings” to mean
“boy,” resulting in the adage that women should choose men for their character
rather than for their looks (Jung, 2010).
This study investigates how the popular Korean version of Boys
Over Flowers offers portrayals of both hegemonic and counterhegemonic
culturally held notions of masculinity within the Korean culture (though
still connected through a historically common original culture prior to the
separation into north and south, “Korea” hereafter refers to South Korea).
storylines and portrayals, which, taken together, evidences how this K-drama
offers a new version of masculinity that challenges traditional masculinity and
recasts the “ideal guy” for its mostly female audience.
Hegemonic Masculinity in Korean Culture
Garde (2003) suggests that Western hegemonic masculinity
encompasses four dominant norms featuring masculinity: power, opposition
avoidance of emotion. Major similarities emerge when comparing hegemonic
masculinities of Western societies to South Korean society, especially
regarding heteronormativity and patriarchal ideology. For example, Moon
(2002) noted that Confucian tradition, militarization, and compressed
industrialization serve as the bases for Korean notions of masculinity. The
patriarchal ideologies of Confucianism can be traced to the Sam-Kang-OhRyun
Korean socio-political society for most of the country’s history (Kim & Hahn,
2006); it maintains a patriarchal base of power for both the state and the
family. Confucian patriarchy later transformed into modern industrialized
patriarchy, which adopted the normative Western dichotomy of gender roles
into its dominant gender ideology, with South Korea’s mandatory military
service (due to the continued confrontation between North and South Korea),
adding another element of Korean hegemonic masculinity, (Moon, 2002).
Moon (2002) further suggested that gender dichotomy in Korea can
be traced to the idea of seonbi (the term for a Confucian scholar seeking
wisdom) masculinity, from the Joseon dynasty of 1392-1910 CE. Seonbi
masculinity dictates that men are not to engage in daily domestic labor, which,
though absolutely necessary for the maintenance of society, is degrading and
should be performed by women (Moon, 2002). Though blatantly sexist, seonbi
masculinity is still regarded as an ideal model of Korean masculinity, because
it represents traditional values such as virtue, faithfulness, and loyalty (Geum,
2000).
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