Popular Culture Review Vol. 26, No. 2, Summer 2015 | Page 6

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). 3