Korean Dramas: Why do Women love them so much?
These dramas put the highest-rated American shows to shame!
Amid the pandemic, when everyone was stuck in their homes, Korean dramas (TV shows) gained immense popularity amongst people- females, majorly. Initially, Korean dramas (K-dramas) majorly catered to the Korean audience, however, in the last three years, they have gained their well-deserved international acknowledgement- with these international fans solely relying on subtitled versions. Now, the question that arises is why do women love K-dramas so much?
A distinguishing factor that separates K-dramas from other TV shows/ web series is their reliance on the female gaze. To understand the female gaze, we must understand the ‘male gaze’ and deviate from the topic.
The male gaze is a term coined by Laura Mulvey in 1972. Mulvey, a film theorist, used psychoanalysis and feminism in her works. Mulvey is known for her ‘male gaze’ theory which revolves around the idea of the sexual objectification of women in the media.
Mulvey states:
“The gender power asymmetry is a controlling force in cinema and constructed for pleasure of the male viewer, which is deeply rooted in patriarchal ideologies and discourses.”
The male gaze theory talks about how in films, the target audience is always the male viewer, meaning their needs are met first. All of this predominantly surfaces from the old-fashioned, male-driven society. While Mulvey’s theory came out in 1975, it is unfortunately just as relevant today.
Now, the female gaze is the opposite of the male gaze as it provides a female perspective in works of art and literature. It primarily focuses on the idea of ‘through the eyes of a woman.’ Something like: men written by women and women written by women can also conclude as the female gaze.
So, how is the female gaze an important part of K-dramas?
Korean Dramas are known for their mindblowing twists, swoon-worthy romance and beautiful scripts. These K-dramas range from awe-inducing college/school romances to gruesome thrillers with supernatural elements.
While I have been an avid watcher of K-dramas for over seven years, I have just recently realised why K-dramas are popular among females- it’s because these K-dramas provide a feminist perspective and don’t mould their male leads in a way that sexually objectifies the female protagonists.
As they say- it’s all about the eyes. One can often find the male lead looking at the girl’s eyes, or falling in love with her laugh. But, never has any K-drama in recent years overtly sexualised the female lead and made them fall in love just because of their physical attributes.
This is where the Korean TV industry draws a line. While Korea is known for its unrealistic beauty standards, it is still better than the western standards of unrealistic beauty and lifestyle they showcase.
A contradiction would be why a lot of women, in general, absolutely love these characters- Jake Peralta (Brooklyn nine-nine), Jim Halpert (The Office-US) and Nick Miller (New Girl). These aforementioned characters could easily be compared to those in K-dramas as they don’t adhere to the patriarchal mindset that is ingrained in a lot of shows from the West.
The female gaze plays a vital role in these dramas as the idea is to depend on natural feelings and realistic ideas of romance that generally are different from western shows. No doubt, there are explicit scenes too- but even here, the camera generally pans on the actors’ faces and highlights their expressions. This gives a soft touch to the entire concept of romance.
Most importantly, even though this industry is famous for being male-dominated, several k-dramas are directed by females. (Fun fact: Vincenzo, Little Women and Crash Landing on You were directed by Kim Hui Won- now we know why these three were outstanding.) It makes me wonder if this is why these dramas have the tendency to showcase the female gaze in the best possible way.
Another important factor is how the male or female love interests are usually within their boundaries if they get rejected. Unfortunately, we don’t generally see this in a lot of TV shows. We are accustomed to the idea that persuasion is the key to getting someone- but seeing k-dramas adapt to a different stance of rejection is refreshing.
To conclude, there is no doubt k-dramas are phenomenal and inclusive, and the increase in viewership has been a long-awaited step toward reaching the global mass. It’s also no secret that women don’t generally want to be sexually objectified or kept as an amusement for men to ogle- so when an industry provides something women want, it is natural for them to gravitate towards it. After all, we all can learn a thing or two from these dramas!
