Six Flying Dragons, yaaaaaas

I love this. Thanks for sharing.

This is beautiful! Thank you so much for writing this. Actresses and female characters in general tend to be underappreciated (especially in Dramaland, at least the international fandom). It always makes me sad when casting news pops up and there are tons of comments for the lead male actor but sometimes not as many for the female, even if she's arguably a superior actor. I understand that most fellow Beanies are (straight) women (so am I!) and you can't deny that attraction plays a part in these things in fandom, but it still makes me sad.

You know. This has always been a tough conversation to have with myself, and it shouldn't be! I considered myself a feminist. However, full disclaimer, I don't think I immersed myself enough in being an activist feminist. However, I do try to call out gender inequalities when I see them. I'm not perfect, and sometimes I may not see them. I try to stay informed and provide feedback to my employer when I see how women staff is treated differently than men, to my friends for how they sounded when they make comments, and other colleagues.

But sometimes I enjoy the fantasy aspect of Korean Dramas when it comes to women. I sometimes feel guilty for enjoying that, and sometimes I feel guilty for not engaging in thoughtful conversations about it. Now, being a feminist can take a toll on your mental stability, so Korean Dramas for me, provide an escapism that I longed for, and at the same time, I feel guilty for enjoying the Korean Drama hero pulling the woman's wrist or the forced kiss. I sometimes get upset for the over an analytical aspect of a Korean Drama and how much other try to nitpick on everything. I struggled with this all the time because Korean Dramas have always been an escapist form. Don't get wrong, I enjoyed the thoughtful dramas too with great heroines like in Signal or even in Forest of Secrets, but I can't help to swoon for the grabbing of the wrist or the forced kiss sometimes. In short, my inner struggles are now part of my enjoyment of Korean Dramas which is good because it means that more characters are written thoughtfully. Has anyone felt the same way?

Cheok Sa-kwang! Six Flying Dragons started my love for Han Ye-ri (and so many others). I'm going to have to agree with you on her being my all-time favorite female character. Not just for the way she kicked butt but also for her allegiance to the one she loved. That kind of loyalty always moves me no matter which side of the line they fall on. And I respected that although she could easily dispatch anyone, it wan't something she enjoyed doing. Such a tragic story. Han Yeo-jin in Forest of Secrets is right up there too as one of my new favorites. Amazing characters played by amazing actresses. Thank you for this article!

I love LOVE your essay. Your journey mirrors mine to a great extent. Especially the part about equality. What I look for most is dramas are beautifully written partnerships where the male and female lead grow together because of each other. ❤️ ❤️ ❤️

I admit to clicking because of Han Ye-ri. Hehe.

But I do agree with you. I never really thought about it but thinking back on the dramas I watched back in the days, they're more about male leads and female leads were usually just there as love interest. I'm happy that the times are changing and we're seeing more female (actual) leads.

Thank you for pointing that out about Boon-yi. I've always thought of her as strong and wise but there are so many comments about her being weak and useless. Like, are we watching different dramas? Boon-yi embodied the people, the normal folks, weak against power yet still stand back up through the years. It takes lots of strength to be Boon-yi and make the decisions she's made. I would say all the ladies in Dragons were strong characters. Cheok Sa-gwang is a given, then there's Yeon-hee and even Cho Young. Makes me want to rewatch Dragons again so maybe I should stop here. Heh.

Yaaas! I came for Kim Myung-min and stayed for Han Ye-ri. She is a freaking show stealer both in films and dramas.
I couldn't have asked for anyone more perfect to play Cheok Sa Gwang. She made me care and root for her although her character was only supposed to be part of the show for a few episodes. They ended up keeping her till the final episode.

Han Ye-ri majored in traditional Korean dancing. She is the only actress I'd say can top Honey Lee (Rebel) whom I also love in traditional dance.
She was so elegant with her movements, style and speed of her sword just like when she was dancing for the king.

Cheok Sa Gwang was a fictional character but she was linked to a real Goryeo hero named Cheok Joon Gyeong. The best warrior of Goryeo during the early 11th century.

Thank you so much @redfox <3.
My taste haven't changed much when it comes to the women in dramas thanks to an early encounter in sageuks with writer Jung Ha-yeon. His female characters are so well written and realistic.
I can fangirl over the oppas but my heart will always cheer for the female characters. Most of the time it's not just the lead female but the scene stealers with limited screen time.

I'm currently watching "Secret Forest" and both of the main female characters are rocking it in their own ways.

Thank you, @redfox, for a fun and thoughtful piece on feminism and kdramas! I love my strong women characters because I am one, with a love for romance, of course. I feel that it is all about equality and you can be a romantic and a feminist. I like my chivalrous heroes, but you can be chivalrous and hold the door for me as long as I can do it for you too. I like the girl saving the guy sometimes. And ninjas, I love ninjas, you can never have too many ninjas.

This article is perfect. I have no other words to describe it. Thank you for your text, that's exactly how I feel about female and male dynamics in dramas.

Yass Han Yeri is my queen.

Yes, this post speaks to me on a fundamental level. The women you've mentioned are some of my forever favourite female characters. All the women in Six Flying Dragons were amazing frankly, but my favourites were definitely Cheok Sa-kwang and Boon-yi. I also loved Jin-ju and Ga-ok in Warrior Baek Dong-soo. I even loved Hwa-gun recently. I feel like I've gotten past the point where I just swoon over the male lead being all cool and charming, I want to be able to understand my heroine and connect with her journey and her emotions. I do find that it's really easy for me to do this lately. I know that being a Kim Eun-sook seems contradictory to the purpose of this post and probably everything I said above, but I feel like it all depends on how you look at it. I am not a fan of all her male leads, in fact I think the only one I outright loved were Kim Shin and Yoo Si-jin, but I find that she writes her women in a way that I can connect with. I may not always agree with the choices they make but I always understand why they make those choices at the points in their lives that they are. And isn't that what feminism is about? The right for women to choose their lives even if I don't agree with their choices.

These days, I watch everything where the women are portrayed as strong, badass, kind, either single, divorced, happily married, involved in romance, womance, as good school girl or not so good with studying, as tomboy, as feminine...
Because, yes, we can be everything we want.
GIRL POWER!!!

Thanks, redfox, for a lovely essay.

My first forays into Kdramaland were sageuks, and I discovered the joys of swordfights. Like you, I'm a fan of Teacher, Jang Hyuk, and Kang Dong-won -- all guys who do their own stunts. Imagine my surprise and delight when I discovered Ha Ji-won in DUELIST. Eventually I got around to watching her in DAMO, too. I love it when she kicks butt.

I loved Seo Hyun-jin's turn as Seolnan in THE KING'S DAUGHTER, SU BAEK HYANG as she transformed from a naive country bumpkin into a highly-principled badass with brains. Her dogged progress through basic training revealed her to be a better soldier than the many men who washed out. Her no-nonsense interactions with her brothers-in-arms were amiable and loyal. And when the Crown Prince finally realized he was falling for her, she still retained the use of her gray matter. Okay, there was some noble idiocy, but it was for the good of the kingdom. Her name meant "Protector of Paekche," and she fully lived up to it. ;-)

Love, love, love this post. <3
I couldn't agree more. I only started watching dramas last year, and the only difference between what your journey and mine, is that I strong female characters attracted me from the start. I can't bear to watch a drama with the weak female lead, because I just feel so frustrated and so bad for her. But bring in a sassy, sharp, or strong woman, and I can root for her all the way. Romances with such female leads are a 'catnip' for me :) I like the male lead more in such cases, and obsessively follow the show to it's (usually) happy ending.

Yes for more good female characters in kdramaland!

Great post!

I don't know if I'd call myself a feminist per se, but don't particularly like it when anyone's a pushover, be it male or female, in a drama. I will always enjoy a badass character. I think it's only because the females in dramas are less likely to be badass that we enjoy it so much. In real life, I know tons of badass women, as it should be!

i'm in for six flying dragon still ??

When comes to badass woman....all I can think of is Ha Ji Won.
Damo and Empress Ki!!!
Having said that, Korea should learn a thing or two about writing badass female characters from China. They wrote plenty of interesting yet smart and full of sass heroines.

Lovely piece @redfox Your journey mirrored mine. I love strong female characters. They do not have to be the like the very basic definition of strong wherein they go and kick butts (which is awesome too), but they can be strong in other aspects.

As for romantic pair, equality is what I want in my drama OTP. They do not have to be strong on the same aspects. In fact, it is sometimes nicer to see the OTP complementing each other with their differences. I love my pair to be each other's support when the other is in need. A pair who gives each other space is important too. When one lets the other do what the s/he wants while the other cheers from the sidelines, that's one of the many marks of a great OTP.

I think my experience was a bit different because I was initially all about the sageuks and gender benders focused on heroic female characters (e.g., Jewel in the Palace, Queen Seon Duk, Dong Yi, Ja Myung Go, Damo, Hwang Jin Yi, Empress Ki, Painter in the Wind, Sungkyunkwan Scandal, etc.). It took me a while to branch out and accept other types of shows because I so often found the female characters appalling.

These days, I turn to Chinese series for my female-centered period drama fix, while I've become increasingly fond of male-centered Korean dramas set in contemporary settings, such as LAST, Misaeng, Police Squad 38, Secret Forest, Tunnel, etc. In most of these, the women are actually smart and likable, too, but there is still a shortage of cool heroines in Korean dramas overall.

I completely agree with you! Ever since I've always been very fond of female leads with strong personality than those who's just a damsel in distress all the time, I mean like you said I still like scenes wherein the male lead gets to save the girl and be her Superman but it gets tiring if it happens all throughout the show.

right now the female character I adore the most is byeon hyeyoung (LEE yuri ) in Father is strange. Love her character , she raised all the ryt points which most female want to raise in today's era.
Love that drama...great work.
Love from India

More independent female characters yes to that :) ! I still like "damsel in distress" situation, I can't help swooning ?. But I truly appreciate strong female characters that fight / take challenge for themselves like in Angry Mom or Twenty Again and lately Hye Young in Father is Strange ?

Bae Doo Na in FoS <3
Baek Jin Hee in Missing 9 <3
Ko Hyun Jung in anything <3

YES!!!!! More often than not I get very frustrated at shows when a female character fails to have any sort of agent - nothing's going to happen if you don't DO anything! It makes me happy that there are lots of beanies out here who are on the same front - more strong independent women who don't necessarily need a man!

Thanks for this @redfox
I share your view as well.

May I also add that I also really appreciate the badass "older" female characters as well...

Kim Mi-kyung (the real superwoman ajumma!)

Feminism doesn’t mean that girls rule and men drool. It means they stand on equal levels. It is just as much about men’s rights as about women’s.

*claps* You are absolutely right @redfox!
And thank you for writing this wonderful piece... Though I didn't start like you did (not an action loving girl) I am right there with you in wanting kick- ass heroines! I think that is why we usually meet in comment threads of same shows :)

I loved this article. I only begin watching Kdramas/Movies in April 2016 while on bed rest recovering from extensive surgery as the result of an accident. And, as a more mature woman ( while enjoying all the dramas I watched) how women are portrayed, too often, as needing to be "rescued" dismayed me. As a woman, I know how capable we are of taking care of ourselves as well as those we care about. I attributed my "issues" with how too many females in Kdramas are portrayed to my having a western culture orientation. And now, you write this and I am so happy to see that Asians women are also wanting how they are portrayed on screen to change. You named several Actresses whom you felt portrayed strong and intelligent females and I already know about one of them: Lee Bo Young. I really like her roles and am trying to view all of her work. Please keep up the great work; Dramabean is one of my favorite sites.

I was waiting to read something written by you, redfox, and you definitely didn't disappoint! Thanks for such a well-written piece.

I have always looked to dramas (especially adaptations of Chinese kungfu novels) for examples of strong female protagonists. In kungfu sagas, like in Korean sageuks, female characters are often skilful wielders of the sword, as well as other forms of martial arts. And when fantastical elements are included, they can also be capable of superhuman powers, or other black magic. It is a landscape littered with strong women who manage to have it all: beauty, brains and bravado. They manage to be so physically strong, yet (at least those depicted on screen) still remain lithe and slender, not appearing at all butch or over-muscled. (Never becoming, say, that Terminator lady.) They lead armies, seduce kings, mastermind the downfall of nations...and basically march to more of a femme fatale tune, than any dumbed-down Candy beat.

I've...sort of lost my train of thought, but I think my point was that I deliberately look for these kinds of 'legendary' women in sageuks and period pieces...and that I found your examples very fitting. : )

I agree in that over the years I've started to appreciate empowered heroines over weak traditional heroines that needed saving. I especially liked that in SW DoBongSoon the main guy was caring and gentle, rather than the aggressive "manly man" type. Same for WLF Kim Bok Ju.

I was honestly going to eye roll through this because so much of feminism is so misrepresented and it's like you said "women rule men drool" kind of attitude. But I really appreciate that you took a mature and well versed understanding of this issue and how it can be portrayed in dramas. I think k-dramas are getting better at this and giving us a lot more strong females which does not also downplay the male roles as well.

One of the trends I am loving about dramas lately is how they are becoming more women-centric. A lot of dramas in the past, even if they were rom-coms or romances, the dramas tended to center more on the men. I like that dramas are starting to be more about the friendships between the women. I'm getting tired of the rom-coms where the secondary woman is a manipulative bitch whose only identity is her love of the main guy and her hate of the main girl. I love when the secondary girl is a friend and companion to the main character who has her own romance and story that is separate from the main girl. High Society, Fight My Way, Goblin, all did this and I loved them for it. Great article, which I agree with completely.

Thank you for postiga my store GODDAMN AUTOCORRECT I cant any more a woman ma be strong but autocorrect is strong et. STRONG ET. STRONGER. I might have concentrated on certain type this time but I know strong ladestunud - LADIES, YOU DAMN TWIT! ometi... COME in many sharks. SHAPES! Darth to smartphones. DEATH. not Darth

Oh redfox, your essay is a WOW ?! My first kdrama female love is Kim Sam Soon, who wielded a pastry knife and a sharp tongue and she did pretty well!

Feminism should embrace any kind of women from any kind of background, culture, system of believe, or race, any kind of women who either she likes wrist grabbing, forced kiss, a heroine being saved by hero every single times!, Kim Eun-sook's kind of romance, badass heroine, candy type heroine, it doesn't really matter as long as we support each other to fullfill our best potential and grow as a person, a mother, a daughter, a wife, a single career woman, or what have you. Feminist who try to exclude other woman from feminism should just relearn what is a feminism is all about.

This is SO ME!! I used to love those dramas where the guy would swoop in and save the girl, but now I want me some fierce, independent, well-written women characters. I've finally gotten around to watching 6FD (on episode 46!), and Han Yeri is soo badass so I did an internal squeal when I saw that first screencap!

omg yes. i agree with you on so many levels. when i first started watching dramas 10+ years ago, i was nothing but a lame tween fangurling over eye candy and romanticizing about a rom-com Cinderella story. Don't get me wrong, I still watch them now (LOLLLL)..... but as i am watching every step and decision our lovely heroine makes, it just mind boggles me how most of the time the writers portray our heroine as a strong willed female at the beginning but then does something later on that is just sooo unlike the character that i thought she was suppose to portray.

In terms of recent dramas, I have high hopes for our oldest daughter, Hae Young, in Father is Strange. She is someone who knows what she believes in and knows what she wants. I rarely watch long sitcoms but I am willing to take part in the long run for her!

"Feminism doesn’t mean that girls rule and men drool. It means they stand on equal levels. It is just as much about men’s rights as about women’s. There shouldn’t be that much difference in their attitude and dreams since both are humans who only exist once on this Earth."
Well said redfox :)

Yaaaas indeed! At some point, the mindless enjoyment turns into uneasy questions. "Yeah, wasn't that scene in Secret Garden kinda rape-y?" "Hmm, why was Ra-On's spunky character sacrificed for saguek conventions when MDBC didn't start out by following them?" My favourite feminista so far has been Jang Hye-Sung in I Hear Your Voice and her frenemy, Seo Do-Yeon. They are very much their own prickly yet progressing persons!

I actually like dramas because their main focus (in general) is on telling a compelling/heartfelt story, and that is why I like dramas.

I also never understood why “strong female” must equate with masculine characteristics? A woman can be strong in her character, in her endurance, in her smarts, heck even in her kindness. She doesn’t need to be able to kickass in order to be considered strong to me.

Lastly, the type of female characters I like are “good” female characters (i.e. characters that feel real and are multi-dimensional, and who move the story forward alongside the male lead), and I find that dramas are ahead of any other form of entertainment when it comes to this. Therefore I am thankful for S.K. dramas, because they provide me with entertainment, creative premises, and a variety of female characters (sassy or sweet, clueless or smart, with strengths and weaknesses), and good/sexy male characters ?

Hi Beane. I really liked your article. I'm writing with the google translator. I am Argentina and I do not know much English. I tell you that I never liked to see women in that submissive and useless position. I like dramas with strong, independent women. But luckily lately it seems that we have become fashionable and have more prominence. I hope to continue like this, we are half of humanity. I love that men look, but I want women capable of shining alike. I love Kim Mi-kyung, I have not seen her in a drama for a while. Thanks for your post