Escape From Gender Stereotype and Conformity. Yes or No?

                             Escape From Gender Stereotype and Conformity. Yes or No?

An interesting aspect of the film My Sassy Girl was definitely how the gender roles were assigned and portrayed. Korea is in tradition a Confucius-minded society where men and women are assigned with defined roles. Men are the head of the household and make the decisions. Women, on the other hand, “belong” to their men. Women are expected to be gentle, obedient, and behave and dress in certain ways that are considered “lady-like”. In fact, women are not supposed to show their faces for others to see. They cover up with clothes and only go out at night.

In part one of the film, however, the protagonists and their characters were quickly established in a completely reversed way that somehow challenged my typical view on traditional Korean values but in an intriguing way. Gyeon-woo, the boyfriend, stripped himself of masculinity when he introduced himself in first person narrative. In a comical way, he introduced how he was raised and expected to be like a girl. Meanwhile, the first introduction of the girlfriend was on the subway train where she actively challenged a young man to give out his seat to the elderly. This was atypical as she publicly embarrassed the man. The man was depicted rather weak. He was unable to talk back but to run away. The camera angle also enforced this idea by shooting from one standing over the other. At the train station platform, she was left their passing out on the bench, publicly displaying herself and her body for men walking by to look at. Furthermore, when the interaction between the two characters was constructed later on, the girl was dominating entirely over Gyeon-woo. For instance, Gyeon-woo was often given choices  that were not really choices. For instance, the coffee, Gobangee…etc. In the end, it was her who had the power to decide (sounds familiar in traditional culture?). Most of these unconventional portrayals were depicted in a comical way. For instance, the switch of shoes was a visual motif in possibility in switching gender roles. This comical representation of the non-classical gender roles was probably very popular amongst the female viewer. Was this indeed what the film tried to show us? If so, how does this make the film a big hit and a part of the Korean popular culture? Perhaps, this was prompted by the gradual shift in gender perceptions in the modern Korean society as we moved from late 1900s into the 21^st century.

Alternatively, in part two of the film, the girl was reminded to be feminine. She needed to be obedient to men, not drink too much, and surrender to men by not trying to win if she wants to find a man or get married. In fact, Gyeon-woo said that it was okay to him but to other men she must behave. Could this imply the stereotypes within the society were still at large and despite her sassy effort, she still needed to conform to the standards? Evidently, her behaviours were drastically differed from that point on when she discovered her love for Gyeon-woo. In fact, in the opening narrative, there was clear debate between attractiveness being “my type” and how much he can tolerate her behaviour. Later in the mountains, she also yelled across to confess that “I thought I was different but I’m just a helpless girl”. If this was to appeal to the male viewers, what did this signify? Perhaps, the film was telling us the society is still not ready to embrace this change in the assigned gender roles?