Feminism in the Nineties’ South Korean Prime-Time Serial Dramas

Abstract

This brings into focus some notable shifts taking place in the nineties’ prime-time serial dramas. The erosion of the traditional notion of sexual norms and gender boundaries has been gradually recognized since the 1970s. Neverthe- less, television in the 1990s definitely marked the culmination of that process. For instance, Kylhon/Marriage (SBS, 1993) introduced a woman who exists outside social norms, not as a supporting character, but as a central character. Besides, the program represented its independent heroine as a sensible and identifiable character. Likewise, Mokyokt’angjip Namjadl/ Bathhouse People, for the first time in the history of South Korean television, explored the meaning and the implication of homemakers’ domestic labor quite extensively. As some of the most provocative shows of the nineties’ illustrate, many serial dramas usually deal with such agendas as economic independence (or more readily careerism), female sexual desire and everyday cultural practice.A question, however, is how to evaluate the way nineties’ prime-time dramas speak for women’s causes. It is a zero-sum game to look for a ‘politically corrective’ program considering the popular status of television entertainment. Instead, in this essay, I evaluate nineties’ television dramas in their own right. They offered improve- ments in the larger representational field: they stretched the thematic boundaries of the South Korean television industry and occasionally challenged the reigning conservative social and cultural sensibilities. I do not want to downplay these aspects.