The Tale of Nokdu, Strong Woman Do Bong Soon & more: KDramas that broke away from the typical gender clichés

Countless articles talk about how KDramas perpetuate stereotypes,cliches and toxicity, and while they are true, there are some dramas that break those stereotypes too. Creating one kind of a character multiple times for a specific gender, always ends up putting it in a box. A male lead needs to be arrogant, rude, narcissistic, a tad bit violent. The female lead has to be submissive, the one taking care of the male lead, do aegyos, and cry. Well thankfully, some KDramas are creating characters out of these cliches.

Representation is powerful. Breaking boundaries is powerful. Showing role models portray a character that breaks stereotypes is powerful. And it also is something that the KDrama industry needs. So in this article, we’re bringing you a list of characters that broke the bounds of stereotypes. These characters had story arcs that have become a part of pop culture and shine as gems amongst the tamer plots of other shows and movies. So give this a read, and find out just which characters are the ones to look out for when looking for a drama away from cliches!

Fight For My Way

A wonderful drama through and through, Fight For My Way has barely any faults, if at all. A big part of what made the show great was the strength in the lead female character Choi Ae Ra (Kim Ji Won). Not one to settle in as an ordinary uber-feminine girl, Ae Ra took great strides in making something great of her life. Ditching jobs that offered no respect, standing up for herself, and even snatching up her dream job in a very game forward attitude, had Ae Ra getting fashioned into a ‘real’ role model. Also, the fact that she flat out confessed her feelings for Dong Man (Park Seo Joon), without being embarrassed or wilting in front of him, we could hear ‘shy girl’ stereotypes breaking all around. She is the perfect balance between sweet and fierce. A definite must watch for everyone out there.

The Tale of Nokdu

Keeping the drama vs webtoon theme aside,The Tale Of Nokdu quickly became one of the most talked about dramas within a few weeks of its release. A period drama, it conveys the idea of pockets of progressiveness that existed even decades ago. Rather than the same old women disguising themselves as men to fight or study (Mulan, Sungkyunkwan Scandal) we see Jeon Nokdu (Jang Dong Yoon) disguising himself as a woman to find out the truth behind his birth in a women-only village. A guy who isn’t jealous, who speaks in a high pitched voice, isn’t possessive and never gives up on the female lead? The Tale of Nokdu is the one for you.. 

Strong Woman Do Bong Soon

Even though lead character Bong Soon (Park Bo Young) possesses superhuman strength, the fact that she was able to actually use it in defence of others is an underrated thing. We do get the usual ‘Damsel in Distress’ overarching concept here, except that the ‘damsel’ here, is Ahn Min Hyuk (Park Hyung Sik). Another possible achievement is that Bong Soon is dressed as an ordinary girl - no muscles, no tomboy haircut or flashy, baggy mens clothes. She doesn’t act ‘manly’ and is like any other ordinary girl. Probably the best moment is when Bong Soon carries Min Hyuk in her arms when he gets shot! Funny, super adorable and definite stereotype breaking!

Hotel del Luna 

A complete gender cliche reversal, we see Gu Chan Sung and Jang Man Wol fall in love with one another - and even after knowing her past, Man Wol isn’t the one to hold grudges. He lets her be herself - bossy, crazy, and secretly caring. He definitely was a no nonsense guy that let himself be submissive at first, acting on the whims of Man Wol. Getting scared by her, being obedient, after a point of time, taking her crazy level head on - Chan Sung is THE guy! 

Bonus: 

Navillera

The reason we’ve listed this here, is that it defies all stereotypes. Whether it’s related to profession, a person or a person’s age - Navillera hits the ball out of the park for each of these. We have a young male ballet prodigy who with time, grows close with a 60-year-old man who wants to study ballet. Away from society’s and their neighbours' judgments, they wear tights and soar high each time they’re in the practice room. This list definitely would have been incomplete without Navillera! 

Also Read: EXCLUSIVE: DAY6 delve deep into their latest album, share the titles of their own autobiographies & more

So here are our favourite shows and moments that broke the ordinary stereotypes. What are yours? Let us know in the comments below!