What can the songs of BTS and Blackpink, the television show Squid Game, and the films Parasite and Kim Ji-young: Born 1982 teach us about gender roles in contemporary Korea? What roles do writers, musicians, and filmmakers play in shaping our thinking about sex and gender? How do competing ideas about sex shape the current system of cinematic, television, and popular music genres? These questions are explored through case studies of Korean popular media, while the course simultaneously provides a broad introduction to the field of women, gender, and sexuality studies. Topics include privilege, class, inequality, masculinity, femininity, eating disorders, beauty ideals, marriage, family relationships, reproductive rights, housework, intimacy, cross-dressing, and violence against women.
