Crushing Gender Stereotypes of Women: A look at “Crush Landing on You”

I had never watched K-dramas, since I thought they were too dramatic. Too many coincidences, convenient destinies, rich people, family traumas… I’m not a big fan of these kinds of unrealistic stories. However, “Crush Landing on You” on Netflix got me so into it. One of the reasons was how it described female characters.

Women Are More Than “Strong”

In this story, most women are strong. In most Japanese drama series, “strong women” are usually described as workaholics, arrogant, alone and viewed as pathetic. They are always strong no matter where or when they are as if they have only one face. I think I am a “strong” type of woman, but those descriptions always leave me choking since I have never had such a singular, stereotypical face in real life. People should have many faces depending on situations, but the flat description of “strong women” in Japan is very limited and stereotyped in a way that probably never reflects reality.

In this drama, Seri, who is the female main character, has many faces. While she is super arrogant and a workaholic CEO in Seoul, she is very caring towards a community in North Korea. When she is alone, she looks uneasy and lost like a little girl. Dan, who is the fiancé of the male main character, Jung Hyuk, shows many faces, too. She basically stays cool, but when she visits her fiancé in Switzerland, she looks uneasy and tries to follow him as if the world depends on it. She puts on a childish face and acts stubborn when her lack of relationship experience is pointed out. She weeps when she finds that her fiancé chases another woman.

By not only sharing the stereotypical "strong” faces of women but also a variety of faces not directly associated with “strength,” the female characters are very human and realistic even though the story is unbelievably crazy. There’s something to say about the strength in vulnerability.

The power balance between men and women is not biased either. For example, Seri always gives Jung Hyuk realistic come-backs even though she receives romantic words from him. She is never a fragile defenseless girl who just gets flattered or hurt by guys’ words. She always shares her feelings and thoughts in her coherent words, and I feel it’s a true strength. It’s totally different from shallow stereotyped images such as “workaholic, arrogant, and alone.”

Couple’s Teamwork

This drama is not a story about a macho military man and a defenseless girl who needs to be saved by him. They support each other. In the first half of this series, the locale of the story is in North Korea, so Jung Hyuk protects Seri and she falls for his behavior. But in the second half, when the locale moves to Seoul, their roles are switched. Though he comes to Seoul to protect her and actually did so, she tells him that she can protect herself. And she actually does.

Most events happened to them equally. In North Korea, Jun Hyuk has Seri live in his house and supports her life, but in Seoul, Seri has Jun Hyuk live in her house and supports his life. In North Korea, she waits for him while he works, but in Seoul, he waits for her while she works. In North Korea, he was injured protecting her, but even the same thing happens to her in Seoul. They are described as relatively equal.

The ending is also great. It is not making a woman (yes, it’s usually the woman especially in Asian countries) give up her life to get together with a man and live “happily ever after.” They find a way to get older together while they honor their own lives and careers. In fact, it’s their only option to happiness.

While many romantic stories include inequality between men and women, such as one sacrificing oneself for the other, and sometimes it’s described as a beautiful thing, the couple’s power balance in this drama is quite refreshing.

No Gender Biased Context

There are no gender-biased descriptions in this drama. For example, Seri’s father asked not his first son but her to succeed his company (the first son says, “The first son should succeed the business!” again and again, so this makes great contrast against the father’s new values). Also, there’s no context or discussion regarding Seri’s marital status or baby plans. It does not define her. She is described as a business person, plain and simple.

The most impressive scene to me was where Seri sews Jung Hyuk’s ripped uniform after he was injured. She says, “I’m the person who handles Asian fashion industry.” She sews not because she is a woman but because she is a fashion expert. Also, there are the scenes that show Jung Hyuk cooking and serving food to Seri, but never show Seri preparing a meal. Sewing and cooking have been regarded as a women’s area traditionally, and those gender roles are still deep rooted in Japan or Korea, but these depictions swapped those gender roles based on bias.

I am always concerned about how female characters are described in movies or drama series since I deeply care about gender equality and diversity. Therefore, I cannot fully enjoy these stories in most cases, especially when it comes to Japanese ones. I had been thinking the characteristics on K-dramas were similar for a long time, but I was wrong. The story itself is great, but the women of this drama in particular are realistic and comforting to watch.

(The original post in Japanese was featured in Netflix Japan’s campaign ad in Nov, 2020 as is in the top image)