Villainess Protagonists’ Performative Acts as the Representation of Modern Femininity

Authors

  • Vivian Graciela Chertian Petra Christian University

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.21512/lc.v16i2.8375

Keywords:

villain protagonist, performative act, modern femininity, shojo webtoon

Abstract

The research discussed a different representations of femininity through the villainesses and heroines in two Korean webtoons (web cartoons). Traditionally, villainesses were depicted as undesirable antagonists as they did not fit into the frame of traditional femininity or were merely viewed as sexually attractive. However, the traditional aspects of femininity were now contested by the villainess protagonists. Utilizing Butler’s theory of gender performativity along with Kress and van Leeuwen’s visual analysis, the protagonists’ and antagonists’ thoughts, actions, and appearance were analyzed. A descriptive qualitative analysis was conducted on two webtoons, The Villainess Reverses the Hourglass, and It Looks Like I’ve Fallen into the World of a Reverse Harem Game. The studied data are selected from chapters 1-45 in each webtoon. The results show that the villainess protagonists are depicted as more independent, have more power, and occasionally dress in a masculine way, while the heroines-turned-antagonists are illustrated as a dependent, lack power, and always dressed femininely. In this case, the heroines-turned-antagonists’ traits represent Korea’s traditional notion of femininity. Meanwhile, the villainess protagonists possess traits opposing the heroines’ traits. Positioning the villainesses as protagonists and heroines as antagonists show a clash of modern vs. traditional notion of femininity, and putting the ‘villainesses’ as the desirable protagonists imply how their representation of femininity is considered more favorable in the modern context.

Dimensions

Plum Analytics

Author Biography

Vivian Graciela Chertian, Petra Christian University

Vivian Graciela Chertian is currently a graduate student in Petra Christian University's Master's Program in Literature. She is interested in studies regarding media and representation.

References

Akdemir, N. (2018). Deconstruction of gender stereotypes through fashion. European Journal of Social Science Education and Research, 5(2), 185-190. https://doi.org/10.26417/ejser.v5i2.p185-190.

Ali, O. E. (2021). Visual analysis: Representational and interactive meanings in The Remarried Empress. Transcultural Journal of Humanities & Social Sciences, 2(3), 15-37. https://doi.org/10.21608/tjhss.2021.206446.

Butler, J. (2010). Gender trouble. London: Routledge.

Butler, J. (2021). Performative acts and gender constitution: An essay in phenomenology and feminist theory. In C. R. McCann, S. Kim, & E. Ergun (Eds.), Feminist Theory Reader Local and Global Perspectives (5th Ed., pp. 353-361). London: Routledge.

Clavel-Vazquez, A. (2018). Sugar and spice, and everything nice: What rough heroines tell us about imaginative resistance. The Journal of Aesthetics and Art Criticism, 76(2), 201-212. https://doi.org/10.1111/jaac.12440.

Eisend, M. (2019). Gender roles. Journal of Advertising, 48(1), 72-80. https://doi.org/10.1080/00913367.2019.1566103.

Elfving-Hwang, J. (2010). Representations of femininity in contemporary South Korean women’s literature. Leiden: Global Oriental.

Genz, S., & Brabon, B. A. (2018). Postfeminism: Cultural texts and theories. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press.

Hoskin, R. A., & Blair, K. L. (2022). Critical femininities: A ‘new’ approach to gender theory. Psychology and Sexuality, 13(1), 1-8. https://doi.org/10.1080/19419899.2021.1905052.

Jeong, J. (2020). Webtoons go viral? The globalization processes of Korean digital comics. Korea Journal, 60(1), 71-99. https://doi.org/10.25024/kj.2020.60.1.71.

Jin, D. Y. (2015). Digital convergence of Korea’s webtoons: Transmedia storytelling. Communication Research and Practice, 1(3), 193-209. https://doi.org/10.1080/22041451.2015.1079150.

Khan, S. A., Shahid, Z., Khan, I. U., & Rose, S. (2020). Why bloodthirsty monsters? A multimodal analysis of incorporation of the supernatural to symbolize racism and othering in webtoons. Elementary Education Online, 19(4), 4040-4049. https://dx.doi.org/10.17051/ilkonline.2020.04.764813.

Kim, T. (2020). Media’s representation of female soldiers and their femininity: A case study of Korean webtoon Beautiful Gunbari. In D. Y. Jin (Ed.), Transmedia Storytelling in East Asia: The Age of Digital Media (pp. 139-155). London: Routledge.

Mckay, A., Moore, S., & Kubik, W. (2019). Empowerment without feminism? Sexual objectification post-feminist style. International Journal of Gender and Women’s Studies, 7(1), 69-78. https://doi.org/10.15640/ijgws.v7n1p9.

Minowa, Y., Maclaran, P., & Stevens, L. (2019). The femme fatale in Vogue: Femininity ideologies in Fin-de-siècle America. Journal of Macromarketing, 39(3), 270-286. https://doi.org/10.1177/0276146719847748.

Park, J. W. B. (2019). Politicising the manhwa representations of the comfort women: With an emphasis on the Angoulême International Festival controversy. East Asia, 36(1), 37-65. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12140-019-09307-9.

Sharmin, T., & Sattar, S. (2018). Gender politics in the projection of “Disney” villains. Journal of Literature and Art Studies, 8(1), 53-57. https://doi.org/10.17265/2159-5836/2018.01.006.

Sim, H. (2020). Acting ‘like a woman’: South Korean female action heroines. Journal of Japanese and Korean Cinema, 12(2), 110-123. https://doi.org/10.1080/17564905.2020.1840032.

Storey, J. (2018). Cultural theory and popular culture: An introduction (8th Ed.). London: Routledge.

Tehseem, T., Sibtain, M., & Obaid, Z. (2018). Exploring gender stereotypes in media adverts: A multimodal analysis. Journal of Social Sciences and Humanities, 57(2), 155-175. https://doi.org/10.46568/jssh.v57i2.42.

Windsor, E. J. (2015). Femininities. In International Encyclopedia of the Social & Behavioral Sciences (2nd Ed., pp. 893-897). Elsevier. https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-08-097086-8.35015-2.

Downloads

Published

2022-11-23
Abstract 1039  .
PDF downloaded 673  .