This research study helped to understand the media effect of Korean pop culture on the gender identity of Malaysian men. Media Effect of Korean Pop Culture towards the Gender Identity of Malaysian University Male Student Name: Student ID Signature. Therefore, this study will look at the media effect of Korean popular culture on the gender identity of Malaysians.
One of the most controversial issues is the beauty trend that the Korean wave raised. How is the acceptance of the Malaysian man on the new gender identity from Korean popular culture. Because Korean popular culture plays an important role in shaping expressions of gender identity.
In conclusion, this research reveals the media effect of Korean pop culture on the traditional gender identity of Malaysian men. While the Korean wave is rising worldwide, the influence of Korean popular culture on gender identity in masculinity-oriented countries has not been studied in depth.
Literature Review and Theoretical Framework
The new beauty ideals and expressions influenced the new model of masculinity called "pan-East Asian soft masculinity". The term is. One of the key concepts of social identity theory is identifying with a social group such as one's gender. Indeed, the growth of the Korean wave had a significant impact on the new forms of masculinity as Jung (2010) refers to this growing and powerful new approach to masculinity as "kkonminam" masculinity also known as soft masculinity.
Additionally, social media has one of the most pervasive and powerful impacts on how we perceive men and women. Soft masculinity expressed in Korean popular culture is becoming increasingly popular in entertainment and everyday life. According to Yang (2013), young Asian men's bodies have been targets of the beauty industry since the 1990s.
Women are no longer the only targets of the beauty industry, but now men are also being targeted as the soft masculinity presented in Korean popular culture has influenced public perception. In many countries around the world, including Malaysia, the popularity of the Korean Gulf has become a hot topic. According to Chan (2018), South Korea capitalized on this trend and effectively exported Korean popular culture to the rest of the world.
Some of the Korean dramas included Korean cuisine, which sparked the interest of Malaysians in cooking. According to Ainsle (2017), soft masculinity in Korean popular culture becomes an ideal model of masculinity for Malaysians as the soft masculinity found in Hallyu conforms to ideals of personal expression and freedom instead of the restrictive types of masculinity that people associate with contemporary Malaysia. connected In the traditional mindset of the public, a man should have a muscular body and should not put on make-up as this is a practice for women only.
Therefore, the phenomenon of the changing identity of a man is considered a form of "new masculinity". Korean dramas are defined as female-coded texts as the fan base is predominantly female (Miyose & Engstrom, 2015).
Methodology
In other words, the researchers had to use their own judgment in the selection of respondents and select only those who best fit the purpose of the survey. In our research, we focused on discussing individual perceptions of the media effect of Korean pop culture on gender identity. Therefore, this sampling method was suitable for our research because we needed to collect the perspective of certain individuals in order to investigate the significant influence of the media effect of Korean pop culture on gender identity.
In this method, one of the interviewees gives the researcher the name of at least one additional potential interviewee, and so on, with the sample expanding like a snowball if more than one referral to interview is given (Kirchherr & Charles, 2018) and sampling will continue until the data is saturated. As this research used thematic analysis (Braun & Clarke, 2006), this research categorized the sampling method using data collection and project size. The primary means of data collection was conducted primarily through Microsoft teams with participants, while audio was recorded for research data analysis.
Apart from that, interview questions were set based on the general research questions and asked to each of the participants using an interview protocol to ensure validity. The researchers had to note the initial analysis of the respondents' opinions and perceptions and observe the data in detail to have possible ways to explore further. For example, in our research, we collected several codes about the perception of the media effect of Korean pop culture on the gender identity of Malaysian men.
In the last stage, the researchers had to make sure that all themes and sub-themes were related or relevant to the main topic of the research, and finally our data analysis was written (Maguire & Delahunt, 2017). To ensure the reliability and validity of the current research, we adopted a combination of Creswell and Miller procedures and Maxwell's validation checklist (Bashir et al., 2008). First, we recorded the perceptions of the interviewees in order to clarify the validity of the findings.
They generally agreed that the topics set adequately reflected their perspectives of the research study.
Data Analysis and Findings
Soft masculinity identity is more tender or softer in terms of characters and values. All the interviewees gave opinions about the Korean celebrities' soft masculinity through the internet website, social media applications such as Instagram, YouTube, Netflix, etc. Korean pop culture plays a dominant role and evokes soft masculinity in the East Asian popular culture.
They agreed that soft masculinity is a consequence and started in the Korean wave or Korean country because it plays a dominant role in Asian culture. I think most agree because most of this soft masculinity started in the Korean country or even in Japan, Japan. Korean media such as K-drama, K-pop, K-movie and others will influence gender identity and lead to soft masculinity.
Therefore, the daily exposure of the Korean media will eventually reshape the recognition of gender identity and lead to soft masculinity. In addition, the biggest difference between soft masculinity and hegemonic masculinity is the body image presented by them. I think this flower boy most likely likes a soft masculinity which is the same concept that a man is, a normal man with a good or nice physical appearance.”.
But with the development of the viruses I said just now, they will see that soft masculinity is just a normal thing for them in Malaysia. Most people are willing to try and learn about different cultures from other countries, which may lead to the high acceptance of soft masculinity in Malaysia. For the older generations, they will have more traditional thinking, so they will find it difficult to accept this kind of culture that is soft masculinity.
Since the culture is beyond what they know, they find it difficult to accept the changes in terms of soft masculinity.
Discussion and Conclusion
This revealed that these Korean men were feminized through close-ups of their smooth skin and silky hair, and the use of bright and colorful costumes of Korean male celebrities (Khai & Wahab, 2017). When the acceptance of the external influence is high, the influence power of the new culture will be easily consolidated and adapted to the public. Nevertheless, the male gender identity is reconstructed due to the influence of Korean culture in terms of their practices that contradict the traditional gender identity, which is called hegemonic masculinity.
As most of our interviewees mentioned, they agreed that they would also follow the trend of the Korean male celebrities and imitate their style as the aesthetics and preferences of the public no longer rested on traditional masculinity like Western culture. Therefore, the acceptance of the Korean wave among Malaysian men has been high, leading to the increasing popularity of flower boys when they tend to follow the trend. Although the Korean media effect was not the only factor we focus on in our research, it is the most important factor mentioned by almost all the interviewees.
All the informants mentioned that flower boys could not be categorized as hegemonic masculinity as they do not fulfill traditional gender identity. After discussing how Korean popular culture reconstructed gender identity and how open our society is, we could conclude that the acceptance of the new gender identity in Malaysia is high. As the population of our purposive sample is UTAR students, the high acceptance of the new gender identity at the university could be evidenced by our interviewees.
The dressing styles of most UTAR students when they appear on campus are of Korean trends. In addition, most of the informants stated that their friends around them are fans of certain Korean male celebrities, K-pop idols and Korean dramas. It also indicates why Korean popular culture transmitted by the media can smoothly merge and reconstruct gender identity in Malaysia, a country oriented towards masculinity and Islam, as the acceptance of the new gender identity is high.
First, the research design limitation due to our sample focused on the UTAR male students in Malaysia, and most of the students at UTAR are Chinese students. Moreover, the interview protocol was a limitation for our study because some questions used the terminology words of the study in the interview question. An analysis of the Korean wave as transnational popular culture: North American youth engaging through social media as TV becomes obsolete.
Interview Questions
