The Ugly Duckling and the Swan: Paradox in Asian Romantic Comedy
Abstract
This paper aims to explore the beauty logic and gender power structure in the feminine growth narrative of Asian romantic comedies. Taking the South Korean drama True Beauty and the Chinese drama The Pretty Li Hui Zhen as text objects, the study uses qualitative analysis to examine the relationship between the female protagonist’s appearance change and self-growth, the influence of male evaluation on female confidence in romantic relationships, and the shaping of power structure by the gender difference between the male and female protagonists. The findings show that feminine growth narrative in these dramas highly relies on beauty capital and male recognition, superficially emphasizing confidence and self-worth realization, however, actually reinforcing social aesthetic standards and patriarchal structures, which leads to a structural paradox. This analysis not only enriches the research on gender and aesthetics from a unique view by looking at Asian romantic comedies, but also reveals the paradoxical messages behind medias, which advocate for broader freedoms and possibilities across genders.
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