Female students stand up for themselves = 🎉
Male student apologises for not intervening = 👍🏻
Male student consoles female student with this nugget of wisdom:
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    My sentiments exactly. The Show was doing so well, then wham! Fail.

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      I had literally heaved a sigh of relief and then this happened and I began to laugh hysterically because WHY DO I KEEP SUBJECTING MYSELF TO THIS?

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        That line is definitely cringey! But I would have reacted toward that scene much more negatively if we didn’t get the girls standing up for themselves before and also together punishing the guys the day after. In the end I think since Tae-hee had been teased for a long time she needed to have at least one friendly interaction with men as part of the recovery process. Also since I really like her character, I just want her to find happiness, with this Sunbae and/or with her girlfriends!

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          I will try and view that scene the way you described it Kimbap. But it just comes across as poor timing to me – I wish he’d said it on another day.

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            As much as I want Tae-hee to be happy romantically (if that’s what she wants), I am not all that excited by this Sunbae character. He has the seniority and therefore the perceived power to speak out against all those despicable boys during the whole festival preparation meeting, but he chose not to, unlike TA Yeon who did immediately after finding out about it.

            Even for tertiary characters, maybe the show will allocate a little time to show both Mi-rae and his growth as people for me to really get behind this ship (if there is one.)

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            Well pointed out kimbap! ^^ I hope so too!

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          Like I said on my wall, I can’t decide if this show is trying to be a feminist piece or not.

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          I’m afraid I think his attempt is a slightly less malignant version of the same problem. It is clear he is well intended and a “nice guy”, and Tae-Hee responded positively to his attempt at comforting her, but none of it addresses the crux of the matter: no-one is entitled to dictate others’ appearances or make anyone feel less of a girl/boy/person on the basis of whether one conforms to some arbitrary set of norms. We don’t exist in the world to be attractive to other people, and finding a romantic or sexual partner isn’t an indicator of one’s success or worthiness as a person.

          It’s like the show is so close to actually following through on its message of “inner worth”. And then it swerves and goes: “But do not worry! Somebody will kiss you someday! And that’s what happiness is.”

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            Yup. My exact words. By closing the day with this guy validating her appearance, the Show is giving this guy the final word on Tae Hee’s situation.

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            Guys like me who find chubby girls like you attractive

            Not

            I find you attractive.

            I have a problem with the wording. Does he only like her cause she’s chubby? That’s no different. :/

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            Hear hear @beannirira! What you described is the best possible version of the story, but unfortunately I have adjusted (more like “lowered”) my expectation for dramas mostly because I see that I have very different set of cultural values than the ones which are demonstrated again and again in almost all K-dramas (actually often in many western dramas as well.)

            In K-dramas, you see that girls are excited when guys compliment them as pretty, and they themselves often ask that question. It is almost like a precursor to the question “do you like me?” So again and again the idea of physical attractiveness is a prerequisite for romance seems like it is intrinsically set in the culture. And gosh, don’t get me started on the homophobia and almost the complete absence of the LGBTQ community in Asian dramas.

            So when I see a drama like Gangnam Beauty, despite some of its problematic writing, I am just tickled that at least ONE show is attempting in a serious way tackling the issue of the SK’s (or the rest of the world) obsession of appearance.

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          It is indeed the eternal dilemma in watching any tv show: will this show continuously invalidate my personhood or no? And given the strong likelihood it will probably engage in some form of sexist, homophobic, racist and/or ableist dehumanisation, where is my tolerance level? Some days my tolerance threshold is higher than others. Some days the shows surprise me by being more critical than I’d expected or hoped for. So it’s a game of Russian roulette each time.

          But, I guess, for the most part, I’m of the opinion: TRY HARDER, SHOW. YOU CAN DO IT. BUT I AM NOT GIVING YOU 🍪 FOR THIS HALF-ASSED ATTEMPT.

          I wish people could filter me from their fanfeeds. I do feel bad for stomping on anyone’s joy. But then I also wish this show didn’t make me feel sad.

          tl;dr? Let’s 💣💥 the patriarchy

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    If only! Unfortunately everything he says around that quote confirms that he’s saying that she needn’t worry because some guys are attracted to plump or fat girls. Phew, eh?

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    It is more like he is one of the “good ones”. (He is literally told that he is the best of the bunch by this girl.) The other male students have been telling the female students how they could make themselves more attractive and be “real” girls, e.g. lose weight, grow their hair, wear figure-hugging clothes, and smile more. This character hasn’t done that and he is trying to be nice. But he’s still operating on the basis that the ultimate validator of a woman’s worth is whether men find her attractive or not.

    And… it is just … so tiring.

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