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Thank you for reading, glad you enjoyed it!

Hello, dear Penel, it's good to read you again! Thank you for reading and the overall support given to my articles! Next one shouldn't take as long to finish this time around :).

At this point I'm doing my best to finish TATGWLM just for completion's sake, but it will go into my "do not recommend" list for sure.

Thank you for reading and joining the conversation! Indeed, I think it feels like a smack once you see the actual data and I'm pretty sure the number of my sample should be smaller (since some dramas have no tags) which would mean that the percentages should probably be higher.

As to the comparison, that was initially the intention of this series of articles but since the tag system got implemented until October of 2017, very few dramas before that are tagged. So comparing dramas today with dramas of the past based on data (tags) would be impossible unless someone where to tag all previous dramas.

That said, I do think past dramas must have been worst in how they portrayed female characters and romance.

And therein lies one of my biggest peeves... inconsistently written FLs. Lately, I've been watching so many shows were lazy writers tell us (through character dialogue) that the FL is strong in order to get away with not showing her be strong. And just because you tell me something, doesn't mean I'll believe you. There's a reason you get saying like: "show, don't tell" or "actions speak louder than words" and not the other way around. Rugal is one such drama and one I would only recommend if I was out to get you. Was it Love? isn't as bad, but it's not good either. It does have it's moments, however, so I still watch as it airs (unlike with "To All the Guys Who Loved Me", which I struggle to keep watching).

And yes, give Into the Ring a try when you have the chance. It's very lighthearted despite the political tag, so I find it easy to watch and I enjoy the main leads. There's also a role reversal in this one, with the FL being more reckless, active, aggressive and becoming the ML's boss. While the ML is quite, socially awkward and more emotionally sensible.

Interesting, I actually feel the opposite. She mentioned she wants to be "Wonder Woman" rather than "Cinderella" yet the story treats her as the latter. She hasn't been able to do anything by herself. She's unable to even stand up for her daughter against other kid's parents without one of the guys stepping in to help.

Full disclosure, though, I'm not a fan of Song Ji Hyo. Apart from this drama, I've seen her in "Lovely Horribly" which was a train-wreck (even wrote a review for it because it was just SO bad). Unfortunately, she hasn't been able to sell the emotion of her character on this one either. On moments when you think she should cry, she just scrunches up her face. The one reason I'm still watching that one is actually for the relationship between the daughter and the father. I think it says something when the child actors are able to exude more emotion than the grown up playing the mom. :/

I think it also doesn't help that I'm watching it on the same day as "Into the Ring" which is overall a superior drama IMO.

Thank you for reading and leaving a comment, Macy. Indeed, it's quite depressing once you analyze the data, though I expected much worse, tbh. Having said that, I wouldn't mind getting more FLs who are actually portrayed as successful rather than in crisis, especially in Romance where it's prevalent to have her almost homeless!

I'm currently watching "Was it Love?" and just yesterday it hit me that this would've made for a perfect example for this article. Not only do we get a FL whose a single mother and in deep financial crisis (in debt), but we get 4 RICH and SUCCESSFUL guys pursuing her. The one guy (school teacher) I thought was middle class turned out to have a loaded mother who wants him to inherit everything! It was so disappointing that none of her pursuers ended up being just a regular guy.

Because, I'm with you on that point. I much prefer it when the leads are just regular people, middle-class or even struggling to find a job (like with LIVE). However, even then, I'd like them to sort of be in the same boat rather than have the ML be better off (even if by a little).

Thank you very much :), I'm glad you enjoyed it!

Aw, thank you for the support, Yuanwei. I felt bad that the first time you reached out I couldn't make time to get back into this hobby. Thankfully, the second time was the charm with me rather than the third!

And yes, the next installment shouldn't take as long since I have the data already assembled and digested. I also finished most of the graphics (and therefore have the structure of how I'll move from one subject to the next). Now all I need is to sit down, format and write the transition between the subjects! Hopefully, I'll be able to make some headway this weekend!

Thank you for reading and taking the time to drop a comment. I won't lie, I struggled a bit with getting back into writing articles. I tried my best to visualize the data so it wasn't a complicated analysis and was, instead, easy to digest and entertaining. Thankfully the reception so far has been great!

Thank you for reading and commenting! I agree, "Her Private Life" actually shows a very involved friendship, even if pre-established. Of course, it also showcases a literal bromance between the ML and his neighbor (leaving it vague in case someone hasn't seen it). And I guess because we saw the evolution of the bromance vs the sismance, that one stood out more for me.

As to a show that showcased ONLY sismance and did the whole "frenemies to sisters" perfectly (IMO) I'd have to give it to Spring Turns to Spring. Of course, that one isn't categorized as Romance (and shouldn't be), but it focuses on the friendship building between two successful ladies.

Do check that show out (it's I believe only 10 episodes and you can find it on Netflix). I really enjoyed it. It felt progressive and old school at the same time.

And thank you, yeah the graphics took a while. Especially going back to some shows to find specific scenes for some of the gifs, which hopefully helped me established properly some of my points. I've already started working on the next article, so I shouldn't take a year to write it as I did with this one ;).

Thank you very much, a lot of care went into not only the writing portion, but the visuals as well. :)

Definitely. In fact, back when I wrote the first two articles, I'd already assembled the data for this one but due to some personal issues, I ended up unable to finish the article. Fast forward to a couple of months ago when Yuanwei gave the first digital nudge, I decided that rather than work with that data, I should re-check it and what do you know! I guess a LOT of people started tagging because the numbers were surprisingly different and my hypothesis went out the window.

So, suffice to say, when it comes to tagging the FL, users tend to use more positive than negative tags. And a "weak FL"? It's barely used! (Though I did tag "Born Again" with that one. I've never felt like a FL deserved to be tagged as "weak" as much as I did while frustratingly muscling through that show!)

Thank you for reading and commenting! You made an excellent point. Traditionally, a woman who was unashamed of her sexuality, who was successful and rich was always portrayed as a villain. We've come far from those times but, as you've realized, not far enough. In one of my previous articles (part 2, I believe) I mentioned that when it comes to a balance of power, usually we see the 2FL getting portrayed as rich, famous, successful or all of the above; but very rarely do we see the FL being portrayed as such.

Your point about vilifying successful women made me think of the currently airing "Was it Love?" and "To all the Guys Who Loved Me" wherein we see successful, rich and influential older women portrayed and treated as a villain or hostile presence. If you haven't watched it yet, I highly recommend "Big Issue". It starts off questionable in the editing department, but gets better as the series continues. More importantly, we get a successful, rich and morally ambiguous (more practical than emotional) FL paired with a ML who's in financial and emotional crisis, who has a straight set of morals but who, ultimately, grows to respect and love our FL.

Thank you for reading, glad you enjoyed the article!

Thank you for reading and leaving a comment! I was wondering why I didn't see these two shows within my samples and that's because they aren't categorized as Romance. Having said that, some great sismance is indeed happening outside of the romance genre. 2019's Spring Turns to Spring is a GREAT example of a drama that focuses on building the relationship between two VERY different women and it's a great watch for sure!

Thank you for sharing your thoughts. I agree on both points. I recently finished "It's Okay not to be Okay" and LOVE the show from beginning to end, DESPITE it showing some questionable scenes bordering on sexual harassment. I laughed at them (and enjoyed them, I won't lie), but I was aware that if you were to change the roles, the scenes would play quite creepy.

So it's fair to enjoy something because we KNOW it's fiction. It's another thing to hope for that in real life. That said, I would love to see more shows start to alter the script. Extracurricular is one of said shows, wherein the ML is the one in financial and emotional crisis while the FL comes from a rich family, is popular at school and makes things happen. Though I know (going by the comment section) many disliked the FL of that drama, I LOVED her because she was interesting, active and a heroine of her own story.

Hi, Nonie, thank you for reading and commenting. That is a good question. I think there is a difference between passively absorbing something and being aware when something is less than ideal but still enjoying it precisely because it's fiction. I think we're still a long way to go before the media (worldwide) starts to establish/incorporate strong, successful and independent female characters as "normal". Right now, with baby steps, we're seeing Female Leads portrayed a bit stronger and more independent than years past. However, we still only get one strong female character in a show rather than several ones, so there's room to grow on that account.

As to still watching Rich ML/ Poor FL scenarios, you certainly shouldn't stop enjoying those. It's good practice simply to be aware of that dis-balance of power. And, of course, a way in which we could help change the "standard" is by supporting shows that take a risk showcase a successful Female Lead. Shows that come to mind are: Big Issue, Hyena, Hotel Del Luna, Search WWW, Mr. Sunshine and It's Okay not to be Okay. All of these dramas showcase strong women, with a sense of agency (purpose) who are also successful/renowned in their particular crafts.

Loved this from start to finish. Highly recommend!