Course:ASIA 367/ Webtoon Analysis/ Odd Girl Out Webtoon

Odd Girl Out Webtoon

Introduction

Odd Girl Out by the artist Morangji features the life of a small group of young girls in highschool with the protagonist being one of the girls, Nari. While this slice of life webtoon is highly entertaining, it also reflects some very core issues and problems that young girls face in South Korea. As we delve into the life of Nari, we see her struggling with finding a friend group to fit into due to her own beauty standards brought on by society and finding herself in conflicting thoughts due to disagreeing ideas between groups. The dynamics between the young group of girls becomes deeper as we understand the issues that each character has despite being considered the prettiest girls in school. We see through these episodes the effects of beauty standards on young girls, the difference in gender expectations, as well as different relationship dynamics and resulting bullying and classism that are very present in South Korea’s youth.

Link to Odd Girl Out Webtoon

Effect of Beauty Standards on Young Girls in South Korea

Body Image

High beauty standards have been increasingly affecting the social life of young Koreans, especially girls, and has even been recognised as a reason behind numerous cases of school bullying in South Korea. The webtoon Out, created by Morangji, highlights the ongoing difficulties young Korean girls face in response to the strict gender expectations resulting from high beauty standards.

Nari's perception of Yuna in elementary school

Scholars Kim et al. highlight common trends of consciousness among young South Koren women by exploring the roles of sexually objectifying media and culture-specific standards . Cultural standards of beauty in Korea have a positive correlation with body body and face surveillance which can lead to body shaming and other various negative effects . Odd Girl Out addresses the common struggles young girls go through in order to fit in, through Nari’s school life and the friends she hangs out with. Although Nari appears to be a typical dandy Korean school girl at first glance, she reveals the struggles she has gone through just to lose weight in order to be accepted by others in high school. She then continues to feel out of place as she makes friends that are physically more attractive than her, and is even a victim of bullying when she hangs out with them due to not being as attractive. There are even moments within the webtoon when the main character feels as if losing weight is not enough and she has to also be pretty to fit in with the other girls at her school and to be accepted by everyone. Through the characterization of Nari, the webtoon showcases the common negative effects of high expectations set for girls and underlines the resulting consequences.

Furthermore, Kim et. al explains that Korean women believe that their face is the most important factor in attracting men and can heavily affect their reputation and social status. Body image is heavily influenced by peers and parents of these South Korean women . Jung and Hwang additionally explain that these standards from such pressurized society can lead to extreme competition between the younger generation, especially girls . Some girls even go as far as getting plastic surgery as a form of reward in return for their good grades, in order to achieve a higher sense of belonging with their peers and in school. In a way, being physically accepted by society is essential to survival for Korean school girls.

In Odd Girl Out, Nari is constantly battling with her sense of belonging as she believes that she is not as good looking and attractive as her other friends. Episode 11 titled, “A Depressing Day” includes memories of Nari’s friend, Miji, being asked why she is hanging out with a person like Nari who is fat and not attractive and she explains how she is used to boys never being interested in her. Even after she loses weight, she is still not recognized by the men in her school and feels as if she is ugly compared to her other friends, and mentions that even if she loses the weight she will just be a “skinny loser instead of a fat loser." In episode 17, Nari gets called out for not wearing makeup as “makeup is the best way for girls to look prettier,” but even after she puts on makeup, she gets called ugly. Overall the webtoon does a great job outlining the troubles high school girls go through due to the gender expectations, making the title extremely fitting as the main character is always the “Odd Girl Out”.

Studies further show that this type of discrimination that young ladies face does not simply begin in highschool. Evidence says that even in girls as young as kindergarten will face discrimination or feel beauty standards affecting how they think of themselves. Throughout the Webtoon, we see Nari referencing scenarios of when she was in elementary school and middle school, and students talk about Seonji’s habits and issues from middle-school. In a study by Hwewon Kim & Tae-Im Han which was conducted in April 2020 across 8 different kindergartens in South Korea, 90 female students aged 5 to 6 were interviewed.  Results showed that over 20% of these students “ perceived the need for dieting, were worried about their weight and body shape, and avoided certain foods for weight control”. The beginning of episode 5 shows Nari and Yuna as children, seemingly elementary school children. While lots of adults don’t see it, the discrimination begins even at such a young age. Yuna was looked up to and treated like a celebrity based off of her looks. This demonstrates the concern the study brings up of even very young children feeling uncomfortable in their own bodies and the formation of cliques and exclusion of people within that age group.

School Bullying in South Korea

School bullying has been increasingly recognized as a severe problem in South Korea. School bullying is a public health concern in South Korea. The webtoon Odd Girl Out raises the prevalent issue of school bullying in South Korea and the serious emotional effects, especially for the social development of young girls, such as lower self-esteem, negative body image, or encountering dangerous situations.

Stalking as a form of School Bullying

Image from the webtoon illustrating why Seo Yoo first began stalking her. Yuna explains that she did not share the same romantic feeling as Seo Yoo.

Scholars Kim et al. identify common trends of school bullying among digital spaces in South Korea by examining the frequency and rate of increase in various bullying forms. Kim et al. discuss the various diverse and complex forms of school bullying in both online and offline environments. Verbal bullying is a common type of traditional bullying in South Korea perpetrated by female students whereas physical bullying such as stalking is more commonly perpetrated by male students. Odd Girl Out addresses the common dangerous situations female victims of stalking experience through exploring Nari’s relationship with her boyfriend Minjae. Although Minjae is presented at first as a caring and compassionate boyfriend to Nari, he slowly engages in odd behavior such as wearing clothing to conceal his identity or meeting Nari at odd locations late in the day to avoid recognition. However, when one of Nari’s classmates recognizes Minjae as one of Yuna’s old middle school friends, Seo Yoo, it is revealed that he previously stalked Yuna. Although Yuna intervenes and banishes Seo Yoo, Seo Yoo later on stalks Nari and lashes out at her for the situation. In some cases, he becomes physical and attempts to hurt Nari. Through the characterization of Seo Yoo, the webtoon showcases the common warning signs of stalker behavior and comments on the resulting dangers. It is also important to note that the webtoon does not victim blame Nari, but instead comments on the serious prevalence of male stalking behavior in Korea.

Relational Bullying in School Environments

Scholars Kim et al. also state that relational bullying is also common in South Korea in combination with verbal and physical bullying. Relational bullying mainly includes ostracizing someone, spreading rumors, or sharing personal secrets to harm a person’s reputation. Relational bullying tends to result in the victim losing close friendships and relationships. On online social platforms, students can insult their victims publicly and anonymously. In an online setting, classmates often force their victims to enter a group chatroom (ka-tok jail) and send abusive messages (tte-ka). Episode 34 of Odd Girl Out titled “Isolation Part 3” includes an instance of ka-tok jail. When Nari asks one of her classmates to keep the story about Seo Yoo private, her classmate instead lies and tells Nari that Bin took her phone and published it to everyone.

Nari's classmate warns her of the rumors surrounding Seonji.

Link to Webtoon Image of Ka-Tok

The character Bin is often referred to as “trash-bin” by the webtoon’s fandom for her deeply ingrained misogynistic behavior. She often spreads rumors about the main characters to gain popularity. Nari’s friends, the most popular and prettiest girls at school, are often victims of rumors in an attempt to hinder their reputations. Within the first week of moving to her new school, Nari is warned by her other classmates to “stay away” from her classmate Seonji: “There were really bad rumors about her in middle school […] she’s one of those girls who acts all nice to your face, but then talks behind your back. She’s trying to latch onto you since no one else will hang out with her." Most instances of relational bullying towards the more popular girls in the webtoon stems from the bully’s jealousy of their looks and social status.

Adolescent Relationships in South Korea

The development of positive interpersonal relationships at school was found to improve overall school life satisfaction of students and, in turn, encourage prosocial behaviour and increase self-esteem. The webtoon Odd Girl Out depicts how the type of relationships that is developed amongst students, alongside the adolescent’s perception of the quality of said relationships, have an immense influence on their overall well-being. A perception of rejection would then deteriorate the student’s self esteem, increasing stress levels and create feelings of isolation.

As Nari walks down the hall surrounded by the girls, she is also surrounded by her peer's curiosity and whispering voices, making her re-evaluate her presence in comparison to the rest of the group.

Self-Esteem and Perceived Quality of Relationships

Yu (2016) found that adolescents who reported having low self-esteem were more likely to behave more cautiously as to avoid attracting negative attention from peers. Nari exemplifies this behaviour all throughout the beginning of the story as Nari believes that associating with Yuna, Mirae, and Seonji will only cultivate negative attention. Nari already feels isolated and socially rejected by her peers, and her frustrations are only exacerbated as she continues to be accompanied by the three girls. Nari refuses to accept the legitimacy of their friendship as it negatively impacts her social identity. Though the audience knows of the authenticity of the friendship, Nari’s perception of its quality remains to be poor, creating constant tension between Nari and the three girls. A negative self-view results in a more negative perception of others' behaviours, which creates stress within relationships. Due to Nari’s own expectation for herself, and wanting to make positive impressions on her peers, her sense of belonging dissipates as she senses distance from her peers. During most of her early interactions with the girls, Nari can only think about how to distance herself from the group.

Behavioural Consequences of Adolescent Connections

Shin and Jun notes that developing positive interpersonal relationships at school not only influences peer acceptance, but also self-perception. However, the type of connections that are developed, and the environment in which it is fostered, is important to consider. Shin and Yu reveal that well-connected students have higher self-esteem and were better adjusted to school, while those who only developed connections with shallow intentions were at risk of engaging in problematic behaviours. This dynamic is shown through the character Bin, as she forms a connection with two other girls in the same class. Bin’s former friend group notices her drastic shift in interest upon connecting with the two girls. As the bond deepens, Bin becomes more materialistic, and her catty behaviour intensifies. Bin is seemingly compensating for a lack of meaningful connections to friends. The fragility of this friendship is then proven by how easily the two girls abandon Bin.

Interestingly, Yu discovered that Korean youth with high self-esteem experienced high levels of stress due to the lack of peer recognition. They expect others to be attentive in their presence, wanting recognition and expecting validation from their peers. Yu notes that Korean youth generally perceive individuals with high self-esteem to be aloof. Yuna, for example, is deemed to be unapproachable by her peers. Her peers seldom initiate interactions and, if they do, they are met with a cold expression. Yuna is perceived to be less friendly, which causes Yuna to internalize her peers’ assumptions of her character, ultimately embodying the role. This hinders prosocial behaviour and Yuna is unable to connect with her peers.

Nari’s relationships with the girls and her desire for peer acceptance demonstrates how greatly relationships influence self-perception. Peer acceptance indirectly impacts the well-being of students, as an increased sense of belonging is correlated with a stable social identity. However, when one’s social identity is threatened, it can affect how they behave and perceive others behaviours. Odd Girl out paints how impactful our friendships can be internally, especially during our adolescence.

Contributions of Each Members

• Natalia focused on the school bullying in South Korea section and references section
• Yna focused on the adolescent relationships in South Korea section
• Yalda focused on the effects of beauty standards on girls' body images section
• Stephanie focused on the introduction and contributed to the effects of beauty standards on girls' body images section

References

List of the references here.