“Siren: Survive the Island” is a Korean Netflix survival program that shows physical battles and strategic mind races to occupy the opponent’s base on a remote island. The show casts women from six different occupational groups, all of which are from male-dominated fields such as the military or security service. Since its first airing on May 22, the show ranked second place in the “Today’s Korea Top 10” on Netflix, gaining wild popularity through social media, even having online communities with individual fandoms formed for each team.
Amongst the many female viewers who were thoroughly intrigued with the show, Lee Hyewon, an undergraduate from the Department of Social Studies Education, shared her view on the factors behind the show’s popularity.
“The reason ‘Siren’ was so special to me was because of its unique format that included an all-women cast,” Lee explained. “It taught me that women are strong professionals on an equal level to men and that I can also break through my limits. If I had watched this series a few years earlier, I do believe my ambitions could have changed.”
Yoo GeumJo, a recent graduate from the Department of Education, shared a similar review that the program exceeded perceptions of masculine values, demonstrating women can also strategize, form strong relationships, and overcome challenges both physically and mentally.
Baek Gamin, a junior from the Department of Political Science & International Relations, also explained that she was able to learn about different job groups and each of its characteristics through their survival methods in the show.
Surprisingly, this is not the first time a show featuring an all-female cast has challenged prevailing prejudice of women both in media and society.
In 2022, the Mnet dance survival reality show “Street Woman Fighter” brought attention to female dancers behind the scenes who have achieved top careers in their field. This year, cable variety shows such as “Earth Arcade” went viral for its intriguing comedic narratives by four female celebrities. In fact, it became the first female variety show to gain the title “Most Preferred Variety Show” according to a survey of 1,000 citizens conducted this year by Gallup Korea Research Institute. In the field of sports, the entertainment show “Kick a Goal,” which specialized in women’s soccer, initiated a soccer boom amongst women in South Korea.
This gradual phenomenon of programs with women-central narratives addresses gender issues in a new spotlight, mainly revolving around the idea of going beyond the limits enforced upon women by social preconceptions and the male gaze.
The recent trend of female-orientated media also played a part in motivating Eun Kyung Lee, the producer of “Siren: Survive the Island,” to make the series.
“I have loved sports-related content since I was young,” Lee said. “But the main characters of such movies and television shows were men, and even if it were a woman, I could see the limits in the way the character led the plot. Luckily for me, the timing of female sports shows such as ‘Kick a Goal’ and action series with female protagonists like ‘My Name’ helped me create a show that had a strong female narrative.”
To uphold the main objective of the show to depict women’s health and strength without any sexual objectification or discrimination, Lee explained that the whole production cast had focused on omitting terms that had nuances of gender inequality such as policewoman or female soldier. She believed the success of the show lied in ensuring gender sensitivity in every big and small aspect of the series.
Regarding the social influence of the show, Lee shared a few comments she received from its viewers.
“The most memorable comment was from a child who said that she wanted to become a firefighter after watching the show,” Lee reminisced. “I was happy to know that the program had given hope and dreams for the viewers.”
As a contrasting response, Lee mentioned that some questioned her motive and merit throughout the production of the program. Nevertheless, to Lee, all the reactions were well-appreciated.
For Lee, the main assignment for future media content is not to make female narratives in media as a best-selling trend but rather as a steady selling staple. Though Lee is grateful for the increasing representation of women in the media, she also voiced her concern that it might end as a short-term fascination.
“To make female representation as a solid media structure, we need to stop differentiating male and female all together,” Lee concluded. “There is no ‘female’ survival show. What I made is simply a survival show, which I hope everyone can come to acknowledge.”
In line with these sentiments, Yang Min-yeong, author of the book “Feminism Met in the Gym” and head of the social enterprise Gymbuddy, shared her take on the portrayal of women’s fitness and physical health in media.
According to Yang, the significance of women-centered sports shows lies in the fact that they all highlight active women. “The very existence of these shows as unique content that has gained popularity among the public is advantageous for women in sports,” she explained.
However, Yang expressed concern that women-centered sports entertainment shows often feature men as experts in the field, while initially portraying women as ignorant and uninterested in physical activity. Although these elements are meant to entertain and generate laughter, they can inadvertently reinforce the bias that women are incapable of physical exercise.
Taking this further, Yang noted that men often play diverse and crucial roles in sports reality shows, while women are confined to specific narratives. For instance, women are often depicted as timid individuals who rely on men during team sports or as complaining individuals who avoid physical exertion to focus on their hair or makeup. This portrayal sidelines the focus on sports and highlights societal expectations for women.
“Society has made women self-conscious even when it comes to training their physical health,” Yang stated. “Women constantly face pressure to exercise solely to achieve a certain physical beauty standard. If women surpass this standard by becoming ‘too fit’ or ‘too muscular,’ they are often labeled as masculine and face criticism.”
Compared to traditional women’s sports entertainment shows, Yang found the most remarkable aspect of the show “Siren: Survive the Island” to be its independence from including men to showcase women’s strengths.
Even when survival shows featuring women such as “Physical 100” attempt to break stereotypes by showcasing muscular, strong, and loud women within their cast who perform admirably, they often fail to secure the final victory due to the inevitable physical differences to men. However, by creating a program exclusively composed of women, such limitations were no longer present.
“It would be fantastic to see female creators venturing into new themes and crafting media content centered on women,” Yang expressed. “I hope by showcasing active women more frequently in the media, we can normalize women enjoying sports and empower others to do the same.”