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Abstract

Representation of women in literary works, including film, are often shaped by gendered constructions that limit their agency, including within the teaching profession in South Korea. Brave Citizen represents this dynamic through the character So Simin and provides a lens to examine how women are represented when confronting gender inequality and hierarchical structures within the school environment. This study aims to explain how the film Brave Citizen depicts women’s resistance through a female teacher character focusing on challenging gender stereotypes in educational settings. Employing a descriptive qualitative method and Barthes’ semiotic analysis, this research identifies denotative, connotative, and mythical meanings in key scenes, further supported by Bem’s Sex Role Inventory (BSRI) to assess the configuration of feminine and masculine traits in the main character. The findings reveal three stages of So Simin’s resistance, such as women’s powerlessness, symbolic resistance, and physical resistance and identity reconstruction. These findings demonstrate that the integration of feminine and masculine traits forms a functionally androgynous identity, enabling So Simin to negotiate her position and agency within a hierarchical school structure marked by gender bias.

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Bahasa Abstract

Representasi perempuan dalam karya sastra, salah satunya film, kerap dibentuk oleh konstruksi gender yang membatasi ruang gerak mereka, termasuk dalam konteks profesi guru di Korea Selatan. Film Brave Citizen menghadirkan dinamika tersebut melalui tokoh So Simin dan membuka ruang untuk menelaah bagaimana perempuan direpresentasikan ketika berhadapan dengan ketidakadilan gender serta struktur sekolah yang hierarkis. Penelitian ini bertujuan menjelaskan bagaimana representasi perlawanan guru perempuan dalam film Brave Citizen menentang stereotipe gender dalam konteks pendidikan. Dengan metode kualitatif deskriptif dan analisis semiotika Barthes, penelitian ini mengidentifikasi makna denotatif, konotatif, dan mitos pada adegan-adegan kunci, yang dipadukan dengan klasifikasi Bem’s Sex Role Inventory (BSRI) guna menilai konfigurasi sifat feminin dan maskulin pada tokoh utama. Hasil penelitian menunjukkan tiga tahap perlawanan So Simin, yaitu ketidakberdayaan perempuan, resistensi simbolik, serta perlawanan fisik dan rekonstruksi identitas. Temuan tersebut memperlihatkan bahwa perpaduan sifat feminin dan maskulin membentuk pola identitas androgini yang bersifat fungsional, sehingga memungkinkan So Simin menegosiasikan posisi dan agensinya dalam struktur sekolah yang hierarkis dan bias gender.

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