The appearance of a ‘female bully’ at the University of Physician

The video ‘Introduction to Beauty Studies’ released by the YouTube channel ‘Pisik University’ is gaining attention by exceeding 1 million views. The main character of this video is comedian and writer Won So-yoon. She immediately captured the public's attention with her self-deprecatory introduction, "A woman who went to Seoul National University but couldn't go to a club."

Won Won-yoon's appearance created a new crack in the 'Jinta narrative' that had been male-centered. While Physic University has dealt with the joys and sorrows of a male youth who lacks social skills and is far from fashionable through 'Introduction to Nerd Studies', Won So-yoon subdivided the 'female idiot', who had not received attention until now, into a character called 'nerd' and brought it to the stage.

Why did this content resonate?

Contrary to its title, ‘Introduction to Beauty Studies’ does not teach makeup techniques. Instead, it deals directly with the feelings of frustration and shrinking in a society that enforces beauty. For Beomsaengi, beauty is a problem that she has not been able to solve in her entire life. Although I have lived with sincerity in compliance with rules and norms, I often encounter limitations in the area of ​​'decoration'.

Won So-yoon wraps this desperate, pathetic, and serious, so funny, struggle of the nerd in academic terms such as 'cultural lag phenomenon' and 'discovery of tools' and presents it in the form of a lecture. It makes people laugh by making a mockery of beauty industry technologies such as cosmetic terms full of foreign words and personal color diagnosis, and by grouping braces and piercings into the category of 'metal' and redefining them as decoration.

In particular, the conversation scene with beauty creator Shin is impressive. When Shin, who was astonished by Won So-yoon's 'Dad Skin Recommendation' method of applying BB cream, tried hard to explain the correct technique, Won So-yoon asked angrily. “Then is it because of my skin texture?” At that moment, what is funny is not the criminal's appearance, but the excessive technology and fear marketing of the beauty industry.

The history of paradox surrounding women and beauty

Korean society has placed so much emphasis on women's appearance that there is a saying, "If a woman is born pretty, she will win three gold medals in the civil service exam." However, paradoxically, women's desire for beauty has long been the subject of ridicule and belittling.

The dichotomy that polarizes women's beauty and intelligence has created a complex double bind. Women are trained to desire beauty and despise it at the same time. Beautiful women were deprived of the possibility of intellectual depth, and women who wanted to be recognized for their intelligence were required to 'not be overly feminine.'

In this structure, 'beomsaengi' has been defined as someone who has succeeded in studying but failed in the area of ​​decoration. In a world where women who are not sexually attractive are scolded as not even women, Beomsaeng's narrative has rarely received attention.

How stand-up comedy deals with taboos

Won So-yoon's main stage is the stand-up comedy scene. This format, which captivates the audience with a single microphone, deals with taboos and violations more explicitly than other comedies.

In an age where political correctness is an important topic, the offensiveness and direction of humor are a subject of debate. It is common sense that humor directed at the weak is cowardly, but this schema also creates the problem of making specific identities invisible by making them objects to avoid mentioning.

Just as American comedian Matt Rife makes jokes about race, gender, disability, and even domestic violence, creating arguments for and against, being able to make fun of people is not a big deal and also shares the sense of being a member of the scene of laughter. The scene where a disabled audience member, who was made fun of by Matt Rife, said, “Thank you for using people with disabilities as a source of laughter” symbolizes this.

Future outlook [AI analysis]

The appearance of Won So-yoon shows the possibility of diversifying the narratives of female comedians in the Korean comedy scene. While female comedians have mainly made fun of their appearance or talked about failed relationships, Won So-yoon is showing a new way of speaking that does not get stuck in self-deprecation while indifferently revealing her feminist insight and highly educated background.

The success of ‘Introduction to Beauty Studies’ suggests that fatigue with a society that enforces beauty has reached a critical point. The fact that many people laugh and sympathize with Won Won-yoon's appearance as she walks out casually, saying, "I'm a girl who doesn't sell, isn't it kind of funny?" is in line with the moment of realizing that the things that had been considered shameful were not actually things to be ashamed of.

However, the criticism that "that's a joke only possible because Won So-yoon is a truly highly educated person" is also valid. There are also criticisms that the favoritism and academicism toward highly educated people complete the joke, and that the safety issues of women living alone are overlooked. Won So-yoon himself seems ready to betray these expectations. This is because we know that humor cannot be determined solely by the dichotomy of political correctness.

Laughter is fundamentally penetrating. When a person who has been excluded or received no attention becomes a 'funny kid', he or she is likely to gain a different place in the community than before.