On the other hand, in the context of today's modern society, mass media has had a great influence in supporting gender counter-hegemony. As a basis for the discussion, “counter-hegemony” can be simply defined as “the criticism and attempt” to remove barriers of “hegemonic” power in the community (Redekop, Gallagher & Satterwhite, 2018). To create the elimination of stereotypes as well as the distinction between masculinity and femininity, a K-pop music video called “Balloon” by “TVXQ”, could be used as an obvious demonstration (SMTOWN, 2009). Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay Contrary to the outdated stereotypes in people's mindset that masculinity must go hand in hand with manly appearance, muscularity or elegant clothing, the images of the five members in this video represent the irreverent ways and characteristics of the woman with white skin, a beautiful baby face and a colorful stuffed animal costume. Similar to the example of the female image against gender hegemony, the strong and independent appearance of the woman driving a truck in the parody video of Funny girls (2016) partially opened a completely different point of view from the female stereotype of weakness, addiction or the main role of the housewife as people always imagine. Despite these idolatrous images, Korean pop culture has had widespread influence and is well received by audiences, especially young people in both Asia and Europe. It's the same case that if the image of that truck driver appeared about 50 years ago, in my opinion, very few people would accept it. However, nowadays, not only can they become truck drivers, but also entrepreneurs or politicians, although the number of those involved in these jobs is still quite small. Therefore, these two popular media products highlighted that hegemonic beliefs about gender representation in society are deviant and unequal. Male and female may have each other's characteristics, but that does not mean they can be ridiculed or misjudged regarding their personality. Because of this. Another popular media effort in changing people's perception of gender categories is the improvement in the creation of toilet symbols. As always from the past, all bathrooms in public places have only two main symbols representing two rooms, one for men and one for women. Even if it is possible to build a third bedroom, it is always for disabled people. However, a turning point occurred at the “Sigtuna Museum” in Sweden when the museum added another toilet with the “sender-neutral toilet” symbol for “those with a different gender identity” (Löfgren, 2015). This new symbol is a combination of half an image of a woman in “a skirt” and the other half of “a man in trousers” (Löfgren, 2015). It can be considered as the "openness" of Swedish thought towards the homosexual community, as well as the designer's desire to promote gender non-distinction throughout the world (Löfgren, 2015). Whatever gender a person is, they should still be welcomed and not discriminated against due to the old gender hegemony. However, the case of the new toilet symbols in Sweden can be considered as the beginning of the social recognition of gender mixing, but not all countries have such modern thinking and these are just a few and very rare examples of spreading the idea of equality. and be against gender prejudice.
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