Fills a gap in Korean Wave studies by studying it through the lens of gender.

Women We Love is an edited collection exploring femininities in and around the Korean Wave since 2000. While studies on the Korean Wave are abundant, there is a dearth of analysis about the female-identifying stars, characters, and fans who shape and lead this crucial cultural movement. Using “women” as an inclusive term extending to all those who self-define as women, this collection of essays examines the role of women in K-pop and K-drama industries and fandom spaces, encompassing crucial intersectional topics such as queering of gender, dissemination of media, and fan culture.

The audience for Women We Love will reflect the contributors to this text; they are K-pop and K-drama fans, queer, international; they are also academics of Asian histories, sociology, gender and sexuality, art history, and visual culture. The chapters are playful, intersectional, and will be adapted well into syllabi for media studies, gender studies, visual culture studies, sociology, and contemporary global history.

SooJin Lee is an art historian and assistant professor at Hongik University. Kate Korroch is a PhD candidate in visual studies at the University of California, Santa Cruz. Liew Kai Khiun is assistant professor at Hong Kong Metropolitan University.