Tired Sheep

there's a lot to say about the "strong masculine woman" image that hyuna is consistently propped up as (and by virtue of this reduced down to, as oftentimes this interpretation of her character by itself dismisses her character around the superficial values she is assigned) within the community. most prominently of these is that it is simultaneously misinterpreting her and, like the rest of the cast in alnst and their interpretations, something which hyuna herself in-universe is aware of and i believe actively encourages people to perceive her as, given her portrayal in 'our diva' and her coping mechanisms.

there is a common interpretation of strength, independence, and dominance being an equivalent to masculinity in the series — which, in hyuna's case, is should be considered alongside the common stereotype of coloured women being inherently 'masculine' and thus independent — that is both depicted and meant to be interrogated by the audience. and on a personal level, though i do feel hyuna can be and has definitely been shown as androgynous/feminine, i also do feel that there are many instances of her strongly presenting herself as masculine, even if it is through actions associated with masculinity rather than overtly dressing up or specifying herself as such. given hyuna's upbringing in segyein society, i do believe acknowledging this is an important part of their characters, as these circumstances are often reflected and contribute to their conflict in-universe.

what, specifically, fascinates me the most with hyuna in re: gender, is that the persona of strength she creates for herself in order to distance herself from her trauma + the segyein — the image of the strong, unaffected woman that we see displayed and deconstructed in 'our diva' — is what ultimately ties her back to them the most societally through her subconscious adherence to the segyein's concept of gender roles and power, all through trying to subvert these in her presentation. the only characters to view hyuna under the impression of childishness or nativety out of care, rather than the 'stone-cold' front of independence which she often uses to drown out her issues + which is often used against coloured women to mitigate their struggles and dehumanize them, are hyun-woo, her brother, who she so deeply cared for and was cared for by in turn, and jacob — a member of the rebellion, whose ideals were shaped outside of segyein society and the constructions for race and gender that they created.

& in re: hyuna's upbringing, we can see how largely her past with the segyein have fostered these beliefs. -> phan was already an absentee guardian that largely left hyuna & hyun-woo to fend for themselves, maintaining such a high social status and placing such little value in their lives that they are not even able to remember either of their names, and hyuna theirs in turn. hyun-woo's death rendering her without any support system and forcing her into independence because there is no one else she can rely on now, disallowing her the privilege of ignorance to the little value the system places in all pet humans lives — hers' especially.

now, place this all in contrast to a character like luka, whose entire character practices ignorance and escapism when faced with death, not because but nonetheless in large part due to the mere fact that he is allowed that privilege. whose idolization of hyuna, similar to how till idealizes mizi as a paragon of 'innocence', largely acts as an idolization of the independence and humanity he associates her with and that he has been largely denied in a way that reduces the complexities of her personality.

i think a lot about the fact that luka as a character represents the displacement of abuse through different social classes. through his life being so heavily controlled by segyein and then continuing to do onto that those who are weaker than him even when not strictly necessary or even out of malice — systematically, though, in a world where the value of their lives is determined by those of a higher social class than them, and power is measured through a similar metric, hyuna is far more vulnerable simply because of the circumstances of her birth.

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