Abstract
Statement of the Problem This study focused on the presentation of masculinity in the United States. While there is copious research on masculinity, there is limited research on how masculinity within the K-pop genre can affect the attitudes of people holding onto hegemonic masculinity ideals within the United States. The purpose of this study was to examine college students' attitudes regarding gender expression in K-pop using a quantitative mixed methods design. This thesis focused on general attitudes on expected presentations of masculinity and how attitudes may shift when presented with new perspectives through the lens of K-pop.
Sources of Data
Participants were students at a four-year university in Northern California and enrolled in a senior undergraduate writing seminar. The researcher created a pre-survey, a post-survey, and a presentation lecture to assess attitude changes in undergraduate students in an education course. While there were 58 total participants, quantitative and qualitative data was analyzed from only 42 participants who completed both pre-survey and post-survey. Quantitative data was collected from the pre-survey and post-survey via Likert-scale questions. Qualitative data was collected from the post-survey where the participants expressed their opinions about masculinity as a gender role and how K-pop might have changed their perspective, if at all.
Conclusions Reached
The study indicates that there is a positive movement in attitudes about masculinity after a presentation on masculinity through the lens of K-pop. Quantitative findings suggest an impact of the lecture on attitudes about how masculinity is presented. Quantitative findings also show the significant impact that the presentation had on participants’ understanding of toxic masculinity and soft masculinity. Qualitative findings confirm the impact and the attitude shift regarding masculinity after the presentation on K-pop masculinity. Based on the analysis and discussion of the data collected, the researcher has found that educational intervention for college students about different types of masculinity can change attitudes about existing beliefs on gender roles and that learning about soft masculinity can help combat hegemonic toxic masculinity.