Bahar and Dr. comparison of women's representations in Cha TV series: Examining gender roles in the context of cultural differences

This study is based on Bahar, which is made in Turkey, and Dr. which is made in South Korea. It offers a comparative analysis of the female characters in Cha series in the context of gender roles. The aim of the research is to reveal the gender norm representations that appear in the fiction of the characters in the series in question and the ways in which these representations are associated with the social and cultural indicators of Turkey and South Korea. In the theoretical section, a conceptual framework on gender roles, media representations and cultural differences was created, and the methodological method of content analysis was preferred. Content analysis covers the chapter-by-chapter examination of characters and the thematic coding application and evaluates the dimensions of discourse, behavior and visual expression. The findings indicate that the characters in the Spring series are represented within the framework of traditional family and social roles, Dr. Cha has shown that the characters in the series bring to the fore the themes of business life, individual autonomy and modern identity. In both series, it has also been understood that cultural values play a decisive role in shaping women's representations. In the study, an association was also made with the literature findings on the dynamics of social change and audience perceptions about the periods in which the series were broadcast. This approach has made it possible to evaluate gender representations in TV series from the perspective of media literacy and cultural sensitivity from academic and practical points of view. The research also presented important findings on how different cultures shape normative expectations about women's representations and their reflections on character tragedies. While the current literature mostly focuses on a single country sample, this study has made an original contribution to the field by comparing media productions belonging to different cultures. The findings obtained have revealed the potential effects of cultural codes on the reproduction of gender roles in media texts and audience perception with a multidimensional perspective.