Chung, Elaine  ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1137-3190
2026.
‘I do sex comedy because I don’t know politics’: Park Na-rae and feminism-charged comedy in South Korea.
East Asian Journal of Popular Culture
10.1386/eapc_00163_1
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Abstract
This article investigates how female comedians in South Korea challenge gender norms and engage with feminist issues through the case study of Park Na-rae, one of the country’s most prominent television comediennes. Known for her sexually suggestive humour, Park has achieved widespread popularity while also provoking public controversies and even police investigations. By analysing her performance in the Netflix stand-up special Park Na-rae: Glamour Warning (2019) alongside related media discourses, this article explores Park’s dual strategies of producing feminist humour while simultaneously depoliticising its impact. Drawing on Krefting’s (2014) concept of the ‘economy of charged humour,’ the article demonstrates how South Korean comediennes negotiate transgressive agency within the constraints of mainstream entertainment culture. By foregrounding their strategic performativity of comic intent—through comparing on-stage performances with off-stage paratexts—this article illuminates the complex terrain in which East Asian comediennes mediate feminist expression within their specific industrial and sociocultural contexts.
| Item Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Date Type: | Published Online |
| Status: | In Press |
| Schools: | Schools > Modern Languages |
| Subjects: | P Language and Literature > PI Oriental languages and literatures |
| Publisher: | Intellect |
| ISSN: | 2051-7084 |
| Date of First Compliant Deposit: | 7 November 2025 |
| Date of Acceptance: | 10 September 2025 |
| Last Modified: | 20 May 2026 11:15 |
| URI: | https://orca.cardiff.ac.uk/id/eprint/182139 |
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