Construction of Obedient Foreign Brides as Exotic Others: How Production Practices Construct the Images of Marriage Migrant Women on Korean Television

Abstract

Love in Asia is the longest running Korean television program to portray multicultural families with emphasis on the life experiences of marriage migrant women. Since its premiere, Love in Asia's consistent average rating of 13-14% has made it the most watched show in its time slot and most watched documentary program in Korea. We examined how various factors such as work routines, financial constraints, language barriers, and genre conventions affected the construction of popular images and narratives regarding marriage migrant women on television. We found that Love in Asia's construction of marriage migrant women as obedient brides who conform to Korean patriarchal norms reflects the creators' adaptation to work routines and production practices.