Beanies, I need assistance. What are some of the different names/terms for the traditional Asian drama female lead, the one who is usually long-suffering and constantly taken advantage of and can never seem to leave whatever situation is hurting them yet after eons of undeserved trauma, still ends up getting a happily ever after? I know there’s the Candy which is kind of treated as a catch-all term, but that doesn’t really describe the different variations of this type of female lead, in my opinion. I’m probably in the minority on this, but I actually think this type of female lead has a slightly wider and more diverse spectrum then it gets credit for. I just can’t, for the life of me, think of any terms/names/tropes other than the Candy. Am I wrong and that’s really it, or are there more trope descriptors our there I just haven’t come across yet?
Hope there’s actually someone awake at this hour to answer this, lol.

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    As far as I’m aware the only word is Candy. Although if the Candy lacks agency, I use the term pot plant.

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    “… I actually think this type of female lead has a slightly wider and more diverse spectrum then it gets credit for”

    Can you elaborate?

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    This is unrelated to your original post, @ohsoenthusiastic, but I just wanted to come to your wall to let you know how much I enjoy your reviews! Thank you for the time and effort you put into writing them, and they are already helping me with making better choices!😁

    I also liked the question you posed here on your wall, 3 years ago now! Like zoeraindasherbenji below, I’d be interested to read your thoughts on the different notches on this spectrum because I agree that there’s a bit more going on there. What are your thoughts, 3 years on?

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      Thank you! I’m pretty active on MyDramaList writing reviews, and I figured I should copy and paste them to Dramabeans as well. I don’t have any IRL friends who watch dramas, so reviews are my opportunity to verbal diarrhea my thoughts and feelings. Which usually involves me getting lost in the weeds, lol.

      I asked the above question, because I was working on a guest post for Dramabeans: https://www.dramabeans.com/2019/09/hey-thats-me-in-defense-of/ I haven’t really spent much time trying to nail down the differences between all these different types of female leads, but it is something I think about a lot. I still really love these kinds of characters, despite modern attitudes about them, and I think it’s unfair to cast them aside as ‘harmful’ or ‘bad representation’ or some other critique I see all the time. But again, I haven’t dug much deeper than that.

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