Female “Physical: 100” Star Shut Down Male Contestants’ “Sexist” Comments
Netflix‘s Korean athletic competition show, Physical: 100, has returned with new contestants and challenges, but does Season 2 top Season 1 for drama?
Both Physical: 100 seasons follow a hundred brawny contestants as they compete in a series of challenges that test their strength and athleticism. Tensions ran high during Season 1’s competition, but some of that tension had less to do with the physical challenges and more to do with the contestants.
One popular female contestant went viral for standing up to alleged sexism from the other contestants. This contestant was fan-favorite Jang Eun Sil.
From the minute South Korea’s Wrestling National Team member made her debut on the show, she gained attention for her strength, charisma, and talent.
Unsurprisingly, Season 1’s male contestants expressed their views on the women. Throughout the challenges, some of the men chose to face the women because they believed the women were the “easy option.”
Throughout the competition, female contestants proved these male contestants wrong. For instance, after Jang Eun Sil was selected as team captain for the “weak” team…
…her team defeated one of the strongest teams. This so-called stronger team thought they would have an easy victory by going up against Jang Eun Sil’s team, which had the most women.
Yet, even after proving her strength and determination, Jang Eun Sil and the other female contestants still faced discrimination and sexism. After defeating a much stronger and male-dominated team in one of the challenges, the remaining groups had to team together for the next strength-based challenge. The team would have to pull a 1.5-ton ship from one end of the arena to the other.
When it came to picking teams, Jang Eun Sil’s group knew that they were at a disadvantage. One of the male contestants even explained, “They must not want to team up with us because we have three women.”
Jang Eun Sil immediately had her fellow female contestants’ backs. She said, “But we’re not just any ordinary women,” and this clip went viral after the episode aired.
While it can be disheartening, and many would give up trying to defend themselves, Jang Eun Sil was the complete opposite. When picking teams, she went up to whom she deemed the strongest team and told them that despite her team’s apparent “weakness,” her team had beaten the strongest team in the previous challenge.
As expected, the other team’s leader explained that because of the nature of the task, “We need men with strength because this is about strength.”
Yet, she persisted by saying, “Do we look like ordinary women to you?”
When the videos and clips were shared, netizens couldn’t stop sharing their praise for Jang Eun Sil, criticizing the male contestants for their attitudes towards the female contestants.
Many even shared their desire for her to win, as she is one of the strongest but has been looked down on because of her gender.
the way the women on this show are looked down upon by the men in every single challenge and seen as weaker as if jang eun sil isn't stronger than half these men I need them to be serious #Physical100pic.twitter.com/wRv2SvXHwX
— laura (@sapphicxswift) February 7, 2023
The way #Physical100 is full of sexist assholes who think so little of women 😒 And wtf is that boat quest, why do they want to eliminate my girls Jang Eun Sil and Seo Ha Yan with a strength test 😑
If they're out, I'm dropping it anyway— ♀ bēstiola 🇵🇸 || Eppυr ѕι мυove°•∘✩ (@Lalikitita) February 8, 2023
Of course, women are always underestimated in shows that are seemingly based on strength. Luckily, Jang Eun Sil and the other women on the show have proved that it’s far from the truth, putting the men in their place time after time.
You can read more about the badass women of the show below.
Get To Know The 23 Bad*ss “Physical: 100” Female Contestants
