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This article aims to update the discourse on female Korean athletes by illuminating the radical change of their imagery and reality over the last three decades, from sexless victims of patriarchy to sportswomen asserting their strength, femininity, and even “queerness.” Insofar as sports films provide a felicitous site through which to examine popular and evolving representations of gender and sport, the article analyzes a variety of Korean sports films which reproduce, or pose a challenge to, conventional portrayals of female athletes. Due to the paucity of scholarly work undertaken in Korean in this field, the authors draw upon a wide array of mainly American sources and, in so doing, hope to enlarge the small but growing body of work on gender and sport in Korea written in English.

Background: To examine the independent and combined association between relative quadriceps strength and the prevalence of type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) in older adults. Methods: Among 1441 Korean older adults aged ≥65 years (71 [4.7] y) recruited between 2007 and 2016, 1055 older adults with no history of myocardial infarction, stroke, or cancer were included in the analysis. Cases of T2DM were identified by self-reported physician diagnosis, use antihyperglycemic medication or insulin, or fasting blood glucose ≥126 mg/dL. Logistic regression was used to calculate the odds ratios and 95% confidence intervals of T2DM by quartiles of relative quadriceps strength. Results: There were 162 T2DM cases (15%). Compared with the lowest quartile (weakest), the odds ratios (95% confidence intervals) of T2DM were 0.56 (0.34–0.90), 0.60 (0.37–0.96), and 0.47 (0.28–0.80) in the second, third, and fourth quartiles, respectively, after adjusting for possible confounders, including body mass index. In the joint analysis, compared with the “weak and overweight/obese” group, the odds (odds ratios [95% confidence intervals]) of T2DM was only lower in the “strong and normal weight” group (0.36 [0.22–0.60]) after adjusting for possible confounders. Conclusions: Greater relative quadriceps strength is associated with reduced odds of T2DM in older adults after adjusting for potential confounders including body mass index.