The drama centers around 5 girls who are housemates and their various eventful lives. As Hwayoung's character leaves the house, they welcome a new housemate played by Choi Ara. However, Choi Ara doesn't look like the stereotypical girl - she's super tall and dresses somewhat masculine - and the housemates somehow immediately assume she's a lesbian.
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Following the assumptions, viewers found various problematic scenes and dialogues, including, "It's the same thing as living with a man.. I'm not trying to be discriminating... It's just uncomfortable", "I'm Christian, so [lesbians] are a little..", "Honestly, a lot of Koreans still find it uncomfortable", and more. There was a scene where Choi Ara's character tried to open a door in worry, and it was considered to be something to be scared of by another character because they thought she was lesbian.
Many criticized the broadcast afterward, saying a popular drama casting homosexual girls in that light, including stereotyping them, was only going to add to the already existing issue. Some commented, "The homophobic words that the housemates have toward [Choi Ara's character] is so annoying. Writer, is that why you included a 'tall girl'?", "The housemates in 'Youth Generation' pour out homophobic comments while wondering if the new housemate is gay, and just makes that a reality..Writer, I'm going to believe that's not going to be the end of how you handle this...", "I see a lot of people saying this episode of 'Youth Generation 2' was good in handling things in a realistic way, but if you don't criticize that reality as something that's wrong, it's no different from just reproducing the hate and discrimination," "Today's episode of 'Youth Generation 2' was horrible. There's a bunch of queerbaiting and homophobic situations, but no single explanation or apology," and much more.
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