sexualization and exploitation of kpop artistsWe are no stranger to the expectations of women. Cute, sexy, and innocent. But these are not the only standard for females. Females are at the hands of judgment and double standards when it comes to their personal lives. Many K-pop videos portray women as glittery sex objects, but at the same time, they are expected to be conservative about their private lifestyle, while men can do as they please. They are confined to gendered norms to cater to optimize their fans desires. It is easy to point out the sexism and sexualization towards female idols but believe it or not, they exist towards males too. We can easily point out the sexualization of K-pop stars: pushing singers and dancers to look more sexy and attractive, conforming to fan’s fantasies and producing sexualized songs or music videos, so much so that it has been normalized. In fact, when they aren’t dancing suggestively or pushing their boundaries, “fans” start to become uninterested and they ultimately die out in popularity. Examples of agencies and “fans” pushing K-pop stars to terrible mental health conditions and even worse include Stellar’s Gayoung and former f(x) member Sulli. Stellar’s Gayoung, former girl idol, revealed her agency forced members to do provocative concepts in order to bring in money. She debuted in 2011 and said the group found it difficult to become famous for doing concepts suitable for their age. In 2014, with the switch of management, Stellar released “Marionette,” a concept so provocative it was unsuitable for minors. She recalls a scene when a member was asked to drink milk and spill it on her; originally the members thought innocently of the scene until they read the comments. The member was left traumatized and unable to drink white milk forthward. Another incident included a photoshoot, when members were requested to wear sexy clothing. Originally, all the members refused but after coercion they took some photos. The members did not consent to having the images released, but the agency continued with it anyways, and stating afterwards they “wouldn’t do it again,” but the damage had been done. Gayoung concluded tearfully, she would not have become a K-pop singer had she known the dehumanizing experience she would go through. f(x) member Sulli was faced with criticism over every aspect of her personal life. It was discovered that when she was 9 years old, she wrote the following in her diary: “I think I’m pretty but I don’t get why other people think so too”. After this discovery, she faced public backlash and was called out for being egotistical and self-absorbed. There exists a double standard in K-pop because male idols routinely talk about their own attractiveness and are lauded for it, but women are forced to live with negative self-esteem issues. Furthermore, Sulli was confirmed to be dating popular rapper Choiza (translating to “big dick” in English) during a peak in her career. After this, her career took a hit since she was no longer single. She was never able to recover from the public backlash and ultimately left f(x). It’s shocking to consider that such a minor thing could trigger the end of someone’s career, especially when Choiza was able to joke about the scandal surrounding their relationship on Korean SNL and otherwise remain free of negative backlash. Unfortunately, due to online hate and thousands of negative comments from “fans”, Sulli was driven to suicide and took her own life in 2019. Women are not the only performers who are sexualized. Men are sexualized as well but in a different light. They are sexualized through their abs or how much their hips move. They often take their shirts off to be seen as sexy or manly but when a woman does the same thing, it is considered preposterous. For example, in male idol Rain’s “Love Song”, the focus of the dancing is on body rolls and other sexually suggestive dance moves, all while shirtless and oiled up. There are also music videos featuring women and men positioned in sexually suggestive shots, like together on a bed or dancing inappropriately together. We continuously see this trend. When guys strip, it is considered sexy whereas when a girl does it, it's considered dirty. There are two issues highlighted here. K-Pop stars are heavily sexualized and there is an overshadow of double standards between women and men. Kim Sujeong, a communication science professor at Chungnam National University stated, “The way people rage and threaten female idols who show even the smallest sign of being feminists shows how [what people expect of women] is blatantly different.” We couldn’t agree more with this statement and came up with a countless number of scenarios where this has happened. Oftentimes, female idols who are feminist or defend themselves are bashed and degraded on social media. This can also happen for the most ridiculous reasons. In an interview, Red Velvet’s Irene was asked what book she was currently reading. In response to Irene reading Kim Ji Young, Born 1982, a popular feminist novel, male fans were quick to ostracize her. Men proceeded to burn her images and merchandise and began to bash her on social media. Irene was consistently objectified and sexualized on social media and these male “fans” proceeded to target her on social media, as if she was not entitled to read any types of literature. This just shows that female idols are scrutinized for every move they make, even for something as small as the novel they are currently reading. This was greatly different from Infinite’s Sunggyu, a male K-pop idol, who also swore at a fan but faced no repercussions. Although these were two fairly similar scenarios and Mijoo was just standing up for herself, Mijoo was alienated and received hate for doing the same thing her male counterpart did with no consequences. After all this research about the realities of the K-pop industry, many of us felt shocked by all of the terrible things that happen that many fans are unaware about. From sexual assault to toxicity and stalker “fans” to hypersexualization, it’s important that viewers around the world--including us here in the US--are aware of the industries we support when we book tickets to shows or engage in commenting online. We have to recognize that any time someone online makes an inappropriate or demeaning comment about a young K-pop female idol, there is another person on the other side of the screen internalizing it, such as the case of Sulli and countless other K-pop idols driven to take their own lives because of toxicity. The hypersexualization of young girls forced wearing revealing clothing to “sell records” and men with ideal body types and suggestive dance moves/lyrics show that the media produces what it can sell and that sexualization of these idols does indeed sell. It is also equally important to hold entertainment companies and even the “fans” accountable for things like asking girls to expose more skin or forcing men to go shirtless constantly. Even with all of this in mind, what actions can be taken to stop any of this negativity in the K-pop industry? We’re not advocating that you should stop listening to “How You Like That” or “Dynamite”. Rather, it’s important to not participate in online toxicity and to actively stand against it. Report creepy and hateful comments on respective social media sites, and if you don’t have anything nice to say, don’t say it at all. Support and listen to K-pop groups that actively commit to safe and inclusive spaces for women and young people in Korea and around the world, and not ones that have numerous misconduct and rape cases against them. Finally, always make sure to respect every idol, even the ones whose music you don’t like, because they are a person deserving of respect and privacy even in such a media-heavy world. Listen and educate yourself on any ongoing issues in the K-pop industry, because it is ultimately a consumer-driven force. If enough people start demanding change, who knows what K-pop would look like?
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