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The influence of K-pop

The globalization of K-pop has been driven by the use of YouTube. Korean entertainment companies have learned to use different platforms to divulge Korean culture into the online world. This practice has been largely successful, leading to the presence of K-pop in mainstream media. Korean musical artist, PSY, who shot to stardom with “Gangnam Style,” spearheaded the movement, placing Korea’s music industry on to the world stage. Popular YouTube channels such as eatyourkimchi, dedicate content to not only K-pop, but also Korean food and culture. Interestingly, the two founders of eatyourkimchi, Simon and Martina, are from Canada, but have resided in South Korea to teach English. The channel’s popularity has resulted in interviews by The Wall Street Journal, Aljazeera, and The National Post. Their videos have been watched a total of 320,870,856 times from all over the world.

Interest in K-pop has also led to the popularity of Korean dramas. Streaming sites, such as Viki, have led to online communities that translate Korean dramas by subtitling the dramas into English. As well, Soompi, an online forum mainly discussing Korean idols, media, and just about anything and everything, has also flourished into a vibrant online community. K-pop is becoming a phenomenon that is creating an online social culture.

 

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November 2015

A personal reflection continued…

In Korea, having a slim figure is an integral part beauty. Thin legs, a small waist, and a toned stomach are characteristics to admire. Amusingly, large breasts are also praised, though with the proportions that are “beautiful,” highly unlikely. A slim body shape is not a beauty standard from only Korea. Asian countries, such as Taiwan and Japan, as well as Western countries such as Canada and the United States, all affirm a slim figure as the most sought after body.

Since elementary school, my Asian mother has consistently reinforced the notion of skinny as beautiful. “You eat too much, you’re too fat.” Are all phrases that I grew up hearing. “Did you gain weight? Have you weighed yourself lately? Why is your butt so big?” Are all questions I have grown too accustomed hearing on a daily basis. Being compared to my skinny sister (who just recovered from being bed-ridden by appendicitis for two months) was a constant occurrence.

Sizing issues are common when I buy clothes in Asia. Being 5″7, I am already not the typical height of an Asian girl.Not being “skinny enough” in Asian standards, meant buying clothes were a hassle. Shirts were too short for me, and, as I was more endowed than typical Asian girls in the bust area, too tight. I remember buying underwear at the department store, where I was a size LL pantie from Japanese brand Wacoal. At Victoria’s Secret, I am a size small.

Click here for an interesting read that I thought nicely complemented my thoughts in this post.

 

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November 2015

A personal reflection…

One of the reasons why I am writing specifically about Korean beauty standards is because they are very similar to Asian notions of beauty. Growing up in a traditional, conservative, Taiwanese immigrant family, I was always bombarded with forceful assertions of what beauty was.

Specifically, being tanned was a cardinal sin, where you are seen as dark and dirty. My mother was particularly sensitive to this, commenting “太黑” (too dark) when she met my boyfriend. Beauty standards are not limited to females only, as I tried to show in my last post. Men are also susceptible to notions of beauty. In China and Taiwan, it is common to see young ladies, as well as the elderly, holding umbrellas to block the sun’s rays. Less commonly seen here in Vancouver, though I have seen some brave souls re-enacting this practice, such a practice would seem foreign. When I go back to Taiwan for vacations, or to visit relatives, I am one of many young women who carry an umbrella. I see it as taking advantage of social norms and to protect my skin from the blazing sun. But perhaps the first reason is only an excuse I use justify wanting to conform to this ridiculous pale skin beauty standard.

Seemingly “blessed” with pale skin, I was complimented and praised for my snow white skin, as if it dictated who I was as a person. Being young, admirations by my relatives and strangers reinforced this notion of paleness as integral to my beauty. Although I am turning 23 next year, I still dislike being in the sun, not only for fear of “being dark,” but also because I burn easily. But perhaps the second reason I use as an excuse to escape the sun.

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October 2015

K-pop and Beauty Standards

Every culture has their own set of beauty standards. Differences can be seen in not only with favoured body shapes, but also in facial features. As well, make-up and hair plays a large part in creating the “perfect” girl of each culture. Click here to see an interesting photoshop experiment on 27 definitions of beauty in various countries.

K-pop has driven Korean beauty standards to the forefront. Korea is a country where plastic surgery is common practice, with many teenagers gifted double eyelid surgery as a graduation present. Beauty, and the obsession with features considered beautiful, have driven a fast growing plastic surgery industry.

What exactly is the Korean ideals of beauty?

In no particular order,

  1. Pale Skin
  2. Aegyo-sal (Puffy Undereye Bags)
  3. Nose Bridge
  4. V-shaped Face
  5. Double Eyelids
  6. Thin legs
  7. Rigid Nose Tip
  8. Small Nostrils

K-pop stars are the face of such beauty standards. Many entertainment companies persuade their stars to undergo surgery in order to appeal to the general public.

 

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October 2015

Longstanding Animosity

Japan and Korea still have historical disagreements that have yet to be solved. Animosity between the two countries stem from the use of comfort women and historical discrepancies. For instance, Japan has yet to issue a written apology for the atrocities that they committed when colonizing Korea. Many politicians have gone so far as to say that the Koreans would inevitably be colonized because they could not modernize themselves. Many Korean artifacts have also not been returned to Korea by the Japanese government. The visit of Japanese Prime Minister’s to Yasukuni shrine, which houses many war criminals, is also a contentious problem.

The Japanese have also refused to recognize the plight of comfort women, who were forced into prostitution by the Japanese. The Japanese government have called comfort women “liars,” justifying this statement by stating that in prostitution was normal in Korea because there were already many brothels.

These, and many other reasons, cause the hostility between Japan and Korea, that have made K-pop’s entrance into Japan controversial and problematic.

 

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October 2015

K-pop in Japan

Taking Japan by storm, K-pop is one of the fastest and most popular music genres in the island nation. Korean bands and solo artists have learned Japanese in order to broaden their target markets. Popular bands such as KARA, Big Bang, and B2ST have all penetrated the Japanese market successfully. In fact, K-pop groups have broken sales records and occupied prime-time airtime on television and radio shows. However, this is not to say that the Hallyu wave have not experienced obstacles.

Increasingly, Japan is experiencing anti-hallyu sentiments. Hallyu, meaning “flow of Korea,” describes the increase in popularity of South Korean culture since the late 1990s. After experiencing great popularity, there has been increased animosity towards Korea and Korean programming. This hostility has resulted in anti-Korean rallies that chant offensive messages and signage which include “Die Koreans” and “Go back to Korea.” Even more alarming is the fact that there many zainichi Koreans currently living in Japan. Although they may identify more as Japanese than Korean, there have been instances where bullying and discrimination has taken place. In Japanese bookstores, the books on display in the best-selling non-fiction section were anti-Korean publications, that were on contentious legal and social issues between Japan and Korea.

 

 

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October 2015

Let’s Get Started…What exactly is K-pop?

K-pop is a musical genre from South Korea, that focuses on not only audio but also visual elements of music. It is not limited to only one type of genre, but a variety of musical styles such as hip-hop, R&B, and pop.

Many have even claimed that K-pop is better than American pop because of its meticulous concentration on not only wardrobe, but presentation, and quality of performance. Read more about this here. What’s more, the American music industry has even begun to notice K-pop as a force that may be able to penetrate the American market.

Most notably, Korean singer/rappper CL, of the girl group 2NE1, has been preparing for an American debut since last year.  Enlisting the help of Scooter Braun, the musical manager of Justin Bieber, Ariana Grande, and Psy, to manage her launch. Since then, CL has performed at the highly popular Ultra Music Festival in Miami as a result of her collaborations with EDM artists Diplo and Skrillex. Her close friendship with designer and Moschino’s creative director, Jeremy Scott, has led to friendships with A$AP ROCKY and MIA.

 

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Welcome!

GRSJ230 Gender, Race, Sexuality, and Representation in Modern Asia

This blog is for GRSJ230 Gender, Race, Sexuality, and Representation in Modern Asia, where I will explore the reach of K-pop culture in both Western and Asian countries and its ramifications on society.

A selection of questions that I would like to answer on this blog are:

  1. Is K-pop, a part of Korean culture, welcomed more freely into Asian societies than Western societies?
  2. How have video streaming websites, such as Youtube, contributed to the spread of K-pop?
  3. What are some barriers that K-pop has experienced in countries of high homogeneity and “one culture” such as Japan?
  4. How successful has K-pop been in penetrating the American music industry?

Any other questions or ideas can also be explored! I encourage anyone with an interest in this area to leave a comment below of their question to be added to my list.

Thank you and happy blogging!

Emily

 

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