Most mornings before I head to work I visit the gym.
It’s quiet, fairly empty, and I can finish my workout in about an hour.
The other day as I began on the treadmill, a suspicious middle aged man strode onto the machine next to me. What would unfold in front of me would be one of the most demeaning and offensive experiences I’ve witnessed in Seoul.
On the machine next to him was a young woman in her mid 20s beginning her run, when all of a sudden he proceeds to lean into her and ask:
“What’s your waist size? Hips?”
I was stunned.
Now, I know in Korea we at times ask personal questions from the get-go (How old are you? Are you married yet? What school did you go to?) but this was severely crossing the line.
I slowed my treadmill to assess if she was ok, only to notice him biting his lip, ogling at her from behind and shouting, “Shake that booty that booty booty!”
Even worse, this filthy man starts to draw an S Line curve with his hands asking her how her mama made her, and clearly not being able to hold back, shouts “So nice from the back! What should I do!?”
This had to be a dream.. a nightmare.
As I glanced around the gym, no one seemed to mind at all.
A 44 year old man was sexually assaulting a young woman in broad daylight, physically impeding on her, and verbally masturbating about his infatuation with her ‘booty booty’ and yet, not a single soul in the gym stopped him.
This wasn’t a nightmare.
Welcome to the world of KPOP.
A Misogynist’s Playground
While it may be hard to believe, the man in the music video above, JYP, not only gets away with this behavior regularly, but is celebrated in Korea as a Cultural Icon.
An Icon..
Imagine if you will, a 44 year old man, ahjussi (Korean for middle aged man), coming up to you in the gym, subway, office, street or even a club, and began to ask you your waist and hip measurements; Shouting out how much he loved you from behind..
My assumption ( with deep confidence ) is that nearly 100% of the women in Korea would not only abhor this type of behavior, they would report it to authorities. In Korea, innocently approaching a girl at a bar and simply asking for her number is considered ‘too forward.’
Yet, this man is affectionately called ‘Oppa’ ( term of endearment in Korea ) by his female peers and respected in an industry that seems to turn a blind eye to rampant misogyny.
I’m going to take a wild guess, but I feel fairly certain that if I ever acted in the way JYP did in his music video I wouldn’t be called ‘Oppa’.
I’d be called: Inmate.
I’m in no way oblivious to the fact that this type of behavior isn’t solely relegated to the Korean music industry.
Western music factories have been using the same method for decades, and the global entertainment industry continues to use the sex appeal of their musicians and artists to generate profit.
This is in no way a Korea only issue.
Sex sells.
This seems to be a universal truth and no other industry exploits this as much as the Entertainment Industry; banking off the sexual appeal of their ‘products’ and distorting to a consuming public what beauty is.
In Korea, this method of sexual appeal thrives. In fact, it’s the only method in which the ‘music geniuses’ behind the small handful of Korean music labels can think of to market their talent. Instead of the actual talent.
Old, antiquated and downright misogynistic; Corporate Korea.
But hey, it’s only KPOP, it’s harmless. Who cares?
An entire generation of young girls that are growing up in a country where ‘happiness’ is a scarcity and the image pummeled into them from the KPOP industry is a visual poison; wrapped in innocence but produced by a filthy machine.
A recent survey on happiness was conducted on 12 years olds in 16 nations and Korea ranked dead last.
Korean students’ dissatisfaction with their appearances dragged down the happiness ranking as they head to plastic surgeons to mirror the image of their favorite KPOP Idols. 12 year olds..
KPOP doesn’t just sit in the realm of music, it’s shaping the cultural mindset of young Koreans, and at the helm of these music groups sits a tiny club of middle aged men (ahjussis) that are completely out of touch with the global challenges of women’s rights and gender equality.
Sadly, these music executives are being mistaken as cultural ambassadors rather than being called out for their misogynistic work practices, unethical slave contracts, and inappropriate behavior that borders pedophilia.
( We haven’t even touched the underground world of KPOP prostitution, where music agencies send their trainees to have sexual relations with sponsors )
While the Hallyu wave is a revenue source for the country, how far are we willing to ignore the plight of young adolescent girls in the music industry that are being used as tools to generate wealth for men who could care less about them once their time (youth) runs out.
Korea touts the Hallyu wave globally in hopes of enticing tourist dollars and brandishes it’s entertainment industry as a revenue beacon for the country.
However, what it should do, is look inwards at the very system that produces KPOP and question whether the slave labor of adolescents is truly worth the profit and demoralizing culture it has created for not only young women in Korea but that of a whole generation.
The KPOP industry desperately needs a 21st century software update on gender equality and systematic sexual harassment.
KPOP isn’t a cultural export, it became one when it generated profit. Is that how we, as a country, determine the value of our culture?
I didn’t think so..
Take for example one of Korea’s ‘hottest’ acts, Twice.
On the popular Korean show ‘Sixteen’, teenage girls are pitted against each other to secure a spot for an all girl group. Yet, not a single permanent female judge was on the show to evaluate the talents of the contestants. Not one.
The eventual girl group that formed from this show was ‘Twice’, and surprise surprise, they were hand picked by none other than our 44 year old ‘gym rat’ that casually measures the value of women by hip and waist size.
“Shake that booty that booty booty” ( what every Korean father loves to hear from men responsible for the care of their daughter.. )
Korean parents have a difficult time allowing their daughters go on a coffee date with a respectful young man, but somehow, allowing a man to ogle at their teenage daughter gyrating in a mini-skirt with the look of a hungry hyena is acceptable..?
What shocked me more than the ingrained sexism on the show though, was the deafening silence from the Korean public on the clear misogynistic framework of the show.
It didn’t seem strange at all that young females were being picked for an all female group but not a single judge was in fact, a female.
Another popular music show in Korea is KPOP Star.
Perpetuating the ‘Ahjussi Cartel’ that is Korea’s corporate world, all 3 judges on the show are middle aged men. Men who have done little to nothing to create a gender balanced workforce in their firms and hardly, if ever, use their privileged position in Korean society to speak of the atrocities Korean women face.
No one doubts that JYP, YG, or Yoo Hee Yeol (Boa was removed after Season 2) have the resume to judge music, but in a country of 50 million (the majority of which are women) why is equal gender representation not of value on the airwaves of Korea?
Korean women already face the highest wage gap in the world and rampant misogyny is not a cultural secret.
Where is the sustained public outrage over the complete lack of female representation at the executive levels of these music companies?
KPOP executives are in no way advancing and pushing forward an agenda of women’s rights and equality in a country where it so desperately needs it. Not that they need to be civil rights leaders, but if these men are going to be in the business of managing women and their physical appearances, can we not have women at the judges table as well?
Seems giving a seat at the decision table to a woman is still a novel concept in Korea.. It’s 2017 btw.
( Chaebols in Korea still have NO women on the board; Samsung, Hyundai and LG. )
If Korea’s traditional Confucius values are the oil soaked trees in a misogynistic forest, the advent of KPOP has been the steadfast oxygen feeding an existent inferno of second class treatment towards women in Korea.
At stake here is not a music industry, it’s the mental well being of a country’s youth that is suffering (Suicide #1 cause of death for Korean teens), and an industry that perpetuates outdated roles for women and men.
KPOP cuts into the fabric of beauty perception like a surgical procedure in Gangnam, and it’s influence on beauty standards for our youth is not only misguided but mentally damaging.
Korea’s adolescents need stronger role models than the images pumped on the waves by old men.
Further, when a rising generation sees a nation celebrate and reward what is clearly misogynistic behavior from industry leaders, it only bolsters a culture that is in deep need of a gender equality awakening.
Let me be clear though, this is in no way a criticism of the KPOP music itself.
Much to the shock of my friends, I enjoy it quite a bit.
My iPod is filled with songs from Dynamic Duo, TaeTiSeo, Urban Zakapa and 볼빨간사춘기 ( Chocolate!)
I’m a fan of KPOP music.
I simply believe that the machine that produces it needs to be recognized for what it is.
A male driven corporation that takes advantage of the often poor socio-economic condition of it’s tools (artists) and leverages an outdated model of ‘sex appeal’ to drive zeros into personal bank accounts.
Lets call a spade a spade. The KPOP industry is a degrading environment for women and in no way empowers them, or returns to them the equity they so rightfully earn.
It’s time the Ahjussi Cartel gets dismantled, nationwide, and what better place to start than with the twilight zone that is KPOP.
More often than not, the loudest voice in the room are the silent ones.
I fear, not only with KPOP, but throughout Korea, there is a generation of women that harbor unheard cries of help that desperately need light, but are often silenced due to generational and cultural ceilings.
What the women of KPOP and Korea deserve is simple: Equality and the commitment that misogyny will no longer be tolerated at the expense of profits for aging men.
Koreans admire global artists like Adele and Sam Smith, both of whom don’t conform to the traditional “ideal Korean body shape” or “accepted sexual orientation.” Yet, when Koreans hear these legendary voices they push aside these superficial Korean ideals and stand in awe of pure talent.
If Adele can sell millions of albums globally on the strength of her voice, (without prancing around in a mini skirt bent over) then why too, can’t young Korean artists also succeed on the basis of their voice and raw talent?
Can you imagine Adele asking JYP what is hip, waist and _____ size are in order to sell albums…?
Hyolyn, you could put on a bomb suit and still sell records with your voice alone.
SeoHyun, your talents will land you a Grammy and Oscar one day. Do you.
Ailee, just keep steppin’ up to the mic.
My greatest hope is that the future of not only KPOP, but that of all young Koreans, be measured not by the outdated vision of sexually frustrated middle aged men but by the depth of their talent and who they are as an individual.
Because to be very honest, glorifying music label CEOs that put teens in suggestive clothing for their own pleasure is “neomuhae neomuhae” — “너무해 너무해”
Years from now, we will be judged by the future daughters of Korea on what role we played to provide equal, respectful and safe working environments for women.
I hope you will have the courage to stand with the silent majority.
