Love Me Tender

So Wonder girls got a boost in exposure by being featured (and praised!) by none other than Perez Hilton himself. Talk about lucky! And they’re not even the most talented artists in the mainstream Korean music industry. This might actually have benefits for BoA since she’s planning to debut in the US in the near future. I was really ticked off by some of the ignorant comments made on the post though. There were so many comments perpetuating stereotypes of East Asians with broken English, exoticizing East Asian women as sex objects, and just references to East Asain restaurants (as if that’s all they can succeed in, in America). Honestly, it is disgusting how much racism there still is. Anyway, I hope this exposure helps Korean artists trying to break into the American music industry. I hope that with representations from East Asians who don’t fit the stereotype of idiotic jesters that ignorance against Koreans and other East Asians (who tend to be lumped into a huge category despite their vast diversity) can diminish.

You can read the Perez’s post on the Wonder Girls here.

I don’t remember how but I stumbled upon Wikipedia’s page on the ‘V’ sign as an insult, and it had a section called “Japan and the V sign in Photographs.” It’s pretty interesting actually. I don’t know how much of it is accurate since many things need citations, but who really does studies on this. Well, maybe someone in cultural studies or social movements maybe. Anyway here is what it said:

During the 1972 Winter Olympics in Sapporo, figure skater Janet Lynn stumbled into Japanese pop culture when she fell during a free-skate period—but continued to smile even as she sat on the ice. Though she placed only third in the actual competition, her cheerful diligence and indefatigability resonated with many Japanese viewers, making her an overnight celebrity in Japan. Afterwards, Lynn (a peace activist) was repeatedly seen flashing the V sign in the Japanese media. Though the V sign was known of in Japan prior to Lynn’s use of it there (from the post-WWII Allied occupation of Japan), she is credited by some Japanese for having popularized its use in amateur photographs. According to the other theory (actually present in the Japanese version of this entry), the V sign was popularized by the actor and singer Jun Inoue, who showed it in the Conica photo camera commercial in 1972.

(Read on …)

I’ve been noticing the increasing anti-Tiffany sentiment on the net (on English sites). Hmm…interesting. I’m not particularly a fan of SNSD or any of its members (although I do like the leader since she actually has singing potential), but I definitely wouldn’t call myself an anti-fan. I find the term anti-fan an oxymoron in the first place, but that’s besides the point. I don’t really see why there are so many people who hate Tiffany. There was even a recent post on ShenYuePop! that was an overtly anti-tifanny post that basically listed all the bad things about Tiffany. Seriously, woah! Most of it was just summarizing what the latest rumours about Tiffany were, but some of the personal input was quite laughable.

The article stated that SNSD are “talent challenged…who sell worthless music, labeled under “virgin” and cute unmarried girls image, contradicting it by wearing super short skirts and not hesitating the chance to reveal their panties to the world.” An oxymoron? Of course. Can the Korean music industry really sell chastity? I highly doubt it. What I don’t agree with in this article is the author’s omission of other groups. Isolating SNSD as the only group who falls into an oxymoron is just uncalled for. Most of the SM artists aren’t very talented and even if they are, the majority of their popularity is due to superb marketing and other means of buying their fame. It’s called capitalism people. Everything is done for profit and not for the sake of talent, art, or craftsmanship. SNSD is no different than any of the other SM groups-their popularity comes from selling their image. What group aren’t whoring their music? They all sell their bodies for profit. And it’s not just SM artists. Tae Yang and Wonder Girl’s new image? Whoring. It’s part of the industry. Why are some artists picked on when it is the industry and people who buy into it that are at fault?

(Read on …)

I came across a post called 8 Faces Even a Mother Can’t Love. Wow, this is harsh! Most of the criticism is just mean. I was quite annoyed at how the author brushes off the talent of these artists by drawing attention to their looks. They’re so vain and shallow. I guess this is just another uneducated, xenophobic posting on the internet. As if we need anymore dumbasses feeding garbage to readers.

Read the article here

Here are some definitions of eugenics that I got off of google:

1. The belief that information about heredity can be used to improve the human race. [source]
2. The application of the principles of genetics to the “improvement” of humankind. [source]
3. A scientific movement devoted to the enrichment of the human species by regulating heredity. [source]

I’ve noticed that beliefs associated with eugenics are quite prevalent, especially in the portrayal of Korean culture through Korean media and sources reporting on Korean entertainment. These include the hierarchy of superior and inferior genes, the scrutiny of those with undesirable characteristics, and the privileging of those with desirable traits. For the Korean culture that has been depicted through the sources on Korean entertainment that I have accessed, these have included: small faces, long slim legs, large eyes, double eyelids, and long (high, pointy) noses, just to name a few. And all these traits, are of course, relative to a culture that has appropriated values of beauty from various sources, including Western conceptions of beauty.

It really bothers me how eugenics is still so prevalent. For example, there was a recent article posted on PopSeoul! entitled, Kim Jae Dong was cursed with bad genes…. The author states:

Some families are blessed with good genes while some are not. Kim Jae Dong and his sister are examples of the latter. To make matters worse, his sister looks exactly like him.

The author perpetuates the belief that there are some genes that are innately undesirable and others which aren’t by referring to genes as blessed nor not blessed - a reference that signals the binary categories of superiority and inferiority. It is not questioned why these genes are considered undesirable. The author, like many other misinformed peoples on PopSeoul! blindly accepts set guidelines of beauty without asking who decides what is and is not desirable. I recognize that PopSeoul! is trash news and is written by primarily poorly educated writers who often make broad generalizations (often perpetuating sexist, racist and homophobic beliefs) in the name of sarcasm, but it still bothers me that so many readers blindly accept the norms that PopSeoul! and other poorly written trash blogs, hold on to. It is unfortunate how many young readers foolishly accept the harmful messages of eugenics that are embedded in varying discourses in Korean media and entertainment.