Love Me Tender

Ivy is ending her long hiatus from the Korean public by acting in the SBS special Tokyo Shower. She was on a hiatus from the entertainment industry for a while and then participated in some performances outside of Korea, including one in BC, Canada. I felt bad for her during the entire sex scandal with her ex-boyfriend Yoo and Wheesung. Sure she isn’t perfect, but who is? I never condoned her actions but I also didn’t like how she was demonized when she was also a victim. Being stalked, threatened and blackmailed is serious and shouldn’t not be taken lightly. And it is definately NOT appropriate to say careless statements like she deserved it because nobody deserves to have their safety put in jeapordy. Nobody. This is about human rights and she was abused not only by Yoo but also by thoughtless antis and the media. I read many people’s comments calling her a whore, but who is the real whore? Ivy, who cheated on her ex-bf with Wheesung and didn’t use it for publicity (although it definately made her popular), or those who used the story for their own selfish desires (ie. Wheesung who used the scandal to paint himself like an innocent victim, the media who used the story to make money, etc.). Again, I’m not condoning her choices, but we should not ignore the context of the situation. And one last thing, people need to learn what the definition of a whore is. It is not synonymous with “loose woman”.

Anyway, I hope she had a good rest and wil succeed in the future. She is one of the few Korean artists with exceptional talent. And this whole scandal could have destryoed her career but she is persevering and attempting to comeback after all that bullshit. I wish her the very best.

References:
1. PopSeoul!: information

Song Hye Gyo quickly got kicked off the Korea’s Natural Beauties list when pictures of her during her high school days were posted online and compared to her recent pictures. many fans are shocked and disappointed. Previously I didn’t think anyone was gullible enough to believe that Korean stars haven’t had any cosmetic procedures. With the pressure they are under it doesn’t matter how good looking they are. There is always something they have to “fix”. I sympathize with these stars. In order for them to stay in the business they have to get “fixed”.

But back to Song Hye Gyo, some of those pictures don’t really convince me. It just looks like she lost weight, had pictures taken at different angles and changed her makeup techniques. Sometimes pictures of myself come out and make me look so different than what I normally look like. So I think that some of those pictures aren’t very convincing - mostly the ones implying she had a nsoejob. It looks like she definately had double eyelid surgery, but how is that surprising? I’m just surprised that gullible people still exist.

You can see the pictures here.

References:
1. Coolsmurf: info

I’m two days late, but whatever! Super Junior M (unofficially known as Super Junior China) debuted on April 8. The sub group consists of five existing SUJU members Siwon, Hankyung, Kyuhyun, Donghae and Ryeowook, and two other SM entertainers, Henry (Lau) and Zhoumi. Personally, I think Henry looks really cute in this picture except for his low pants. He’s already the shortest member, do they need to make him look more stumpy? Stupid wardrobe stylist. I hope SM doesn’t make Henry cut up his his face, like Hee Chul. Talk about a bad (and unoriginal…remember Bin?) excuse. As if everyone who falls down needs plastic surgery. Even though Koreans highly value education, I wonder what the quality is at some institutions for such stupidity to exist AND BE ACCEPTED. Moving along…here’s the picture.

Zhoumi, Ryeowook, Henry, Siwon, Hankyung, Donghae, Kyuhyun
(from left to right)

(Read on …)

I will admit that when I first started listening to Jpop I listened to Morning Musume despite their high pitch squealing. I of course moved on once I discovered better music, although I do revisit their happy-go-lucky music when I need a sugar high (without the sugar). Recently my sister and I were wondering what happened to two particular members that we thought looked a lot alike, but one was more annoying than the other. Well we found out that one had gotten pregnant at 19 and married the father soon after. I decided to revisit the information out of curiosity.

Well, the two (Tsuji Nozomi/辻希美 and Kago Ai/加護亜依) had graduated from Morning Musume in August 2004 and were created into a duo group called W (Double U). Then the one I thought was cute (Kago Ai/加護亜依) was suspended and eventually expelled from the group after being caught smoking underaged. Side note: I find it really interesting how in Japan underage smoking or drinking is severly punished while porn vending machines are located on street corners. But anyway…later Tsuji Nozomi/辻希美 was revealed to be two months pregnant and announced her official engagement to the child’s father, Sugiura Taiyo. She was 19 at the time and he was 26. Man, talk about tarnishing the candy sweet image of Morning Musume. =P

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.

WARNING: This post contains swearing.

A while ago I had read an article on popseoul about the muscularity of female Korean celebrities calf muscles. The author had stated that older gnerations had more muscular legs while the younger generations had slimmer ones. They even included this picture as a comparison:

At the time I thought it was really weird to make the comparison between older and younger generations and the difference between their legs. I had just figured that the style recently was to go for taller girls who didn’t have as “chunky” calf muscles. Sadly, this is not the case. Most likely these women had calf reduction surgery to cut out a part of their calf muscle to make their calf slimmer. And *surprise* the procedure was invented in South Korea. *groan*

Here is a blurb about the surgery:

Beautiful calves are desirable to both men and women all over the world. Unfortunately many Asian women have short and muscular calves. Thus, the muscle reduction surgery was first developed in Korea.

For many years, the efforts to reduce calves had focused on fat. But result of liposuction was disappointing in most cases because the calf was mainly composed of muscles with little fat.

By reducing the muscle bulk of Gastrocnemius muscles, the calves can be made thinner and longer.
Among various methods which can reduce the muscle bulk in calf, partial resection of Gastrocnemius muscle is the most effective and safe procedure.

Safe my ass. I don’t think a month recooperation and the need to relearn how to walk is safe. Seriously, wtf?! Are these Korean celebrities completely fucked in the head? Who in their right mind thinks that chopping up your muscles for temporary esthetics is a good idea? I am really hoping that there are some Korean celebrities have told their management to fuck off when they were presented with the idea, because if this is an accepted choice then that is just pathetic. Personally, I don’t even see how muscular legs are unattractive. So what if you don’t look like a tall White model! Why mutulate your body to try to become something you are not? Why not accept your body the way it is and realize that this “ideal beauty” is a bunch of bullshit? It is a concept, which means it can be changed. Conforming to it and sending harmful messages to others is not a positive approach to take. In fact, it is disgusting.

If you have come here seeking information on calf reduction surgery because you are thinking of having it, please reconsider. You are beautiful the way you are. Don’t let anyone tell you otherwise.

References:
1. Popseoul: Picture and article
2. Calf reduction surgery blurb