Mentioning K-pop boy celebrities, a lot of people would say that they are too feminine and thus bad role models for boys to learn how to be boys. But in my opinion, this kind of comment fails to see the bigger picture. Just like there is no single definition for “hegemonic masculinity”, K-pop masculinity is also diverse. It can vary in different times, different individual/ groups, or even in different songs of the same artist. In this blog, I would like to briefly explore K-pop masculinities on various dimensions and try to explain why they are popular or once welcomed by fans.

Tracing back to earlier days, soft and sweet boys were not the main feature of K-pop masculinity. In 2000s, a singer, dancer, and actor Rain was sweeping across South Korea and other Asian countries. Rain has strong muscles all over his body and he loves to show them on public occasions. He used to be half naked on his concerts, attracting a lot of screaming from his female fans. Another K-pop star, Kim Jong-kook, is also famous for his built-up body. He is still active on the reality show Running Man, and recently created a YouTube channel to share his working out videos. These two celebrities represent traditional masculinity in the Korean pop culture, at least in terms of their appearance.

However, in the current age, K-pop has become a more systematic industry than it was ten years ago. Accordingly, the “manufactured” idols look differently than the old stars. In 2012, EXO, a South Korean-Chinese boy band of 12 members debuted in Seoul. They have slim figures, young faces with make-up, white skins, and dyed hair, never timid to show their beauty to the public. EXO achieved their success through receiving one million pre-orders of an album, and so did other countless similar boy groups. Now, EXO’s fame is fading away, but other group’s is not; for example, BTS.

I have watched a couple of BTS’s music videos and recorded performances, so I could probably comment on their demonstrated masculinities. To take their recent album Map of the Soul: 7 for instance, I can see diverse masculinities displayed in different songs. In the MV of Boy with Luv feat. Halsey, all the members wear light-colored clothes, singing and dancing with a smiled face. Particularly, they wear pink half of the time, which is color traditionally assigned for baby girls. In my opinion, this is a typical style of K-pop boy group’s music video – the style that many people criticize as effeminate.

The MV of On features other interesting elements, portraying a different kind of masculinity that aligns with mainstream. The setting of the MV includes cliffs, tribes, mountains, grass, etc. This kind of “wild” background goes in contrast with the typical sophisticated and beautiful places where K-pop MVs often take place. What’s more, the face-paced melody and dance moves create a sense of hurry and strongness, as if they are ready to fight a war. The deeper meaning of this music video is actually far beyond my simple descriptions. It has possible references to the Bible, Maze Runner, Lion King, Game of Thrones to show masculinity linking with bigger themes like peace and freedom. Since I’m not familiar with those, I won’t elaborate here. But we do get a sense of how masculinities can vary in different works of BTS.

The third MV I would like to mention is Black Swan. If I were to say that Boy with Luv shows their positive personalities and On demonstrates their manhood, then Black Swan is a piece that showcases their excellent dancing skills. In Black Swan, the members mimic swans and dance like them. This requires highly trained body balance and softness in order to perform all the details. From my perspective, this is also a manifestation of masculinity – to perfect their own professional skills.

Through seeing their fans’ comments on the Internet, I noticed that a lot of girls like them because of their beauty and youthfulness. In addition, many also are attracted by the members’ personalities and achieved success. One of my friends said to me that she became fans of these boys because it is almost impossible to find partners like this in real life. She imagines being in a romantic relationship with the idol she likes.

I agree with her that K-pop boys don’t really exist in real life. However, it is key to pay attention to the fact of the manufactured nature of these pop stars. Oftentimes, what they show on stage is not what they are like in real life. Solely speaking of their demonstrated masculinities as discussed above, I don’t see any problem with them. They can set a hardworking role model for their fans. But I’d like to call for people to notice the capitalism behind producing these stars and forcing them to look perfect.

 

Sources:

http://navajyotijournal.org/February_2019/TRANSITION%20OF%20THE%20IDEA%20OF%20MASCULINITY%20IN%20KPOP%20CULTURE%20WITHIN%20INDIAN%20VIEWERS_Feb_2019_24.pdf

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