HSocial ISSUE Hot Hot Summer: Sizzling it up with more provocative K-pop By James Turnbull Summer’s heating up outside and on-screen, where K-pop’s girl groups have been shedding even more clothes than normal. !e public debate has reached new heights, with critics pointing to ex- cessive female objecti"cation. But, as James Turnbull points out, the controversy is nothing new. K-pop girl group After School swinging around stripper which featured pelvic thrusts from RaNia and the Brave Girls, as poles, grabbing their crotches and singing wet and topless well as 4Minute’s notorious “Wide Leg Spread Dance” for “Mir- in “First Love”? Dal Shabet ripping their skirts open to reveal ror Mirror”. skin tight pants for “Look At My Legs”? Long, lingering close- It is true that there have been more cases than normal recent- ups of BIKINY’s breasts and panties for “Please Accept Me”? ly, with management companies of boy bands openly wonder- These examples are just a small sampling of what you can see ing how their employees can compete for attention. But that is on Korean music channels this summer, in what has widely been precisely the point: with a constant glut of new groups debut- described as an unprecedented, unacceptable pornification of ing, legal downloads costing less than a tenth of their iTunes K-pop. Predictably, many netizens have been slut-shaming the counterparts, and an ensuing overdependence on commercial girl groups involved, whereas more discerning critics have gen- endorsements, the Korean music industry has long been predi- erally complained of their excessive sexual objectification, and/ cated on using sex—and anticipated bans—to keep groups in or portrayed them as victims of their management companies. the public eye. Most notably, Lee Seung-chul, a Korean singer with 27 years in Mirroring developments in the Korean movie industry, where the industry, tweeted that it was wrong to promote girl groups financial problems have also prompted a recent, rapid sexing by making them wear revealing costumes. Of course, it is impossible to give justice to the range and Lee Seung-chul, a Korean singer with 27 depth of critics’ opinions here, who do have valid concerns. However, many are also so focused on all the female flesh on years in the industry, tweeted that it was display that they are failing to see the bigger picture. Should wrong to promote girl groups by making you come across any of their alarmist headlines this summer, here are three ways to bring a healthy dose of realism to the them wear revealing costumes. discussion. First, note that the controversy is nothing new. Because not up of content (see October’s Haps), it is disingenuous to sug- only does barely a month go by when the Ministry of Gender gest that what we’re seeing now is anything unusual. Moreover, Equality and Family doesn’t ban songs or music videos, but as trends will only continue with the recent weakening of the Yen, recently as the winter edition of Haps, I discussed many other which has already dealt a huge blow to profits for Korean music bawdy examples, including “Bloom” by Ga-in, which featured in Japan. masturbation. In particular, just over two years ago, there was Second, automatically screaming the “o” word in response to similar hang-wringing over one episode of KBS’s Music Bank, some skin often belies a fundamental misunderstanding of the 24 HAPS_summer 2013 CLOCKWISE FROM THE LEFT: DAL SHABET, YURA, AFTER SCHOOL concept. Because musical ability, sexy dances and sexier cos- of Star Empire, as girl group members become more successful tumes are not mutually exclusive, and it is objectifying in itself and “adjust to the music industry, they start composing their to reduce talented musicians to only the latter. own songs and have more of a voice in their concept. In the doc- That is not to say that sex isn’t overused in K-pop to disguise umentary, the girls are told by managers: ‘If you become a star, a lack of talent, and that we shouldn’t call that out accordingly. your opinion is law. If you think you are treated unfairly, become But when sexual attractiveness adds to and/or is a fundamen- a star.’ What the manager said is cruel, but it shows a reality.” tal part of a performance, yet is criticized nevertheless, then In a summer that, on the one hand, has already seen its first- perhaps it’s more sex itself that the detractors have a problem ever condom commercial and a high-profile announcement of with. Also, arguably with strong and confident women, too, for an (illegal) gay wedding, and on the other hand has brought in in such cases it’s very difficult to see them as coerced in any way, the revelation that 54 percent of South Gyeongsang Province which is the most important criteria for judging whether some- police think that “that women who wear revealing clothing are one is being negatively objectified or not. somehow culpable in any attacks on them,” people deserve a In addition to Ga-in, whose masturbation scene was not at more sophisticated, less reactionary discussion of sex in K-pop all out of place in a rare song about female sexual awakening, from their cultural gatekeepers. one example from this summer is ‘Baddest Female’ CL of 2NE1, By all means, they should call a spade a spade. But, to apply who was recently widely criticized for wearing a swimsuit on- what sociologist Lisa Wade wrote about Beyoncé, on those oc- stage. Unlike UEE of After School, however, who felt she had no casions when a K-pop female singer’s “performance—along choice but to agree to her CEO’s plan for six months of painful with those of her bandmates and fellow dancers and singers— pole-dance training for “First Love”, CL was not at all pressured embodie[s] strength and confidence; the pleasure of being to wear her outfit, and earlier rejected YG Entertainment’s de- comfortable in one’s own skin and the ability to use your body mand that she receive cosmetic surgery before she debuted. to tell a story; and the power that comes from being admired for What’s more, YG completely removed those clauses in their sub- the talents you’ve worked so hard to cultivate,” then it’s difficult sequent contracts for new trainees, unlike the vast majority of to only see a sex object, and/or plausibly claim that it’s simply management companies that retain them. pornography. Ergo, while the K-pop industry is certainly extremely exploit- This summer, please take a moment to consider why so ative overall, and replete with examples of coercion that do de- many do. serve to be highlighted, a third factor to take into consideration James Turnbull is a writer and public speaker on Korean fem- is that not all management companies are the same. Also, as inism, sexuality and pop culture. He can be found at thegrandnar- Lee Hark-joon noted, director of the documentary Nine Muses rative.com 2013 summer_ busanhaps.com 25.