Why do we support Girl Groups? (1 Viewer)

[spicy_illusion]

Yes, a GG stan is saying 'why do we support Girl Groups?' lol
If you think about it, supporting Girl Groups is just more promotion of sexism and the mistreatment of female idols.
I know it doesn't happen in every company and even some BG's get treated worse than GG's in their company but there is literally so much inequality that I feel like if you are supporting a GG, then you are also supporting misogyny, sexualization of the idol, weight loss issues, etc.
Don't get me wrong, I love the GG's that I love, but why is it so much harder to be a GG stan when so much discrimination towards women happens?
Even in sales, BG's sell so much more, they have much bigger fanbases and even when a GG does something different in the industry, it is really looked down upon.
so, my question is, after everything we know that goes on in the Kpop industry, why do we support GG's and can we really make a change to it?

 

[Evergreen]

There are two reasons that explains why I keep supporting girl groups.

1. As you said yourself, even if girl groups are more mistreated than boy groups and are victims of specific discriminations due to their gender, it’s in fact the whole Kpop industry which is shady : payola, sajaegis, CEOs involved in criminal affairs and embezzlements, slave contracts, sasaengs, crazy antis, dating bans....

2. I don’t think that something would change even if we stop supporting girl groups and so their sexist companies because it’s the society who needs to change. Sexism is deeply ingrained in the Korean society and women aren’t equal in every entertainment industry of the world.

 

[spicy_illusion]

There are two reasons that explains why I keep supporting girl groups.

1. As you said yourself, even if girl groups are more mistreated than boy groups and are victims of specific discriminations due to their gender, it’s in fact the whole Kpop industry which is shady : payola, sajaegis, CEOs involved in criminal affairs and embezzlements, slave contracts, sasaengs, crazy antis, dating bans....

2. I don’t think that something would change even if we stop supporting girl groups and so their sexist companies because it’s the society who needs to change. Sexism is deeply ingrained in the Korean society and women aren’t equal in every entertainment industry of the world.

True, I agree with this.
I do hope that by supporting GG's though, we can slowly make a change for the better and maybe if more and more people support and love GG's, then these companies can see that and will be able to treat them better but it will take a lot of work.

 

[Evergreen]

True, I agree with this.
I do hope that by supporting GG's though, we can slowly make a change for the better and maybe if more and more people support and love GG's, then these companies can see that and will be able to treat them better but it will take a lot of work.

There is a change for sure. Nowadays girl groups can build huge and loyal fandoms like boy groups but there is still a long way to go.

 

[Sourcekeeper]

Yes, a GG stan is saying 'why do we support Girl Groups?' lol
If you think about it, supporting Girl Groups is just more promotion of sexism and the mistreatment of female idols.
I know it doesn't happen in every company and even some BG's get treated worse than GG's in their company but there is literally so much inequality that I feel like if you are supporting a GG, then you are also supporting misogyny, sexualization of the idol, weight loss issues, etc.
Don't get me wrong, I love the GG's that I love, but why is it so much harder to be a GG stan when so much discrimination towards women happens?
Even in sales, BG's sell so much more, they have much bigger fanbases and even when a GG does something different in the industry, it is really looked down upon.
so, my question is, after everything we know that goes on in the Kpop industry, why do we support GG's and can we really make a change to it?

Its hard to get the right answer but i'll give it a try, the idol group system arose due to the big 3 & before that seo taiji and the boyz paved the way for kpop. Before that music that was allowed to be broadcasted were trot and slow ballads, its attributed to korea culture the cause of the restriction, so the people who grew up in those era still has that mentality growing up that anything western or liberalized which is not related to korean culture is looked down upon which includes girls wearing revealing clothing, its why to this day, girls still are given blankets when sitting down, its a sign of modesty, those same people gave birth to children who were taught the same values but after they grew up they are already in a much open society than their parents but korean culture is still instilled in their discipline and values.

The idea that women are equal to men are only recently introduced to many cultures including korea and its still not better in certain parts of the world. But in my honest opinion, its getting better with newer generation of people growing up, look at the sales of many of the current GGs, what korea need is just time for their culture to catch up with western values. This is just my point of view, don't take it as fact, i might be wrong.

 

[spicy_illusion]

Its hard to get the right answer but i'll give it a try, the idol group system arose due to the big 3 & before that seo taiji and the boyz paved the way for kpop. Before that music that was allowed to be broadcasted were trot and slow ballads, its attributed to korea culture the cause of the restriction, so the people who grew up in those era still has that mentality growing up that anything western or liberalized which is not related to korean culture is looked down upon which includes girls wearing revealing clothing, its why to this day, girls still are given blankets when sitting down, its a sign of modesty, those same people gave birth to children who were taught the same values but after they grew up they are already in a much open society than their parents but korean culture is still instilled in their discipline and values.

The idea that women are equal to men are only recently introduced to many cultures including korea and its still not better in certain parts of the world. But in my honest opinion, its getting better with newer generation of people growing up, look at the sales of many of the current GGs, what korea need is just time for their culture to catch up with western values. This is just my point of view, don't take it as fact, i might be wrong.

Well, this is definitely not a bad idea and this is definitely possible and I can agree that it is getting better.

 

[JakeyWantsCakey]

Well, I feel like boycotting girl groups as a way to combat the discrimination they face just adds to the problem. I feel like the better solution to the issue is to just be a vocal fan who defends their faces and helps to actively combat the issues your favourite female idols are facing.

 

[spicy_illusion]

Well, I feel like boycotting girl groups as a way to combat the discrimination they face just adds to the problem. I feel like the better solution to the issue is to just be a vocal fan who defends their faces and helps to actively combat the issues your favourite female idols are facing.

This is a good perspective, I hadn't really thought about that.
But also, if we think about it, that has already been happening as there are stans who are defending their idols.
But it doesn't really help when certain BG's say they are being more mistreated than GG's.

 

[amourpinks]

It’s more fun to hate on men ❤

 

[JakeyWantsCakey]

This is a good perspective, I hadn't really thought about that.
But also, if we think about it, that has already been happening as there are stans who are defending their idols.
But it doesn't really help when certain BG's say they are being more mistreated than GG's.

I've never heard a BG say that... plus I don't think it helps to compare different types of oppression anyway. I think you have to remember that a lot of the issues that you brought up in the OP aren't unique to kpop but are issues that effect females in the music industry worldwide, it's just more overt in kpop because Koreans aren't very politically correct. Females always get the brunt of any scandal in any corner of pop culture, not just kpop, female artists are always getting told that they deserve less because they apparently don't less as much as their male counterparts. Watch any documentary about western girl groups and you'll hear the same stories told over and over again globally.

 

[JakeyWantsCakey]

It’s more fun to hate on men ❤

 

[yeji]

It’s more fun to hate on men ❤

 

[yeji]

I personally just think that not giving gg’s a chance and to boycott them would be more harmful. we should rather support them more... especially the ones from smaller companies

 

[Sourcekeeper]

If we think about it, kpopsource is an example where there are like 80% GG stans & 20% BG stans.

 

[QueenB]

I guess its the hope that we as fans can petition/protest the companies into better treatment of idols.

 

[spicy_illusion]

I've never heard a BG say that... plus I don't think it helps to compare different types of oppression anyway. I think you have to remember that a lot of the issues that you brought up in the OP aren't unique to kpop but are issues that effect females in the music industry worldwide, it's just more overt in kpop because Koreans aren't very politically correct. Females always get the brunt of any scandal in any corner of pop culture, not just kpop, female artists are always getting told that they deserve less because they apparently don't less as much as their male counterparts. Watch any documentary about western girl groups and you'll hear the same stories told over and over again globally.

I think it was Got7 who said that they were more mistreated than GG's because JYP favoured female idols like TWICE and ITZY more than male idols and while I can agree with them to a certain extent, we can't ignore the fact that JYP are always sexualizing his female idols and always want them as skinny as possible and is always starving them, etc, so in that way, although JYP likes to have his GG's promoted more, etc, by wanting them to be a certain weight and starving them to get at that certain weight and also sexualizing them, then that in itself is mistreating his idols and don't get me started on his MV's where he is extremely sexual with any female artist who is featured in them.

This is true, it's not just kpop and is all over the world but it's because it's more kpop focused on this forum, we use Kpop for an example.

 

[spicy_illusion]

If we think about it, kpopsource is an example where there are like 80% GG stans & 20% BG stans.

That is true. Usually you'd get more BG stans on other kpop forums but KS is different and proud it's not like there is a dislike to BG's either.

 

[jasque]

I avoid getting too attached to girl groups from very small companies these days.

Because I can't see much hope for them, unless in some cases that a miracle happens.

With BGs I think it's different, since some very crappy companies manage to at least not flop terribly.

Then they get confident enough to debut a girl group and all the problem starts.

 

[Abeamus]

I think that it's important to support girl groups because if a girl group isn't making money then the company could look to "sponsorships" so it could potentially be much worse if girl groups weren't supported.

As for if we can make a difference then us in particular not really since we're International fans and if a change had to be made it would have to be Korean fans who achieve that change which it does seem like women are getting more vocal about how they are treated in Korea so there's potential that one day it could change.

 

[raymondchouku]

Why do I feel like quoting For Whom The Bell Tolls... The problem [to a great degree] is the structure of the society. While Korea is to a great degree a secular country, the tenets of confucianism still have influenced it: Status, Hierarchy, Collectivism, and Filial Piety. Read a book or an online news source and you will find editorials by Koreans who were disowned because of something they are or did brought or brings shame to the family. Plus the nature of sexism in Korea is different than the West, so certain tactics prolly won't work. Much of what was considered sexist in the US and western europe was the result of European Maxims and Christianity (e.g. Chivilry)... Even if comparisons were to occur the problem is that the lense of KPS is the western one and most of KPS is under 50 and as such didn't live during 2nd Wave Feminism, which has more in common with current Korean Feminism and idol culture.

Spoiler: A contrary opinion that might make you mad

Regarding the sexual objectification... Good Luck.. Men will always want to see women in a provocative way. Its why pornography, playboy, and hustler continue to exist in countries with high religious turnouts and why 40 percent of pastors have a porn addiction... Is even more popular in non-religious countries, even when banned by law. Although as a gay man, I believe we are more sexual than straight men, but that's neither here nor there. However, expressing bodily autonomy and agency is important as well as shunning the aspects of kpop that are toxic, such as forced prostitution, sex rings, voyeurisms, and forcing idols into sexual roles they are not comfortable with.. Perhaps a bigger problem is the managers and agencies who give their idols self-esteem complexes.