Feminism leaks through the cracks of K-pop girl group industry

K-pop

Published: 13 Mar. 2023, 15:46 Updated: 13 Mar. 2023, 16:02

Feminism leaks through the cracks of K-pop girl group industry

Members of girl group Twice pose with no makeup on in the group's teaser for its latest dance track "Set Me Free." [SCREEN CAPTURE]

Representing the K-pop scene of 10 years ago, Girls’ Generation called their bare face something that “needs to be kept to themselves” in their song, “I Got a Boy” (2013). Now, in the teaser video for girl group Twice's recently released EP “Set Me Free,” the members are shown taking off their makeup layer by layer.

A seemingly free and rebellious culture it may be, but K-pop tries its best to avoid involvement in some of the most pressing issues around the world, especially regarding gender. In an industry with a strong taboo on the mere mention of feminism, Twice’s “Set Me Free” comes as an ode to the silent wave of awareness on women’s rights that has been building up in the oppression that is Korean “pop” culture.

“The title song ‘Set Me Free’ carries the message, ‘Let’s break free from everything that holds us down and love freely,’” Twice leader Jihyo explained in a press release. “We hope that it lets people see another side of Twice.”

Although the makeup removal scene was not a major part of the full music video, the teaser was enough to win praise from viewers who lauded the video for “setting themselves free from the standards society set for women” in a YouTube comment with over 1,500 likes, among many others.

Member Mina of girl group Twice in the group's teaser video for its latest dance track "Set Me Free" (2022) [SCREEN CAPTURE]

Member Dahyun of girl group Twice in the group's teaser video for its latest dance track "Set Me Free" (2022) [SCREEN CAPTURE]

The fact that it was Twice, of all the girl groups, who took their makeup off adds more meaning to the theme. Although all K-pop girl groups inevitably fall back on their beauty and femininity to appeal to audiences, Twice in particular has been marketing itself as the pretty teenage girls longing for men’s approval.

“I’m the prettiest of all, everyone else has a hard time because of me,” read the lyrics to its 2015 debut track “Ooh-Ahh,” while its 2016 dance track “Cheer Up” sang “A girl’s heart shouldn’t be easy to get, that way you’ll like me more.” In “Likey” (2017), the lyrics read “looking good is so tiring, but I can never give it up.”

The idea of looking pretty and beautifying oneself is still prevalent in Korean society, but K-pop acts have been pushed to the limit when it comes to upholding high standards on looks — hence the name “idols” as they are referred to in the industry.

Young teenage girls were forced to be skinny to the point of damaging their health, repeatedly bleach their hair to pull off the craziest colors, have no hair on their body, and always have perfect skin despite the layers of thick makeup they had to keep on in case a camera was ever present — all while doing so with a smile for the viewers.

The strict beauty rules were perhaps at their peak in the early 2010s, when female confidence was considered to come from nice dresses and trendy makeup.

In 2015, singer Park Bo-ram released a song entirely dedicated to the idea of “getting prettier,” “being complimented” and “being loved” in her slow-tempo dance track “Beautiful,” while girl group AOA released “Miniskirt” (2014) that complains of how “If I wear a miniskirt and walk down the street, everybody looks at me but you.”

Music video for girl group Girls' Generation's "I Got a Boy" (2013), which has lyrics that refer to a girl's bare face as something that “needs to be kept to themselves” [SCREEN CAPTURE]

Singer Park Bo-ram's 2015 dance track "Beautiful," which is dedicated to the idea of “getting prettier,” “being complimented” and “being loved” [SCREEN CAPTURE]

Girl group AOA's 2014 dance track "Miniskirt" has lyrics that say, “If I wear a miniskirt and walk down the street, everybody looks at me but you.” [SCREEN CAPTURE]

During such times, singer Sunmi appearing on stage bare foot for her track “Full Moon” (2014) and girl group Kara wearing track-suit bottoms and sneakers for “Mister” (2009) were considered “shocking.” An unorthodox female trio who called themselves the Piggy Dolls debuted in 2011 pushing for the idea of body positivity and confidence, but failed to gain much attention.

“When you call someone a goddess or fairy, you’re objectifying the person, and, in the larger sense, restricting their actions,” culture critic Choi Ji-seon wrote for an interview after writing her book “Is Goddess a Compliment?” (2021) to criticize the way female K-pop acts are consumed.

“The idols are forced to act as the non-human, a sexually innocent and have-no-needs being, within the bounds of a goddess or fairy. They need to take the time and effort to make it work, but as soon as the day comes when that image no longer works, they are discarded.”

The idea of true femininity independent of the male gaze has been springing up in the K-pop realm with the so-called fourth-generation girl groups, though notably without the feminist nametag.

Girl group WJSN [SCREEN CAPTURE]

Girl group ITZY [JYP ENTERTAINMENT]

Girl group WJSN’s “Butterfly (2022) reads, “I may not be fancy, but I’m free” and ITZY’s debut number “Dalla Dalla” (2019) is all about “Don't need Prince Charming, ain't got time for love” and “Don't bring me down 'cause I dare to be different.”

Leader Soyeon of girl group (G)I-DLE explained that her latest dance track “Nxde” (2022) was spelled with an “x” instead of a “u” in the spelling of the word nude, because a woman’s nudity “isn’t meant for you,” according to the interviews she held with the local press.

This is not to say that K-pop has embraced the “corset-free” movement that fired up in Korea in the late 2010s. The movement constitutes a part of a larger social crusade in which women strip away the conventional forms of beauty expected by society, including abandoning makeup, not conforming to ideal body types and cutting their hair short.

In fact, “You’ve gotten prettier” is still accepted as a normal compliment in Korean society. Contrary to the Western world where the mere mention of someone else’s appearance or face can be considered rude, Korean people often do not hesitate to ask whether another person has gained weight or had something done to their faces.

Girl group (G)I-DLE [CUBE ENTERTAINMENT]

Feminism is expected to remain one of the biggest taboos for Korean celebrities for a long time. Failure to stay away results in immediate backlash.

In 2018, Irene of girl group Red Velvet was bombarded with nasty comments when she said she recently read the feminist book “Kim Jiyoung, Born 1982.”

In March 2018, a fan asked Irene during a meet and greet what book she had recently read. The singer answered, and days later the internet was filled with angry posts calling her a feminist and showing pictures of Irene’s photo cards which had been cut up or burned.

A similar case took place in 2019 with singer HA:TFELT, formerly known as Yeeun of Wonder Girls. After she publicly revealed herself as a feminist, a practically forbidden move for a K-pop figure, she was bombarded with hateful comments on her Instagram, such as “Only old and ugly female celebrities turn feminist.”

“Progress is definitely being made, even though it’s only up to a certain point where it doesn’t offend people,” said critic Park Hee-a, who explained that girl groups singing about alcohol and drinking — as in the case of Girls’ Generation’s “Party” (2015) and Twice’s “Alcohol-Free” (2021) — is also a part of that change.

“It’s especially difficult for older generation girl groups to change because things were different from back when they debuted,” Park said.

“Still, girl groups have become more open about who they are and showing that to the public. Change may be taking place slowly, but it’s there. The fact that Twice was the one pushing for this theme is also meaningful, considering the change they’ve gone through since their debut. There is definite progress.”

BY YOON SO-YEON [yoon.soyeon@joongang.co.kr]