UPDATE: Tumblr blog with progress shots and updates here
For my final project I would like to create a diptych, or two illustrations that can portray the double standards in the K-Pop industry. If possible, I would like to make two diptychs. The illustrations would be made digitally. Along with the art, I would also like to create a Tumblr blog to document my ideas and progress. On the blog, I will post any references I use, as well as thumbnail sketches, progress shots, etc. of the illustrations. I believe a Tumblr blog is the best option because there are so many K-Pop fans on the website. I think it would make it easier for my message to be seen by people who tend to ignore the double standards present in the K-Pop industry.
It's clear to see that women around the world are treated unfairly in comparison to men. However, I want to focus my project on the injustices faced by women in South Korea, specifically in the K-pop industry. Recently, I watch a YouTube video that showed which K-Pop dance moves had been banned from being performed on music shows. Out of all the dances shown in the video, only two were from boy groups and of those two dances, only one was banned for being too sexual. The rest of the video was filled with girl groups and female solo artists.
After watching the video, I started thinking about how odd it was that these girls are supposed to do these dances for the music videos, but they aren't allowed to do them on music shows. South Korea is definitely behind America in terms of feminism and women's empowerment, as some of these dances and music videos were made for that reason. A lot of the times, female empowerment is just used as a concept, created by the multiple men who work behind the scenes in the K-Pop industry. However, there are a few female acts who are able to take part in concept planning and music writing, so they are able to share their own messages. The girl group called Stellar is just one of the female acts who is attacking sexism and double standards in the industry. In their music video for "Sting," the group addresses the hate based upon double standards that that they receive for their sexual image. Another group, EXID, address the sexualization of young women in Korea as well as take a jab at music video cencorship in their music video for "Ah Yeah." Solo artist Hyuna is also known for pushing the boundaries and embracing her sexiness. However, netizens (avid internet users) tend to shame female artists for these actions. In all honesty, female artists are shamed for just about anything by Korean internet users.
Still from EXID's "Ah Yeah" music video
This is not to say that male artists aren't shamed as well for doing things as simple as dating, but the blame is always more heavily placed on the woman in the relationship. Male K-Pop groups are able to grab their crotches and grind on the floor and no one really bats an eye at them. If a female artist so much as shakes her butt, it's deemed inappropriate. I've seen even international fans praise boy groups for their sexy dances, but then proceed to slut-shame female artists doing any type of sexy concept. It's not only sexy concepts either. If a boy group does a cute concept, fans call it refreshing and give nothing but praise. If a girl group does a cute concept, they will still get a lot of critique and comments from people saying "aren't they too old to be doing things like this?"Groups such as TWICE receive constant hate and backlash for never straying from their cutesy concept, despite showing continued success.
TWICE, who are often criticized for having concepts that are "too cute"
I feel like a lot of K-Pop fans, specifically fans of boy groups, don't even realize how much of a double standard there is. I've seen female fans of boy groups go crazy over a member grinding on the floor, but saying that Hyuna's "Lip & Hip" music video is too distasteful. Which, to some people might be too much. I get it. But it shouldn't be something that we shame her for. Hyuna has, for a long time, been an artist that embraces and expresses her body in hopes to fight against South Korea's societal restrictions on women. I hope that through this project, I am at least able to get international K-pop fans to be more critical of the industry. While there are definitely many fans who are already critical, I feel like there are still too many fans that are willing to excuse sexist behaviors and these blatant double standards placed upon female idols.
As stated earlier, I want to share my research and progress on a Tumblr blog in hopes that K-Pop fans will become more critical of the industry that they are giving their time and money to. As for the illustrations, I have been thinking a lot about the factual, yet humorous nature of the Guerilla Girls' activist work, but I'm not sure how well I could pull that off in an illustration. I also am inspired by the symbolism in Mei Xian Qiu's most recent series of photographs, "Let A Thousand Flowers Bloom." My art is a bit cartoon-y and much less realistic than a photograph, but the symbolism and composition used in her photos is something I would like to incorporate into my illustrations.
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