All of the questions sent in were on the subject of male and female groups or something related to said subject, so for the first article, I decided to make a mega-post answering all the questions received based on said subject, and don't worry, fap material will be evenly spread around to keep those who only visit this blog for the sole reason of fapping are satisfied. A gift from me to you, eh?
The first question was from mikeycknowsrnb, who asked:
I'm sure that we're all familiar with the typical 'sasaeng' fans which make up a lot of the male group fans, who are mainly located in Korea, and how crazy they can get.
However, there are a few exceptions. While fangirls tend to be less physically violent toward their actual idols (if they are, it's usually towards themselves in the form of cutting their bias group's name into their arm), but there still are a handful of crazy male fans. Take this video for example:
As for the reason why girls tend to be more 'aggressive and obsessive' cannot be pinpointed to one thing exactly, but in my mind, there are three main reasons:
- As mentioned by deoxix in reply to your comment, women are constantly being pressured by society to 'find their prince'. In Korea, a lot of times there is more pressure on society to find a match because it is expected that by the age of thirty, a woman is to be married and have started a family. This pressure is not as enforced on men as it is for women, but many people start to lose hope in a woman and say things like "they will never be married because they are too old" right to their faces. This leads a lot of sasaeng fans to become overly-obsessed with their biases, as they find them to be perfect in their eyes, and being slightly delusional, would want that idol to become their partner in the future.
- Girls. The thing about guys is that they have girlfriends (unless they're gay), and you know what that means? Jealousy. A lot of girls tend to become jealous over the smallest of things. Of course, there are a lot of girls who are fine with whatever their boyfriends do, but then there are a lot more who get mad whenever "oppa doesn't notice me". I know some of my friends get upset whenever they see their boyfriends simply talking to or even laughing with another girl, because they feel they will "leave them for that girl". The same thing applies to some girls and kpop. Girl groups are filled with a few, or even a cluster-fuck of attractive women who were, more often than not, picked to join those groups simply because they're pretty. Naturally, a lot of girls would have a thought process along the lines of: "Well, he's always on his computer screaming about how much he loves his hot 'noona'... WHAT IF HE LEAVES FOR THAT DUMB BITCH?! OPPA DOESN'T SARANG ME ANYMORE!". However, a lot of males wouldn't get offended if their girlfriends did the same things (ex: fangirling over their 'oppas'), and if they are, they're not very vocal about it. An example of this is my friend and her boyfriend. She's obsessed with Justin Bieber and her boyfriend seems perfectly fine with this, however, the moment he likes a picture of just one girl on Instagram, he'd be better off dead.
- The last reason is because a lot of men feel like it's not 'manly' to fangirl. Yes, there are still those who do fangirl quite a bit, but those ones usually just stick to social media sources to scream about how much they liked their idols' new song. While girls openly talk about how much they like One Direction or 5SoS with their girlfriends, guys tend to not talk about things like that.
You've made it this far without leaving? Well, here's Hyuna from Nine Muses, because why not? |
The second question comes from Unknown who asks:
Oh yes, the beautiful topic of sexy concepts by female groups... The double standards packing out the doors, and though a lot of females still deny this, their 'oppas' have done many more things that can be considered more 'suggestive' than a lot, or even most, female idols. However, the reason a lot of these females don't realize this is because they deny that their 'oppas' flashing their abs and being half-naked on stage is highly more revealing than a female idol wearing shorts and a cropped-top.
And going with why some girl groups' sexy concepts seem to be more held back than the sexy concepts of guy groups is because of a few factors as well.
The main reason is the Korean public and their views on the matter. While it's perfectly fine for males to be shirtless and have their videos still air on music channels or be shirtless on live stages, but when Stellar, still more clothed than many male idols, released their music video for 'Marionette', it was instantly banned from music channels and they had to wear 'darker stockings' in order to perform live.
Another thing that I've noticed is the fact that whenever there's a video on YouTube devoted to their oppa, or even their 'bulge', the comments mainly consist of how sexy they are and about how "my oppa is better than your oppa" or things along the lines of "At 2:46 oppa shakes some stupid irrelevant girl's hand!" and continuing on about how they're plotting to murder the 'irrelevant girl'. The worst thing is, people upvote comments like this and people who try to shut them up get hated on because they're just "protecting the people we love, and you'd do the same thing".
While it's perfectly fine for females to comment about how much they want to fuck their favorite male idol and get support for doing so, people who say the same sorts of things on girl groups' videos get shamed and called perverts. A perfect example of this are the comments on Nine Muses' 'Wild' and Jay Park's 'Welcome'.
On Jay Park's video:
Meanwhile when a guy tries to express himself in a way more tame than the comments above on Nine Muses' video:
So what he/she/it's saying is that none of us at the blog are 'true kpopers', but simply perverts. Seems fine to me if that is what a 'true kpoper' is like. |
A lot of companies force cuter concepts down their girl groups' throats and only wait until that doesn't work until they start to turn to more sexy concepts to get more attention.
You may be asking, "But noona, if sex sells, why not just start off with a sexy concept?". Well, it's not that simple. Take girl groups like Apink or Crayon Pop for example who have a reputation for being aegyo groups. See where that's got them? The thing is, many/almost all girl groups start off with an aegyo style, making it sort of the 'staple' of typical kpop. Because this concept is so common, it's not always guaranteed that by doing aegyo concepts, a group will become popular and produce a lot of money. On the other hand, going with a 'sexy concept' is more of a guaranteed way to make at least some money. But the thing is, yes, sexy concepts guarantee groups with money, but cuter songs/concepts tend to leave a longer lasting imprint on kpop as a whole (ex: Gee) and continue to supply groups with large followings if they're done right. Haven't you ever noticed that some of the more viewed kpop videos are of aegyo concepts rather than sexy concepts? This is why songs like Apink's 'NoNoNo' and Crayon Pop's 'Bar Bar Bar' were such big hits, and why they continue to roll with the aegyo concepts.
Take Girl's Day for example. They started out with cute songs like 'Twinkle Twinkle', but after that didn't really guarantee them a large/steady fanbase, they decided to turn to a more sexy concept and this raised their popularity with songs like 'Expectation' and 'Something'. Another good example of this is SECRET, however they went in the opposite direction. While popular for their sexy concepts even since their debut, they had cute concepts thrown onto them and now their popularity seems to be declining (or maybe because of Zinger's- I mean Hana's- awful plastic surgery). No matter how much you may want to deny it, sex does, indeed, sell.
For those of you who are more into Kyungri... |
The last question comes from deoxix who asks:
I felt as if I couldn't have answered this myself, so I decided to recruit the help of some fangirls, and here were the results:
- The most chosen answer with 25 mentions was the fact that they can relate to their idols more easily. Because they are girls, they feel as if they can connect with the way they act, their personalities, and they can also be an inspiration to them. One person mentioned that they wanted an idol that they'd rather "emulate than fuck", which is why they stuck around female groups. Instead of constantly drooling over how hot their idols were, they simply wanted somebody to look up to and be a sort of role model, whether it be in the case of personality of physical fitness. It would be harder for a girl to relate to male idols, which is why they see female idols as good role models. A lot of people also mentioned how their hair, make-up, and fashion gave them inspiration and they wanted to wear the same clothes their idols wore/look like their idols. Girls also find it easier to relate to the lyrics of songs for girl groups, and one honorable mention was Brown Eyed Girls, who have a larger female than male fanbase. Because of this, many of their songs are targeted for more of a female audience/have lyrics that they can relate to. Other songs where the topic of lyrics can be mentioned are Girl's Day's 'Female President' and miss A's 'I Don't Need a Man', which were all about females being able to cope on their own, and thus, many girls could relate to the meaning of the songs or become inspired by them.
- The second most chosen reason with 22 mentions was because they have "catchier songs". They feel as if even though male groups release songs of 'better quality', the songs coming from female groups are more upbeat and cheerful. This links directly with the next most voted reason which was:
- Boy groups don't appeal to them/they're too boring with 14 mentions. A lot of females feel as if the songs coming from girl groups are "less suffocating", while male groups get tough, complex, powerful songs, and serious songs, girl groups tend to get more light-hearted, cheerful, or upbeat songs (as mentioned in reason #1). Other females stan girl groups more because they find guys' personalities to be dry or less interesting/less variety. While they feel as if girl groups have a wide variety of different personalities to choose from, they feel as if guy groups are more limiting since everyone pretty much acts the same or similar. On the other hand, some girls felt that it had nothing to do with personality but simply because of visuals. Some girls mentioned how they didn't like how they wear make-up and how they think their costumes are weird. Meanwhile, other girls weren't concerned about fashion but more about the way that many male idols look physically, comparing them to "corny prepubescent-looking dudes".
- And with 13 mentions, other girls had absolutely no idea as to why they did, and they simply stan them... because they stan them.
- The next with only 4 mentions is that female singers are better. Though not many people expanded on why they felt this way, one person said that they enjoy listening to female voices more, because they have a "nicer tone".
- And with the least votes, but still making it to the list because it's applicable to me and at least one other person, it's because they're lesbian. And to put it simply, girls are hot. Females are attractive, and even many straight girls feel the same way, though not nearly as many would openly admit it themselves in the fear of being accused of being a lesbian or something along the lines of that. This is also a main reason as to why guys are more interested in girl groups. "Eye-candy".
And for my beautiful glasses-fags, here's a little something for you |
And here's where you guys come in. I'd like to know:
- If you're a male, do you personally know of any guys who actually fangirl as hard as the typical 'sasaeng' fan, or are they all opposed to that?
- If you're a female and stan girl groups, why?
If you have a question that you'd like to be covered next Wednesday, be sure to write them in the comments section below and check this article for details. Talk to you again next week!
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ReplyDeleteNone of my friends or anyone I know in person is interested in Kpop, so I haven't seen anyone fangirl over a Kpop idol group yet and neither do I do that in real life. But I do fangirl on the internet with other people in our fandom. I met T-ara, my bias group, in real life. They are absolutely gorgeous and even more so in person. But I remained calm the whole time.
ReplyDeleteYou met T-ara? I hate you.
Deleteyou met T-ara ????? and you stayed calm????? i hate you.
DeleteI would go crazy if i saw Jiyeon.
I'm a girl and I stan girl groups. I do it mostly because I actually enjoy their music (If the music doesn't suit my taste I don't get interested in a group), but also 'cause I enjoy their variety shows more than boy groups, plus some of them are seriously admirable and inspiring. I find them attractive and beautiful but honestly most of the k-pop idols are good looking so usually music and personality is a first and must for a group to get my full atention (buy albums and support them in polls). For the moment the only group (both male and female) I have had continuous interest on since the start is SNSD.
ReplyDeleteI honestly don't care if a group is male or female as long as the music is good.
ReplyDeleteI stan girl groups probably as much as I stan male groups and it's mostly because they either have really good music or an idol I really like. It doesn't take much for me to like a song in all honesty. I think each type of group has something to offer.
wow the second part is beyond true. thats why many have migrated to asianjunke and here as a platform to fanboy freely and write jokingly (ok somewhat jokingly) perverted comments about hot female idols without having to see negative comments and dumb arguments by concern trolls.
ReplyDeleteHowever sites like those have specific topics dedicated to things like that. Take the 18+ section on One Hallyu for example. On sites like that under said topics, people know what kind of comments to expect (thus those opposing would just stay away) while YouTube has a more 'free-rein' comment system where you can never really predict how people are going to respond to a situation. Yes, there will always be people in support of something or against something, but people do tend to be more accepting on forum posts.
DeleteI'm a girl and I like girl groups. I don't really care about the gender of the group. Maybe that's because I'm bisexual. I don't know.
ReplyDeleteFemale that stans girl groups here. When I first got into kpop I basically purely listened to girl groups. I think the only guy song that even made my playlists would've been Lies by Big Bang. For one- Boy groups were a massive culture shock. I was used to the NA idea of masculinity, and male kpop idols didn't fit that mold. At all. They wear makeup, for christs sake. I mean eventually I got used to it, but I still usually consider female idol music>>>>male idol music. (The boy groups I actually would call myself a fan of are Infinite, SHINee and Big Bang, basically.) Female idols tend to be I guess more consistent, maybe because of the whole struggle with public recognition, wereas oppar can have a shit song (and usually does) and just dances a certain way or takes off their shirt and it's entirely irrelevant to the public/fangirls.
ReplyDeleteAnd yeah, girls are way better personality wise, guys are so manufactured or something.
Also... I'm a little bit gay. I would bang the crap out of a lot of female idols. (*cough* sica *cough*)
"If you're a male, do you personally know of any guys who actually fangirl as hard as the typical 'sasaeng' fan, or are they all opposed to that?"
ReplyDeleteNope. I am the 'hardcorest' K-Pop (or Asia pop, really) fan I know in rl. I am anything but a sasaeng though, I've never even met any idol ever since I've started with idol pop over ten years ago.
Besides, I'd wish for my waifu to be nothing more than happy and to have a nice boyfriend. I hate people that think they own the people they idolize.
I felt tempted to answer the female question just for fun. hah
I thought a while back you said you were female lol
DeleteO-o-only if you pay extra, Max... *blushes*
DeleteAs a ladyyy I tend to dislike boy groups. I don't find the "boyband" standard of attractive very appealing to begin with(they look like little kids), and most boy groups rely solely on heart throb as their appeal.
ReplyDeleteI tend to treat a few of my favorite lady celebrities as role models and if the music is nice, I like it. Not every girl group has to use a cutesy concept and I tend to like the ones that use a more interesting theme, but it's super rare for a boy group to get out of that "I LOVE U GIRL" or "Y U NO LOVE ME GIRL" zone of music. Nothing inherently wrong with it, but it's not a substitute for decent music. Nu'Est songs don't sound bad (aside from the dubstep breakdowns) and I like that they debuted with something that wasn't "Girl I love u" even if it was something as lame as highschool bullying.
Not to discuss you, but it isn't like girl group ever did a song that isn't about being in a romantic relationship or about men.
DeleteTrue. I'm just picky in general I think, and it seems to me that the girl groups are more likely to stray from that than the boy groups... At least from what I've seen. :Ic
DeleteWell yeah I am unfortunate enough to know guys who fanboy that way...(God forbid you say anything about SNSD's Yoona..fucking faggots annoy me to hell...). By the way if anything good came out of Sewol incident is the fact that we now know EXACTLY how emasculated Korean men are. The shows I am a Man(KBS) and Incarnation really showed how whipped those men are or really Asian men in general.I mean on I am a Man there were dudes who were LITERALLY praying for the guest to be Suzy and some looked like they were in tears when she showed up as if she was about to blow all of them or something...which frankly probably would've been more interesting.Its sad to watch other dudes like that.
ReplyDeletei thought the first answer had a lot to do with age; most fangirls are just about at puberty, and while for boys it usually means broader shoulders/height etc, i read this really interesting column that argued that girls become 'uglier' because of puberty; they lose the flat, stick-like shape that's been sexualized more recently and then there's the whole abomination of menstruation thing, and general hormones make them super vulnerable to external influences; how could anyone resist a conventionally attractive male constantly showering them with love and affection blah blah blah
ReplyDelete(about your question) tbh i'm not really into stanning groups anymore; i just listen to anything that has a good beat. i do occasionally stalk my old faves though. most idols are very uninteresting these days. starting to absolutely love and worship clara though.
but in general the [idealistic] female form is a lot easier on the eyes than the male; women with soft curves are a lot easier to stare at than rock hard men. also i usually find that hourglass shape is nice and triangle shape is weird (i'm straight though??? idk let's beyblade)
I honestly stan girl groups rather than boy groups just because they appeal more to me... and that they don't have as much crazy saesangs chasing after their underwear. (EXO) But as long as the song doesn't sound like pure shit, then I couldn't care less.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
DeleteAlso, what's your opinion about how companies have just been using dubstep dance breaks in their groups' songs? It just seems that they couldn't think of anything to put in as lyrics.
DeleteWait -- isn't the guy screenshotted for the Nine Muses video a commenter here? Was that on purpose or just a hilarious coincidence?
ReplyDeleteYou mean Mike Messiah? Now that I think about it, there is someone here with the same name.
DeleteIt was a coincidence, but I think that maybe I have seen him around here once or twice.
DeleteYeah, I think he's the same guy. And really, it makes sense to come here after being attacked by fangirls ...
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DeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
Delete........
Deletemore :D 9Muses
ReplyDeleteThey such an underrated group.
DeleteI just want to hug you for the Nine Muses gifs. *Internet hug*
ReplyDeleteAnd unfortunately, I know someone who fanboy hard in real life. Few years ago he was hardcore sone, but two years ago I showed him AKB48's Heavy Rotation and now he's a hardcore wota lol.
who is his oshimen? (bias)
DeleteI don't really know. I think he likes them all equally haha.
DeleteIf you're a female and stan girl groups, why?
ReplyDeleteGirl's MVs and songs usually are better (more quality) and they usually are more entertaining while all guys usually act the same.
You video reaction dialogues remind me of this: http://kpopalypse.wordpress.com/2013/11/07/why-are-you-so-stiff-about-it/
ReplyDelete'Welcome' was the first music video that came to mind during this article, and I remembered seeing extreme fangirling on it so I decided to use those comments for the article. Oh, feminazis...
DeleteAlthough I I'm not as intense a fan as the typical saesang fan, but I am known to casually fan a lot of boygroups and casually break out into dancing T-Ara/Hyuna in public. I like girl groups because they don't have to take themselves seriously (the main reason why I can no longer stand 2NE1), and boy groups because boys are hot.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteAlthough I am extremely appreciative of all the nine muses in your post I want to rebut a couple of things you said.
ReplyDeleteI think you made a couple of huge generalisations about women. Firstly masses of male fans can be just as obsessive and crazy as female fans for example wotas. Also males can get just as jealous and possessive as females. I think you’re right in that it’s about what’s socially expectable. Mass hysteria about an idol group/actor/musician is thought to be one of those phases that some teen girls go through. Teen boys on the other hand are not given the same courtesy.
I also disagree with the use of Secret as an example. The cute concepts have brought down their popularity with international fans (me included because Poison was fucking awesome) but in Korea their cute concepts (Shy boy, Moonlight Starlight) have been bigger sellers.
(Why can’t people give Hana a break. They called her ugly so she caved got plastic surgery, now people are hating on her for getting it done. Those cunts (majority of whom are probably fat and ugly and thus hypocritical) need to just leave the poor girl alone.)
To answer your question I’m female and I only follow female groups but I’m a bit special in that I’m asexual so I don’t have any opinions on sexual attractiveness. I follow female group for a couple of reasons most of which have to do with personal preference.
When it comes to pop I prefer female vocals, I don’t think they’re better than male vocals I just like the sound better. Having said that I don't follow a group unless I like a majority of their songs. I find the female idols more aesthetically pleasing (like how I enjoy a sunset or a Lichtenstein painting). I’m not interested in the girls’ general fashion and makeup but I do like looking at their stage costumes and makeup. I also find the personalities (characters) of the female idols endearing and don’t get on my nerves like the males do. I find watching them on variety shows to be more entertaining. Also I sort of admire them because they have to put up with a lot of criticism and shit that their males colleagues don’t get.
A lot of these things contained in the post are from things I have seen myself and personal experiences that I have had, and I do agree with you that the 'obsessive fangirls' mainly consist of teenage girls, and they do eventually grow out of it in time. I included words like 'many' and not 'all' because I, as a girl, know that not ALL girls are like this, and I know a few who absolutely HATE when other girls act like this. And I (personally) think that Hana looked so much better without the plastic surgery (she looked great in 'Talk That').
Deletewhere is the video?
ReplyDeleteI'll fix this shortly. Thank you for pointing this out.
DeleteI stan girl groups because they've captivated me in some sort of way and they're pretty? I don't really have a reason. I just like them. Plus, they have better pictures for me to edit than male groups will ever provide and I'm an abuser of adjustment layers so yeah...
ReplyDeleteFemale who likes girl groups here!
ReplyDeleteI think that girl groups are waaaay more interesting than boy groups. They're more likely to get silly-sounding songs (with bubblegum/eurobeat/aidoru-like beats), silly concepts, and overall they look more creative to me. And I love female voices. And, uh, I just love females in general because I'm gay. :v.
I like girl groups more because I like girls (*i'm a lesbian*). But I still listen to boy groups songs as long as they are good (meaning that they are catchy or original). Also I don't care in watching any of male group videos unless they have interesting choreography. I found the dancing in some male groups is reaaaaaly cool (ex: tvxq, exo). But overall, girls don't really have to do much to get my attention, I just naturally follow any/all girl groups because i think girls are more interesting.
ReplyDeleteI am a Girl and i HATE boy groups...no joke ....probably the only Boy group that i give a little fuck about is SPEED and that's only because they are from the same company as T-ara.
ReplyDeleteI like Girl Groups because i find them more interesting then boys: their songs,lives,dances everything.
I'm a girl and I like both girlgroups and boygtoups as long as I enjoy their song/performances. I usually prefer boy groups on variety shows though, I find them funnier
ReplyDeleteI am a guy and never meet anyone who is a "sasaeng" level fan. Possibly because most of my friends usually have busy life schedule and not have time to do crazy shit. But I agree with you that sane guys usually oppose to that. My guess is that most people (guys) imagine that "guy sasaeng-ing girls" gonna get arrested for being a perverted stalker.
ReplyDeleteunfair world man, sometimes i just wanna shout out- "i wanna cum on Love is Move-era Hyosung's thighs" for once, without people judging me >_<
DeleteI'm a girl and I stan girl groups, I guess it's because I do find the girl group members more interesting even if they can't really sing at least they are entertaining and actually pretty unlike many of the members of boy groups who have no talents, are boring as fuck, and all they do is shove their abs in your face cause their faces look horrible so they need something to distract you with.
ReplyDeleteI'm not gonna lie and say I hate boy groups, I do like songs by them but they aren't as fun as girl group songs besides they've all have the same overused concept of "swag" which literally makes me think of the chavs in the UK. (Not including 2NE1)
now that I've thought about it.
ReplyDeleteIt would be nice if one boy band perform a light upbeat song about each of their best friends: i.e. if there are three members, then the three friends would be along the line of
- girl: doing group project, going shopping, and playing video games together, consulting family problem
- guy: cramming overnight before the exams, playing games at arcade together
- guy: doing sport, home visiting during summer, love problem
that would be sweet
I love boy groups and girl groups equally, because girls in girl groups are fucking attractive. I'm pretty certain I'm more straight than not, but sexuality is kinda on a spectrum for me, so. Girl groups in general are attractive and I love learning their dances, and yes emulating them is also a part of it. But mostly I think I like girl groups 'cos they're hot.
ReplyDeleteAlso, I have a few guy friends who fanboy - but typically it's over the fashion, the music, the dances, the vocal ability etc. and not about how hot they are. So I'd say they are pretty different from typical boygroup stans :P
Not answering your questions, but:
ReplyDeleteThe reason females freak out about male idols is a combination of wanting a successful man with money(who also happens to look good) and herd mentality. Some women see a successful man and go nuts over him because they want his resources and the status of dating him. Then other women see that that man is valued as successful and attractive by the first group and go along with it(if he's good enough for all those other women he must be good enough for you too, right?).
So, I would say it has more to do with biology than anything else. Women are just programmed this way. And it goes a lot further back than just the western boy bands in the 90s. Think the Beatles or Elvis, and probably plenty of other men before them. It's a constant theme throughout history and across the world because this is just how women are.
Men do not act this way because their desires in a mate are different. Basically men want the hottest woman they can possibly get, who also has a nice personality and will take care of them. They aren't concerned about whether or not a woman is successful or rich. As long as she's hot, and there are plenty of attractive women out there to choose from. Men are also not so focused on one specific woman because men like variety. Women and the other hand become focused on particular men because success and money/resources are harder to come by.
I'm sure some sociology/women's studies major or something will come in here and try to tell me why I'm "wrong", but for those of you interested in the truth(biology), there it is.
I should add:
DeleteThe girls that go bat shit insane stalker mode are the type of female who can't attract successful and/or good looking men in their everyday lives. They're unattractive, or fat, socially awkward or unpleasant to be around, or some combination of these things(I'm sure we've all seen the girls that wait around in airports for EXO for example). In their everyday lives, the men they want to date will reject them and distance themselves from these girls. But in the fantasy world of idols, the girls can obsess over attractive successful men and even follow them around as much as they want without consequence.
I've never seen a hot girl stalker fan, and if there are any out there there's no question she has some kind of mental issues that men in her real life don't want to deal with.
I'm a female, and though I do mostly listen to boy groups, there are a few female acts that catch my eye. Those included are LipService, early Secret, recent Girl's Day and some Crayon Pop. There are a few songs from other girl groups I like, but these are the only groups I like with any consistency.
ReplyDeleteFor me, the main thing I look for in a girl group is, for lack of a more suited word, strength. I can't stand videos with women portrayed in childish fashion with a storyline involving men or relationships, etc. I don't mind concepts that are more cutesy without the presence of the romance angle, but I don't like it when I feel like it should be children running around in the video instead. For example, the first girl group kpop song I ever heard was I Got A Boy by Girl's Gen (bad start, I know). Watching the video, I was absolutely mystified. Partly because it was my first day being exposed to kpop and partly because I hated the way the women were portrayed with the man: specifically the one who has her shoelace tied by him.
Another thing I look for is aggressive songs. I don't like 2NE1's music, but I do appreciate their style. But any song with a lot of style and a strong beat is usually okay by me, and this goes for girl groups. A lot of girl group songs feel really soft, or unsupported bass wise. But songs like Love Is Move by Secret, or Yum Yum Yum by Lip Service and other songs with that sort of essence are right up my alley. Female President by Girl's Day is ma jam.
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ReplyDeleteIn my opinion (as a gay guy not interested in the singers' bodies/faces, even though I have my "faves" and I acknowledge when they are hot and when they're not), I find girlgroups better (or female singers > male singers if we talk about solos) because as Korea has a more restrictive way of thinking/society, women have to work their ass off, on a higher level than males do, because fangirls give these men a big success and support ever since their debut day. When it comes to women, they have to deal with bigger amounts of hate, based on what they dress, how they act, what they say, what they sing (Koreans hate feminism, tell that to SISTAR) or how they dance, on a larger scale than men do. So it makes sense that labels/companies give bigger songs to females (and not just "catchier tunes", but sometimes songs with "better lyrics", ergo, better songs) because they know they'll still be less successful than their male counterparts with the same amount of promotion. This can be applied with their voices, if a female idol sings as well as a male one, they'll probably consider he sings "a bit better" or they'll just buy his shit a bit more, even if they work the same for it. So you have to have a better product when it comes to a girlgroup, just because the simple idea that they'll flop if they are "just as good as a boygroup". Sexism sucks, but at least we get to listen to better material than the regular fangirls. :v
ReplyDeleteOkay, maybe all of this was nonsense, but I honestly think that most female idols sing better than males, and their songs are bigger smashes (no "male" song is comparable to NU ABO, I AM THE BEST, SO COOL or Just Go, sorry guys) just because their labels know it's harder for a female group to succeed in there (and overseas considering how many stupid fangirls there are -.-).
It's the western mainstream music industry (of the 90s/00s) all over again: after such a long time of those divas getting so many great songs, the music industry and the public turned to be more supportive (kind of) towards female singers, and today you get to see more female solo artists being successful, than male. It's a shame that when it comes to groups/bands, it's the guys that still rule, but having Lana, Lorde, and the likes, we don't need 'em. :v
Well I think with any female artist I stan,it is mainly for two reasons 1. They have songs that cover femenist topics and I am empowered by that. I only get that sort of "girl power" rush when a song or show resonates with me as a female. 2. I like their voices. (Now I tend to like deeper voices over all others which is the main reason I tend to stan more male groups than female groups. However some girl groups and especially girl soloist have amazing voices.)
ReplyDeleteWell I think with any female artist I stan,it is mainly for two reasons 1. They have songs that cover femenist topics and I am empowered by that. I only get that sort of "girl power" rush when a song or show resonates with me as a female. 2. I like their voices. (Now I tend to like deeper voices over all others which is the main reason I tend to stan more male groups than female groups. However some girl groups and especially girl soloist have amazing voices.)
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