In the early 2000s, South Korean singer Rain (Bi) started adding the “shirt-ripping stunt” to his performances and fan girls couldn’t stop screaming, “Lord please have mercy on our hormones!” He then quickly became the sexiest man in the K-Pop industry.
But when did the idea of “sexy” started to sell in the K-Pop industry? Many fans are worried that the direction of K-Pop is going from sexy to raunchy, especially among the girl groups.
A video on 9gag titled “22 K-Pop Dances Banned For Being Too Sexy” has gathered over 3 million views and songs such as Hello Venus’ “Wiggle Wiggle”, Hyomin of T-ARA’s “Nice Body”, EXID’s “Up & Down”, and Dal-Shabet’s “Joker” were banned from Korean Broadcasting System (KBS) for their overly sexual dance movements.
Check out the (NSFW) video below:
The controversy doesn’t stop there. Idol girl groups’ “wardrobe malfunctions” have also gotten much unwanted (or wanted?) buzz on the internet.
Last year, Girl’s Day leader Sojin and Bambino member Hadam were involved in the most controversial wardrobe malfunctions of 2015. Both singers were seen wearing extremely short shorts that were no way made for dancing on stage. The girls didn’t look like they were wearing any safety shorts either, which made it worse for them. As such, they were heavily criticised by netizens for intentionally using their sexuality as a scheme for media play.
The “sex” concept is also a great marketing strategy used by entertainment agencies.
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Sexy girl group Stellar gained fame for their provocation wardrobe and erotic choreography in “Marionette”, that was released in 2014. In an interview in 2015, the girls opened up about why they had no choice but to use sexiness for fame. The girls also mentioned that during their early years (they actually debuted in 2011), they tried various concepts but failed to gain any acknowledgement.
“It (the sexy concept) turned out really well for us. We got tons of love calls for various event performances and our negative (bank) balance became positive. We also got a car and a dorm. We also got a practice room that we could use all we wanted,” said member Gayoung when asked about the success of “Marionette”.
On the other hand, we wonder why male stars do not get as much criticism for their provocative moves. Idol boy bands like 2PM and MBLAQ has been thrusting their hips as much as any other girl groups.
We are not trying to sound all feminist here, but why is it alright for male singers to show off their body and sexy dance moves?
Then again, the American industry is filled with overly sexualised concepts. Female artistes like Nicki Minaj, Shakira, and Beyoncé have flaunted their bodies for years and people think that it’s “normal”.
In conclusion, sex does sell, and it’s selling really well. But what what we want to know is, who gets to determine what “enough” is? The government? The broadcasting studios? Or the fans?
Are we being too conservative or do you think that celebrities go too far at times? Feel free to share your thoughts with us and discuss ’em in the comments box below.
Source: All Kpop.
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