In a post shared on Wikitree’s official Instagram over the weekend, Korean netizens have been talking about China’s plans to “strictly” ban male idols from appearing “feminine” in the media and also on TV shows.
According to a recent report published by news outlet Hankyung International, this new cultural law from the government would tighten their rules on these “niangpao” (娘炮) celebs. For those curious, the term refers to men who look and behave feminine.
Plenty of netizens from Korea responded to the news by expressing their concern over the “so-called standard” for controlling and banning certain male idols, namely the Chinese idol group TF Boys (The Fighting Boys, 加油男孩, 加油少年). The fans flooded the replies section with comments such as:
- “Wow, isn’t this social regression?”
- “We need to be careful in order to remain vigilant against these subtle forms of incitement.”
- “I’m speechless.”
- “Isn’t this the path to self-ruin?”
- “What do you want us or the celebs to do about this, though?”
Additionally, a few commentators also pointed out that this double standard would only be unfairly applied to “feminine men” and “not to masculine women”. One netizen even left a sarcastic remark by questioning, “Then why don’t you start legally punishing masculine-looking elderly aunties in China?”
Another social media user chimed in by saying, “Oh my gosh. Do you think that ‘being feminine’ is worse than you thought and that it can make one look easy?”
In the article re-posted by the online community forum platform, several commenters in China have also allegedly raised concerns about the issue, with remarks such as, “What is the exact standard for ‘appearing feminine’?”, “Isn’t this just telling all the idols not to perform on stage?“, among others.
In other news, it has been reported that BTS member Jungkook (정국)‘s birthday billboard in Pakistan was taken down. For what reason, you ask? It was apparently “promoting homosexuality”! Earlier on 1st September, a billboard advertisement featuring Jungkook was installed in Gujranwala, Pakistan, in conjunction with the idol’s 24th birthday.
Although ARMYs in the country went through a proper process to put up the birthday advertisement in the city, Furqan Aziz Butt, a Punjab Assembly candidate of Jamaat-e-Islami decided to immediately remove the billboard not long after it gained attention on social media. Apparently, the ad was supposed to be up for 2 days, but it was taken down in a matter of hours!
In commenting about this, Furqan Aziz Butt stated, “In this city, we have many young people and BTS is a negative influence to them. They encourage youngsters to do wrong things and promote homosexuality.” He also stressed that there’s only one ARMY (as BTS fans are lovingly called), an it’s the Pakistan army.
K-pop fans were clearly shocked and enraged upon knowing that the billboard ad was taken down for such a reason, and took to Twitter to vent. Check out what they said here:
https://twitter.com/starsluvjk/status/1433359782493052938?
https://twitter.com/Hirabtsarmy/status/1433121589638352897?
They removed that Jungkook billboard in Pakistan for “promoting homosexuality” 😭 these mullahs are sick
— 🍄 (@G0DDESSATHENAS) September 2, 2021
