February 2012
5 posts
kgossip asked: Hey, um... I just wanted to say I REALLY REALLY liked your posts, even if I didn't agree with them all the time (most of the time tho), I find them really interesting and entertaining... Not to mention it's really cool reading someone's opinion who actually has ARGUMENTS and PROOF (and related articles and videos too!) =) And I really like your sarcastic comments x) They put me in a...
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tigerfist asked: re: jenny hyun: 'her family' (most likely her) deleted her 'apology' and blamed her racist tirade on a psychotic episode. while she does need help, as a POC, i have seen this shit move pulled so many times by many celebrities when met with backlash over their racism. it sickens me that mental illness will be the scapegoat for this extremely common type of behavior and it...
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Oh, and about Jenny Hyun...
Late, but better than never. Many people, K-pop and non-K-pop fans alike, are talking (or were talking) about it.. if you have yet to enlighten yourself about the situation, see this post.
There’s nothing else to say other than what’s already been said. This woman is an example of the many low-lifes we are currently sharing our precious earthly resources with. What is going on in her...
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If there is one thing we can all learn from the...
(source: YT video “Block B Thailand controversy” by VanityMr)
As a matter of fact, this applies to every single article you come across, whether it be print or online media… especially if they are a corporate, mainstream source.
I am assuming many K-pop fans are at the very least aware of the latest controversy that has inflicted Block B, right? If not, allow me to start off...
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UPDATE: As AKF writes this long post, her head...
… because I’ve been unintentionally idle for the past, I don’t know, weeks? Months? :| I did announce I have a few things planned, including responses to a few wonderful questions I have received, but those plans were pushed further down my list of priorities as I became more and more preoccupied with school. I know, it’s the same excuses all over again, and I apologize.
...
January 2012
6 posts
"It's War."
feminoonas:
So, Angry K-pop Fan got an Ask in concerns with the beginning of MBLAQ’s song “It’s War” containing a snippet of a Malcom X speech, the question being whether or not the usage was appropriate. Angry K-pop Fan, while being bothered by the usage of the quote but not knowing completely how to answer, posed the question for followers to write a response.
So to answer: HELL NO.
From...
Anonymous asked: With MBLAQ's new song "It's War" being out, are you going to say something about them using part of Malcolm X's speech in the intro of the song? I'm curious about your thoughts on this. Do you think that the bit was used too lightly, like English is sometimes used in K-pop songs?
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Article response: "SNL Korea Thinks Blackface is...
READ THE ARTICLE HERE
Korean entertainment has done it again. And just when you thought the Shindong and Kikwang incidents should have caused someone in the industry to question the appropriateness of blackface by now.
However, I can’t help but have my reservations about the accusations that are being thrown around, triggered by this one comment to the article (and its reply) I found on...
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Mod note: Just want to wish everyone a good start...
Happy belated 2012 to everyone, and I hope you all celebrated the new year with a bang! Welcome new followers and thank you so much for taking interest in this blog; and of course, to those who have been following all this time, thank you for making 2011 a great year for AKF :) I think it’s safe to say that thanks to you guys, the education I’ve received from the discussions generated on this blog...
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An AKF theory: the restrained national popularity...
I’ve always wondered to myself why the scene never really took off beyond the inclusion of “rappers” in K-pop idol groups. The more I think about it, however, the more I realize the answer may actually just be right there in front of us. Granted, this is nothing more than a presumption, but it’s a place to start.
The Ministry of Gender Equality and Family. These so-called “feminists” who were...
Check out "K-pop Reality Check" →
kpoprealitycheck:
angrykpopfan:
“Kpop culture is exciting to be apart of however one may get caught up easily. KPOPREALITYCHECK is out there for support and gives the reality check to kpop fans who are indeed at risk of low self esteem, bad time management or fail to recognise the reality behind their computer screen.”
Amazing opinionated posts :) Go go go go!
OH MY GOD TODAY IS THE BEST...
December 2011
12 posts
Check out "K-pop Reality Check" →
“Kpop culture is exciting to be apart of however one may get caught up easily. KPOPREALITYCHECK is out there for support and gives the reality check to kpop fans who are indeed at risk of low self esteem, bad time management or fail to recognise the reality behind their computer screen.”
Amazing opinionated posts :) Go go go go!
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BTW, a super belated Merry Christmas to you guys ♥
Hope you all had fabulous celebrations with your peers and loved ones, and all the best for the New Years! Can’t believe it’s nearly 2012 already :)
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"Skinny Baby hot hot?" Not really
Just by looking at this song’s title alone, “Skinny Baby,” it should be enough to understand why some fans are quite upset with this new release by BEAST and A Pink.
I myself am not too impressed with it either. So many wrongs with this track it’s not even funny. First and foremost, whose idea was it to auto-tune Yoseob’s voice?!
As irksome as that is, let us all...
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kisskisskpopreviews asked: Hi! I just found your blog and am very pleased it exists! It's nice to look deeper into the realm of Kpop, so I appreciate the posts here! I will put a link to you on my site, kisskisskpopreviews.blogspot. :)
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Anonymous asked: I'm just curious, what got you into Korean culture and politisc? Love your blog btw! I learn many interesting stuffs from reading your posts :3
spencerthebro asked: To Anon: It sucks that you feel that way, but I can understand where you are coming from. But it's just like she said, all countries has their big and small flaws. Try to remember that South Korea is still pretty young as a country, and they have a lot of growing up to do.
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Anonymous asked: I hate to say this, but I'm starting to get this really bad image of Korea now.I mean, I'm a K-pop fan and stuff, but I'm starting to lose so much respect for the country idk :\
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Don't wanna get AIDS? Masturbate!
The image above with Cho PD (whose face is the only one I recognize out of the bunch.. fail K-pop fan) is a poster for the recently held “Love Yourself, Stop AIDS” concert. The message they’re trying to promote? A nationwide, government-backed campaign to cease the spread of AIDS by encouraging Koreans to seek sexual satisfaction with, well, themselves. According to the Dokdo...
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Recommended read: L.A. Times: A confrontation... →
(reblogged from maddieloveskpop):
A recent incident highlights the mixed modern attitudes towards both “foreigners” and “other races” in South Korea (and sheds a little light on some attitudes on this side of the Pacific as well).
On Korean-language Internet sites, many called for swift punishment. Though there are few guns in South Korea and the incident lacked the bloodshed that might have...
coffeecreambunny asked: i was reading your post and it really reminds me of my theory of knowledge class i'm taking right now. it's really intellectual and i think it's really awesome to read something like this for a change. :D
wastedlogic asked: Hello AKF! So, I don't know if you've been approached with this topic beforehand, but what is your perspective on the new girl group 'New.F.O', supposedly created by Allkpop? They're being dubbed and marketed as K-pop but to me they are an American group. What are your thoughts on this? (Also, just want to say - Huge fan of your discussions and analysis' that you have...
November 2011
1 post
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Recommended read: "In South Korea, plastic surgery... →
Celebrities have helped to drive the trend, as they scramble to keep ahead of digital technology that mercilessly exposes not only their physical imperfections, but any attempts to remedy them, said Rando Kim, a professor of consumer science at Seoul National University.
“Wide-screen and high-definition TV put pressure on them to look good in close-ups,” Mr. Kim said. “And with the Internet,...
October 2011
11 posts
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foreverurthe1 asked: Wow. I am so impressed by your blog and happy I've found it. I admit, you make me guilty for being one of those blogs that only repost K-Pop gifs/videos etc. I've posted stuff similar to yours, but I make sure to do it on other sites so I don't alienate my followers. But maybe I should start changing that. There's nothing wrong with using your brain cells every once in awhile....
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Recommended read: "Opinion: Blackface incident... →
In one fell swoop, this student performance maligned various groups on the basis of race, nationality, religion, language and culture. The students not only vilified and marginalized black people in general by “blacking up,” but also took underhanded swipes at the entire nation of Jamaica (carrying the flag and wearing the national colours), while criminalizing blacks as pot-smokers...
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Recommended read: "Ministry of Health and Welfare:... →
“Usually low levels of education, with an unstable job. Lives by herself or in a boarding house, has open and impulsive sexual values. A person whose socioeconomic situation is low, and who lives apart from her parents,” is how a website health guide operated by the past Ministry of Health and Welfare defined unwed mothers.
…according to the survey “Koreans’ attitudes toward and...
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Shipping, fanfictions, and smut
Got an interesting question from an anon and wanted to address it in an actual post. (If you’re reading this, thanks!)
To start off, I’m good with shipping (U-Bomb hi), just as long as there’s mutual understanding between fans, and between fans and the idols themselves, that it’s all in light-hearted fun, and that it’s no accurate representation of real...
noaesthetic asked: Hi! I just came across your blog and I have no idea why I haven't come across it sooner. I write one in a similar vein (linked on my main tumblr if yr curious) but not nearly as thoroughly or as often, and I gotta say, I just experienced the most intense blog envy I've ever felt looking through yours. Like, chest-tingling "why-didn't-I-think-of-that" facehurt. It's...
pattybees asked: Hi! I just found this blog today, and I'm glad that I did. A lot of people follow all kinds of fandoms, not just K-Pop, without any idea of the cultural context, so it's nice to see someone informing the masses! I've taken a few classes on Korean culture, but I've already seen a few things here that hadn't been discussed then, so I'm sure I'll be reading often...
thesavagesalad asked: This blog has mad my tumblr all the more richer. Thank you for running this thing, it's incredible and it's great to know there is a forum out there to discuss Kpop and Kdrama further than that "oppa didn't mean it" stage. Keep up the epic work <3
ancientrelic asked: I was reading you article "The “plight” of KoreAm idols in the motherland?' and you discussed "foreign" idols that work in Korea. Like Amber and Victoria and how that work as far as their cultural identity. One good example of this is Han Geng from Suju. I know just recently he was promoting in indonesia and the host spoke to him in Korean and not chinese. He was...
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What exactly has K-pop done to the stereotype of...
(source)
… is an impromptu question I thought of while casually reading this piece by Bitch Magazine. Correct me if I’m wrong, but I sense that the K-pop hype has done two very separate things to this age-old misconception of the “emasculated” Asian man:
On one hand, it has challenged it. Asian guys (or rather, Korean guys) are now seen by many (well, fans at least) as...
americankpopfans asked: Hey, let the upset drama fan know that "Protect the Boss" doesn't have that "damsel in distress" thing going on -Kim
michelle-chin asked: I've been watching a slew of K-dramas back to back. The more I watch, the more fustrated I get. The female leads are either blur case, dumb, silly, ridiculous, no say and are each epitomes of the "damsel in distress" image as opposed to the male leads. Sure, some of us do prefer to be less assertive but this I AM OH SO SUBMISSIVE trope is SICKENING!!!! askfdshaoshwradaj!!!!!!!!!...
September 2011
6 posts
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Recommended read: Cracking down hagwons &... →
In South Korea, it has come to this. To reduce the country’s addiction to private, after-hours tutoring academies (called hagwons), the authorities have begun enforcing a curfew — even paying citizens bounties to turn in violators.
South Korea’s hagwon crackdown is one part of a larger quest to tame the country’s culture of educational masochism. At the national and local...
loloblogs asked: First I love your blog. Second if you have the chance read Manufacturing citizenship: Metapragmatic framings of language competencies in media images of mixed race men in South Korea by Adrienne Lo and Jenna Kim. It's a journal article; if you can't find it I can email to you. It's fascinating that not all mixed race celebrities are treated equally.
michelle-chin asked: You should read the article on plastic surgeons ranking k-pop idols on allkpop. I don't get it. What is with the ranking system? Why do plastic surgeons have to do such things by ranking k-pop idols by their looks?
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Recommended read: "Getting an Abortion in Korea"... →
This was so heartbreaking to read. Regrettably, like in many other places around the world, South Korea still has a long way to go in terms of women’s rights.
The following week I re-visited the clinic but this time a different doctor checked the fetus. And what she said made me upset. Basically, she told me that I shouldn’t have such a loose lifestyle, that I should care more about...
michelle-chin asked: I'm not angry. Just wanting to express love towards this blog. Discovered you while I was going through grandnarrative. :) I am an avid consumer of K-pop and I am interested in korean society and culture although I am not korean. hehe. Put simply, my curiosity has gotten me here.
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Mod note: Emergency hiatus
Hey everyone!
I just got off the plane from a 17-hour journey across the Pacific, and right now I’m here in Los Angeles, where I’ll be spending a few days with family before I fly up to Canada to start up the new semester.
I didn’t think I’d be needing a break from blogging during this trip, but after the events of today I may have to actually take one. First, I...
August 2011
18 posts
Anonymous asked: Sorry, since the post was old. But I just wanted to say that I don't believe Miss A's Min is Korean-American. She just lived in America for some time to train for Jype. She was born and mostly raised in Korea.
jointhekpopclub asked: Hey, just want to say I am in LOVE with your blog. I'm one of those individuals who quickly tires of KPOP blogs that simply post gifs/pictures/videos/etc. I actually enjoy blogs containing written content/articles/etc AND analysis. I try to incorporate that on my blog from time to time, like my personal thoughts/opinions on a certain subject, but it's still lacking. Just want to let you...
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Recommended read: "South Korea: Pop Music... →
(Sorry I’ve been posting nothing but links to articles these days. I’m currently working on a new post, but it may still be a while. I’m really preoccupied with packing and goodbyes as I’m about to fly back to Canadaland for school T_T)
A quick rundown of the banning spree the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family seems to be having fun with nowadays (extracted from the...
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Recommended read: The "Confucianism and Korea"... →
It may take you a while, but it’s soooooo interesting. I definitely learned a few new things today.
A particular point of interest is in the final installment of the series, where The Korean argues that Confucianism is not “the only mode of thought that guides Korean society…”
In fact, the Korean would say Confucius is not even the philosopher whose ideas guide modern...
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Super Junior's Heechul enlists in the military: "A...
Just read a Seoul Beats article covering this latest development, whose writer Patricia interestingly mentions that “whenever a K-pop idol leaves for the army, it’s a huge reality check”:
Because let’s face it: for the most part, K-pop is the stuff of fantasy, and K-pop culture monopolizes on that fact: idols are molded to be as superhumanly perfect as possible, themes deemed...
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Focusing hype on ethnicity to promote ethnic...
Or is it?
Earlier this month were the debuts of two new girl groups that proved to be quite the topics among online netizens: the ‘pan-Asian’ Blush and the ‘biracial’ Chocolat. A significant question Linz above addresses is whether emphasizing hype on the concept of ‘multi-ethnicity’ is really the way to go in terms of ‘blurring lines’ between...
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Can science justify "beauty"? JYJ's Kim Jae-Joong,...
As voted by Chinese netizens at least. Apparently China alone now counts as all of “Asia”.
Anyways, according to the article, plastic surgeons say that for a person to be ‘beautiful,’ the face must not be:
too triangular or too angled, but rather, closest to the mean and maintains the neutrality in the most precise way… Further, the right and left sides of the...
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Anonymous asked: I LOVE YOU AKF <3 Saranghaeyo!~ ^o^~
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K-pop sociological image #2: "Sexuality" vs...
Wow, I noticed I’ve been talking about nothing else except “sexiness” over these past days. But I hope you’re not too sick of it just yet, because I came across this super interesting article via The Grand Narrative that I just have to share. It discusses the difference between being “sexual” and being “sexualized” when it comes to portraying young...