Anyways.
While singing along with probably terrible Korean pronunciation and saying things like "You have to notice me, I sparkle like a diamond" (nunne hwak di jana, di jana; bitnaneun nareul joahae!, etc.), I noticed how different the images girls want as celebrities. Assuming I'm speaking of First World countries, in Western societies (America, France, etc.), singers are generally sexy and womanly while in Eastern cultures (Japan, Korea, etc.) the girls are supposed to cutesy and, well, girly. Think Kesha vs. girls who wear a lot of glitter of poofy, bright dresses. Now I'm not saying this about ALL celebrities because there are obviously exceptions, but even when talking to my oriental (I won't say Asian because this encompasses a lot) friends about this, they agree. I remember my one friend, who isn't my friend anymore for a really stupid reason, but I digress. Well sort of because I'm not even on that subject so...I'm on a random tangent. Anyways, this kid only liked girls who were really "cute, talked in a higher pitch, had cute mannerisms, etc. He even rejected a girl because she didn't act cute enough only to confess his love to her later or something (I exaggerate, but this is slightly what happened). Though nothing should be taken to the extreme, obviously, I actually like this image a lot more.
For example, Tiffany from SNSD.
I really don't like how in Japan (I don't know about the others) females are still sort of viewed as objects, though hopefully this will change with time as it is in America. Still, she comes off as far more pure, innocent, and nice than a lot of girls in America who are pressured to show off their bodies especially in rap music videos. Why is that necessary? American media has already marred how girls view themselves and how the male population should treat them, so why is this allowed to go on? Luckily, I do see (slow) progression. I suppose there's hope, but humans are taking longer to develop than I'd like.
I feel the reason why girls are seen as objects in countries such as Japan and Korea is because they are idolized, or set on a high pedestal to be viewed by all. Take for example, the Japanese band AKB48 or, as mentioned, SNSD. The majority of people who attend AKB48 concerts are men who are waving merchandise with each girl's face on it. SNSD is the #1 girl group in South Korea and their faces are everywhere, promoting things from skin-care to Domino's pizza. Both groups give off an innocent-girly vibe, though AKB48 'graduated' members have posed for magazines that show A LOT of skin and SNSD has had many a MV/song that has a "sexy" feel to it. The thing is though, you hear NOTHING about members of SNSD or any other popular group in Korea having scandalous affairs or sexual relationships(which many an American celebrity younger then them has had) because if such a thing were to go into the media, it would be a disaster...whereas in America, it wouldn't be a big deal at all. And this is why I respect them. I would much prefer women idols/people in the media where children can see to have an image like this, rather than teenagers acting like 30 year old women (though I absolutely love my girl bands, such as the Runaways from the 70s where Cherie Currie was only 15 and VERY...out there). From what I know, women in Japan and South Korea aren't treated equally as men, but I still prefer their image of women in the media (and I don't mean the image of where they're LESSER than men, but this innocent image) than the image of women in America...I don't know, every woman can act the way they want but it just disgusts me on how a lot of things in American media involving women are sexualized. Every country has things like this, but none of it is as...attainable and out in the open as American media.
ReplyDeleteI think the whole "women being viewed as objects" is common in almost every country's media. Like, in America, in all those rap music videos, this expresses my statement perfectly. I do agree with the first commenter about how in Asia, celebrities seem to have a bit more self-respect and morals, not going off and creating scandals and giving off bad examples for young fans. I think it makes the celebrities in Asia, at least in Japan and Korea, so much more impressive. When a person is a celebrity, they ARE going to influence others whether they like it or not and they should be responsible for that.
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