Korea, Body Image, & Mean Kpop fans

So I am a fan of Got7. I don’t really listen to a lot of kpop in general but if it has something to do with Got7, I’m all eyes and ears. They are truly the only kpop group I can call myself a fan of. So anyway, the other day, Youngjae was doing a Vlive that lasted for about an hour. In the Vlive he was also eating. As the Vlive was about to come to a close, some “fan” took it upon themselves to actually write out in the live comments that Youngjae needed to lose some weight.

The look of hurt and anger that flashed across Youngjae’s face made my chest ache. He had to pause almost as if he couldn’t believe what he just read. He seriously looked like he didn’t know whether to cuss the person out or cry. Frankly speaking, I probably would have cussed them out. But he remained classy and told them to, essentially, mind their own business.

I don’t want to automatically assume that it was a Korean “fan” that wrote the comment, but the comment was written in Korean and Youngjae read it out loud in Korean.

What gave this person so much confidence to actually tell an idol this to their face?? With all the stress and pressure that idols are under, why would a so-called fan say this to someone they are supposed to be supporting? I currently live in Korea and I am familiar with Koreans commenting on people’s weight. Why do Koreans think this is okay even though they know they hurt people when they do it??

Koreans are obsessed with personal appearance. This is no secret, especially with the country being considered the plastic surgery capital of the world. Everyone wants to have the “perfect” face. Everyone wants to be extremely skinny. Everyone wants to look as young as they can for as long as they can even when it’s not natural to do so.

Everyone is under some kind of pressure to present their most perfect selves at all times, no matter the cost. And the people that receive the brunt of this expectation are idols. They are constantly under the spotlight; people are always watching them and judging what they do and say and eat and who they date. It’s stressful! If I was under that much pressure, my weight would be going up and down too!

I’m not trying to bash Korea or anything, but their beauty standard sucks and is impossible to reach by the average human being. Heck, it’s impossible to reach even by idols and rich people. Idols get surgery and it’s still not enough. They go on diets and it’s still not enough. People always have something negative to say.

Even at my current school, I constantly see girls not eating and when asked why, they say “I’m on a diet”. Since when is starving yourself a diet?? Smh. Do they want to look like this??

It makes me sad and mad all at the same time. And watching Youngjae have to take up for himself because of the rude “fan” that thought it was okay to call out his weight, it straight up pissed me off. Personally speaking, I like Youngjae’s new size. And let’s set the record straight.

YOUNGJAE. IS. NOT. FAT!

Putting on a few pounds, is not synonymous with “fat”. And not only that, the man is still dancing, still exercising everyday, he’s keeping up with his band members, his skin is clear, his hair isn’t falling out his head, he can still shut down a whole stage with his power vocals, and what’s more, he eats when he’s hungry just like you are supposed to do. The man is not fat. He’s healthy. Which is saying much more than some of the other idols out there silently suffering with these strict “diets”.

I personally think Youngjae looks healthier at his current weight. I’m not saying that just to stick up for him. I’m not saying that because I’m trying to be a “die hard fan”. I sincerely mean it. When I first noticed that he had put on some weight, I was watching a Got7 comeback stage and the first thing I said was “honey getting thiicccccc yaaasssss!”. And to some, that may sound mean also. But I meant it in every good way possible.

To me, Youngjae looks stronger. And he looks more like a man of his age; someone in their 20’s. He simply looks healthy to me and that’s it. Maybe I see him differently because I’m a westerner. Idk. But that’s how I feel.

I’m going to post some current pictures of him from recent events. And even though he is bigger than before, you will see that he is no where near being fat and he is not overweight. He is just Youngjae.

Thoughts?

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