Girls' Generation and k-pop

          Today especially I would like to recommend you one of the most popular and my favorite k-pop girl group, Girls’ Generation, and their song “I Got a Boy”. But at first, let us investigate the background of this unique music genre, k-pop.

          K-pop (abbreviation of Korean-pop) is a music genre originated from South Korea that is characterized by the integration of foreign musical style with Korean musical elements. It covers a wide variety of pop music including hip-hop, electronic, rock, R&B, dance-pop, and ballad. Largely incorporated American popular music styles like rap, rock, hip-hop, and techno in their music, k-pop artists use catchy lyrics and dance moves, memorable choruses, and brilliant stage performance to storm Korean audiences. In 1992 the successful debut of Seo Taiji & Boys brought more audience awareness to K-pop, especially teenagers, which later led to the emergence of a wave of young idol groups or bands.

          Not satisfied with only the South Korean market, K-pop music artists are interested in spreading their music and dance to other regions of the world such as Asia, Middle East, Europe, and the Americas. There are also several instances where foreign songwriters, dance composers, and music producers are composing songs and dance for k-pop artists. For example, Teddy Riley produced K-pop girl group Girls’ Generation’s “The Boy” for their first English single and first international release in 2012. This mix of foreign and local songwriting styles has really helped k-pop artists in furthering their success in promoting in the global market.

        Although fuelled with dreams and hopes, several singers at first did not make a successful debut in the global mainstream market. But recently, marked by the popularity of the release of PSY’s “Gangnam Style” which accumulated over 1.7 billion views on Youtube, k-pop music and dance is proven to be accepted by Western music market. Several other milestones attained by other k-pop bands and artists include Wonder Girls’ successful single “Nobody” and its entering of the US Billboard Hot 100 music chart, Girls’ Generation’s successful single “Gee” surpassing more than 100 million views and their announcement of their first world tour after 5 years since debut. Through hooky lyrics, fusion of both singing and rap, colorful visual, mixture of Western and Korean music style, perfectly synchronized and easy-to-learn dance moves and complex gestures, great live performance, k-pop is taking a big stand in the global music market.

          Girls’ Generation is a nine-member girl group formed by S.M. Entertainment in 2007. The group gained immediate attention at the beginning of their career with their debut song "Into the New World". Following their debut in 2007, the girls have become a significant figure in k-pop music industry, with music critics honoring them as the representative figure of South Korean culture and k-pop music. In their second year since debut, in 2009, with the strong hit songs "Gee" and "Genie", they have become the most popular girl group in Korean music industry. Particularly the song "Gee" was named as South Korea's "Song of the Decade". Following up with a series of best-selling hit songs such like "Oh", "Run Devil Run", "Hoot", "Mr. Taxi", "The Boys" and this year "I Got a Boy", the group has solidified their stand in k-pop industry. Their immense popularity in their native South Korea, Asia, and growing popularity in Europe and the Americas has earned them titles "The Nation's Singers" and "The Nation's Girl Group" in South Korea. Thus Forbes has ranked them the first place the most powerful and influential celebrity in South Korea in 2011 and 2012 and second place in 2010 and 2013. On January 1, 2013, the girls released their fourth album "I Got a Boy". The album sold more than 265000 copies in January and topped not only the South Korean album chart, but also many world Billboard's album charts, such as the rank of the number-one spot on the World Album chart.

                 The title track "I Got A Boy", differed from their previous songs and many other k-pop songs, is an electronic dance song with a mixture of many different elements from different musical genres such as pop, retro, and urban. The song is about the girls falling in love with a handsome man and their worries about how to build a good relationship. Interchanging between members singing and rapping, each rhythmic or beat change in the song represents a different love story told from the members' perspectives. Adding to the complex organization of the choreography, this song receives different reactions. Some find it difficult to understand each beat change and their necessary and some find it interesting to watch. But I can guarantee that this is one of those songs that you may find it weird at first but stay in your mind forever after listening to it for a couple of times and you will just love it like I do.  
                    Billboard released a review for this song and praised it as "one of the most-forward thinking lead pop singles heard in any country" for its intense mix of different sounds and melodies. Thus, Grantland.com ranked "I Got a Boy" first in its "Songs of the Week" article and Amos Barshad mentioned this song as an example of k-pop break into the American music industry along with PSY's "Gangnam Style". Also Beating the record of PSY's "Gangnam Style", the girls' "I Got A Boy"surpassed over 10 million views in barely 55 hours upon release on Youtube. It was the fastest k-pop music video in history to make such a record. Below is their music video of the song "I Got A Boy".

                     Also attached to this post are some live performances of their best-selling songs. They are "Gee", "Genie", "Oh", "Hoot", "The Boys" and "I Got a Boy". 

*** Note: Some of the statistics and information are obtained from wikipedia and their fans page.

Vulgarity, Grotesque, and Carnivalesque

          Today we are going to discuss the concept of vulgarity, grotesque, and carnivalesque in popular culture. Mikhail Bakhtin was the philosopher who gave names to the concept of the tendency of dressing "excessively" in performances in great carnivals. Bakhtin coined the words carnivalesque and grotesque. In popular culture, carnivalesque refers to the body gesture and display that is "excessive" and beyond cultural and social acceptance in performance such as the explicit display of sexual organ and provocative poses. Grotesqueness refers to the kind of body that is known as "abnormal" and "disruptive" in performance such as an oversized head or an obese body. Vulgarity refers to the excessive gesture, language, and speech used to describe sexual organ and sexuality. Bakhtin suggests that carnival in itself and its vulgar, grotesque, and carnivalistic elements, through creating humor and chaos, offer an alternative or an escape from reality. Provocative images in popular culture provide laughter (either out of embarrassment or just pure laughter) and through laughter, opens the door for liberation and opposition for the daily lives, although it may take place only in a restricted period of time. Below I have shown some images as the example of vulgarity, grotesque, and carnivalesque in our modern-day popular culture.

          I have also chosen LMFAO's "Sexy and I Know It" video to demonstrate how vulgarity, grotesque, and carnivalesque in our modern-day popular culture has an undeniable impact on consumers. 

       
          Although an absolute contradiction of the high-art, this kind of music and way to present the maker’s message in the music is considered as the caliber of popular music. Up until today, it has 269,378,163 viewers and is one of the 50,000 or more Vevo certified music videos. Knowing that the goal of Vevo is to attract more global high-end advertisers and only music videos that have summed up at least 100 million views on Youtube are “honored” with the mark of being Vevo certified, the mark of being Vevo certified guarantees a great deal of revenue for the record producing labels and demonstrates the consumer’s affection for the music and the images shown in the video.
          Personally after watching this video (although it is not my first time), all I can say is that I feel sad  for the dancers and singers for needing to project their body in this way to make money and attract consumers, although they may indeed be enjoying it. In the music video, the duo is desperately trying to attract young women. Shown in lyrics like “I’m sexy and I know it”, ‘Girl look at that body… I work out” and “I got passion in my pants and I ain’t afraid to show it”, the duo, through the song, expresses how much they want to be in a heterosexual relationship with girls in the music video and their confidence in the way they make those girls crazy for them. Overtaken by their confidence and encouraged by their friends, the duo went battle with another gang of guys though “wiggling their male sexual organ”. Especially starting from 0:50 on to the end of the music video, showing provocative remarks on his male sexual organ in the lyrics, flirtatious and pornographic gestures and poses, bizarre and disruptive makeup and outfit, this video gives marks of carnivalesque and vulgarity.
           Wearing only colorful underwear, short hair, tattoo, and having a muscular body figure, the bodily gesture and posture of the duo is demonstrate what our culture perceives as sexy and bodily fit man. Teens who listen to this song, particularly young girls who are probably the intended major audience, are exposed to this idea of what sex is. On the other hand, young male teenagers who watch the music video receive this message of how the "passion in the pant" and the "wiggling" can help get them a pretty girlfriend. This video uses provocative image to sell adult sexuality and heterosexual relationship and educates them an unhealthy and discriminatory idea about homosexual relationship. From this point, we see how teens become vulnerable to the normative understanding of what masculine and feminine sexuality is through a popular music video like this and the impact of vulgarity and carnivalesque in popular culture on young consumers.

Minstrel Show

          Today I would like to share some thoughts about minstrel shows and their significance in the 19th and 20th century after the civil war. The United States was a nation with racism found on human equality and democracy. Minstrel show was an unique type of American entertainment consisting of comic skits, variety acts, dancing, and singing. Mostly played by white performers in blackface or otherwise black performers in blackface, minstrel shows, using some elements of satire, criticized and stereotyped black Americans as stupid, happy, watermelon-eating, do domestic jobs or servant type of job, carefree, have thick lips and big mouths, superstitious, lazy, irresponsible, violent, aggressive, and threatening. Uncle Tom, Sambo, Mammy, Mulatto and Wench, Pickaninny, and Buck were the popular cartoon depiction of black Americans in the 19th century and early to mid 20th century.

          Helped in the shaping of the gut-level conception about race to many people across the American continent and the globe, these stereotypical portrayal of black Americans also perpetuated the idea of slaves being happy and cheerful during their enslavement and segregation era. Taken these characteristics for granted, some black American performers were able to make a living off the performances (such like minstrel shows) that perpetuate the racism in the mainstream American culture.Nowadays, although the segregation era became a part of our history, the gut-level conception about race and black Americans still remained in place in the modern culture. For example, a character called Coach Hines in a Mad TV, played by Keegan-Michael Key, captured the violent and aggressive stereotypical characteristics of the black Americans and exaggerated it into a brainless but psychotic character who threatened students and the school administration with violence. Although the mass audience did enjoy the video with content and this character is not created with a racist intention, we can't deny the racist comment about black Americans in this video.

          At the end, I would like to recommend this documentary about the importance of black stereotypes in mainstream American culture. It is available on youtube and it is called "Ethnic Notions".

Gender

Today I would like to discuss the issue of a Swedish “egalia” preschool and this blog about a trans woman denied admission to Smith College. But before that, I would like to explain what gender inequality and oppression is like in our modern society.

In the 20^th-century America where democracy, diversity, respect, equality, and freedom are our very important core values, gender equality is taken as a given for many of us. Or should I say that gender inequality is well hidden in the system where micro-oppression itself does not oppress anyone but the collection of micro-oppressions together structurally and systematically affect the oppressed gender groups. Just like how Marilyn Frye proposes in her “Oppression”,

“It is perfectly obvious that the bird is surrounded by a network of systematically related barriers, no one of which would be the least hindrance to its flight, but which, by their relations to each other, are as confining as solid walls of a dungeon” (Young).

In here, Fyre compares gender oppression of women with the situation of bird locked up in a cage. One particular metal stick may not be able to keep the bird immobile, but a systematic collection of metal sticks is able to confine the bird to the cage. In our case, microscopic things like men opening doors for women, fathers walking the brides down the aisle, and men paying the bill, if taking a macroscopic view of the whole system, demonstrates nothing but the weakness and the dependency of women on men. These actions may be done unintentionally and I totally understand how some men are just “gentleman-like” enough to do “us ladies” a favor but words and actions carry meanings and representations. Although you may not have a bad intention and sometimes you are just not aware of this, regardless, your words and actions are harmful and possibly contributing to the oppression against women and other gender groups.

 “Egalia” is a term “based on the idea of removing gender roles from the children’s’ environment” (Rubenstein). The school administration believes that egalia, by having children replaced words like “him” and “her”, “boys” and “girls” with more neutral term “friends” in our language and having children grown up in a more gender-neutral environment, can remove gender stereotypes and eliminate the prescribed gender roles assigned by cultural norm. This idea is based on the belief of how meanings carried in words in our ordinarily used language can be harmful and oppressive and how gender is a social construction “instituted through the stylization of the body and, hence, must be understood as the mundane way in which bodily gestures, movements, and enactments of various kinds of constitute the illusion of an abiding gendered self” (Butler). Obviously the ideal goal is to promote gender equality and diversity. When our social norm expects girls to be girly, seat cross-legged, wear makeup, and have tons of dresses in the closet, and expects boys to be manly, seated open-legged, be a fan of sport games, and enjoy playing with guns and swords, egalia is believed to be able to break our gender expectation prescribed by society through education, childhood fairytales, and social media. 

To me, personally as a feminist, I believe that the attempt to break from the prescribed gender roles is good and I am a total fan of gender equality. However, I must doubt the practicality and the efficiency of this project. Knowing that school is not the only place where children are able to receive new knowledge or learn about the world, egalia in the preschool would not be effective if our out-of-school environment is overwhelmed with cultural expectation of what a girl and a boy should be like. For example, a mother is expected to buy her daughter a pink dress for her birthday party and how a father is expected to bring his son to a basketball game. Through simple matters like these, we are perpetuating the same old-school definition of what boys and girls are.

            Some critic worry about the identity issue egalia can possibly generate. Believing that gender is an important social identity, removing it can lead to another identity crisis where children may grow up no knowing what are their real nature. However, rather than calling it as severe as an "identity crisis", haven't the oppressed gender groups suffered from double consciousness in their daily lives already? In modern society, rather than judging ourselves and identifying ourselves by the way we want to be, a lot of us tend to look at ourselves through the eyes of others (the invisible dominant norm). While one recognizes one's difference from the majority norm and desires recognition and autonomy as an individual in a system that exists cultural imperialism, one receives the knowledge taught or popularized among the dominant norm that the one is different, stereotypically labelled as "inferior" or "freaks". If one recognizes that one is indeed inferior to the dominant majority and is liable to take order or be called with bad terms, then one doesn't only suffer from the loss of personhood, but also the otherness or externalization instituted by the so-called "normal people". Also, must we categorize people while giving them an identity? Although categorization brings realness about the identity of the people in the society, it can also be harmful and oppressive. For example, calling them "gay" or "mentally retard" can be offensive because of their underlying social meaning that contains more than just the pure definition of the phrases.

In conclusion, today we are living at a time where gender becomes a sensitive but extremely complicated political issue and gender neutrality seems to become the right solution. But rather than promoting gender neutrality and equality, I think it is more important to learn about what gender is and to promote respect for others. It is always okay to teach children Cinderella and Snow White as long as you bring them awareness to the meaning behind the wonderful fantasies.

The recent issue about this trans woman denied admission to Smith College catches my attention. In August 2012, a trans woman called Calliope Wong tries to apply to Smith College but faced obstacles because of the "male" marker on her FAFSA forms. Traditionally, Smith College is a school for women and the blogger recognizes its inhospitality toward trans women as discriminatory and threatening to its traditional institutional image as a women's college. 

In her "Imitation and Gender Insubordination", Butler suggests that gender is a social institution“instituted through the stylization of the body and, hence, must be understood as the mundane way in which bodily gestures, movements, and enactments of various kinds of constitute the illusion of an abiding gendered self” (Butler). She purposes that gender is like a performance instituted through a self-disciplinary control and this disciplinary control creates an illusion of what gender do they belong. For example, most women prefer to sit cross-legged, tend to smile and display their movement with grace in public and most men prefer to sit open-legged, tend to try to look cool in front of girls. They may not be physically comfortable with their gesture but they feel like they "have to" be displayed in a certain way in order to be accepted by the society. 

In our case, I believe that Smith College is at fault for denying Calliope's admission because of the "male" marker on her FASFA form. Since gender hegemony changes over time and the idea of femininity is entirely socially constructed, the administration should accept Calliope's self-identification as a woman and respect her identity as a trans woman. However, I also believe that no one in particular in our society should be the one to blame for enforcing the disciplinary control of a woman needing to behave femininely and a man needing to behave masculinely because we all have been internalized with the dominant standard of gender dichotomy our society reinforced in our education and social media starting from childhood. 

 

Works Cited

Butler, J. (1990). "Imitation and Gender Insubordination." Cultural Theory and Popular

Culture: A Reader. Ed. John Storey. New York: Pearson Education Limited, 2009. 224-38. Print.

Rubenstein, Chanah. "Op-ed: 'Egalia' Preschool - The Neutering of Children." Digital

Journal. Digital Journal, 30 June 2011. Web. 6 July 2013.

Young, I. (1990). "Five Faces of Oppression." Theorizing Feminisms: A Reader. Eds. S.

Haslanger and E. Hackett. New York: Oxford UP, 2006.