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Open Thread: Flashback by After School
Just a quick note to let you know that in addition to my regular feature articles at Busan Haps, I now have a K-pop music column too. See page 41 of the latest issue here (scroll down to “current...
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Gangnam Style Minus Gangnam Style
As The Daily What put it: It seems now that we’ve moved beyond parodies and imitation for Gangnam Style, descending into bizarre postmodern art. Not unrelated, earlier today I saw a Klingon parody…...
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Interview for Radiowa Trójka
(Source) For any Polish speakers amongst you, I was interviewed about K-pop, sexual objectification, and — of course — Gangnam Style by Radiowa Trójka the weekend before last. Check me out in...
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Korean (Movie) Censors in Retreat?
(Sources, edited: left, right) With so much attention on restrictive censorship in K-pop these days, it’s easy to overlook how much standards in movies have actually been relaxed in recent years. See...
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Quick Hit: CNN on Saseng Fans
(Source) A good introduction to saseng (사생) fans by Collette Bennett at CNN, and I’m not just saying that because I get a mention towards the end(!). But if anyone’s confused by the connections I make...
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“The less you wear, the bigger the discount”
(Sources, edited: left, right) “Want to talk third wave feminism, you could cite Ariel Levy and the idea that women have internalized male oppression. Going to spring break at Fort Lauderdale, getting...
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“Body Changing” Diet-Drink Generously Donated to High School Students
(Source) Young Korean women — not men — are the only demographic in the OECD that are getting more underweight than obese. Call me making a mountain out of a molehill, but diet-drink companies being...
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The More Risqué, The More Boring (OR, Something You Didn’t Know About the...
(Source) Sorry, but I just can’t help it: I get very excited when I see the words “성 상품화” (sexual objectification) and “걸그룹” (girl-group) together. That’s because I struggled for years to find critical...
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Lee Hyori: Korean Pin-up Grrrl #1?
(Source) Out of all this week’s stories, up tomorrow in the Korean Gender Reader, probably one of the most important — but also the most under-appreciated — is the news that Lee Hyori (이효리) will no...
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Pin-up Grrrl #2: Ga-in, Bloom, and why we’ll still be talking about both 30...
(Source) Ga-in shared, “Our previous MVs had received R-ratings and we didn’t understand the reason why. So for my recent MV, I decided to give them one.” (Daily K-Pop News) And to help, she watched...
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Miss A’s Greatest Fans?
At 6 and 4, Alice and Elizabeth aren’t quite strong, confident “independent ladies” yet. But I’m going to try damn hard to make sure they will be, and I’m certain taking to heart some of the messages...
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SNL 코리아 Satirizes Korea’s Cosmetic Surgery Craze (Translation)
(Source) And, crucially, it doesn’t just poke fun at the obvious negatives, but also at the public discourses surrounding the industry. Namely, the hypocrisy of the men who loudly criticize women who...
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The Korea Herald: Should pornography be censored?
(Source) I make a brief appearance in the Korea Herald today, in an article by John Power on the recent government crackdown on pornography. With his permission, here are all of his original questions...
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Update
(Source) Just a quick note to apologize for the slow posting everyone. Actually, I’m not taking a holiday (although Christmas was a little busy), it’s just that my next post is taking longer than...
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Korean Sociological Image #76: Gendered Innocence and “The Nation’s First Love”
Suzy (18): Innocent. Song Joong-ki (27): Chic. Kim Yoo-jung (13): Young. Three celebrities, three natural labels. After all, Kim Yoo-jung is young. Song Joong-ki is chic, or at least compared to us...
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Scream — 2NE1 (Korean Version)
Last week, I found Trance Blossom’s remix (download) of 2NE1′s Scream, and have only danced in my room to it (and surreptitiously on the subway) about 20 times since. Unfortunately, the accompanying...
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SISTAR19: Begone, Calling Them “Objectified” Any Longer
(“Victims? Nous?” Source) Misuse feminist rhetoric, and it’s easy to come across as a prude. The author of this music column, for instance, laments that SISTAR19 are mere victims, forced to objectify...
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Reader Requests and Upcoming V-Day Events
(This Must be the Place, Roy Lichtenstein, 1965. Source) — First, the next 2 weekends are just jam-packed with V-day related events, culminating in the Vagina Monologues performances. See Busan Haps...
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Off The Record: Lee Hyolee — Catch it while you can!
(Sources: left, right) Reading recent discussions about 2NE1tv and the BBC’s Idol, I was reminded of Lee Hyori’s endearing Off The Record series from 2008, which I’ve tried and failed to find online...
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Quick Hit: Squee!
(Source) From part of an email interview of me (and many other bloggers) at The Korea Blog last month: ….I actually kind of called him out as a Korea hater, which he rebutted thoroughly. Jon: Reading...
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