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Rapper San E Releases Controversial Song "Feminist" Bashing Feminism. 

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Rapper San E Releases Controversial Song "Feminist" Bashing Feminism. 

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Sister, why mad? Blame system, not men. I am feminist.

A song released recently by Korean rapper San E has touched a nerve in South Korea. The controversial song "Feminist" critiques Korea's dating culture, beauty standards and the gender pay gap, which he calls a "f---ing fake fact". The song has prompted a response from others in the South Korean hip-hop community, with rappers releasing diss-tracks and breaking down San E's arguments.

"What you want is for women to serve in the military," said female artist SLEEQ, "What I want is for men not to kill women."

Another rapper, Jerry K, also released a critique of the song, compelling San E to respond with a diss track of his own, "6.9 cm", embroiling himself further in conflict. At a concert on 2 December, he lashed out at the audience, calling radical feminist groups in Korea "mentally sick" and the "evils of society". He later released another song, "Oong Ang Oong", that addressed the "boos and jeers" he faced at the concert and in which he continued to rant against radical feminism.

San E's music agency has denied having any knowledge of "Feminist" before its release and has formally apologised for the rapper's behaviour at the concert.

In the wake of the controversy, San E had to cancel an event appearance. He also posted a lengthy apology and line-by-line explanation of the song on Instagram to say that "Feminist" was portraying the views of a narrator, not himself.

"The narrator in the song is not me," he said. "I enjoy books and movies with this meta-perspective and I thought I had set up my song so that people would understand what I was doing. It seems that my set up was weak."

Narrator or not, his lyrics have re-focused the spotlight on gender issues in Korea.

The gender pay gap in Korea is 37.2%, the highest among OECD countries and way above the OECD average of 14.3%. Cultural and societal expectations in the workplace also hold back women from advancing in their careers. Despite having a higher level of education than their male counterparts, women are less likely to hold leadership positions. If a woman becomes a mother she is less likely to re-enter the workforce.

San E's lyrics ignore this information, claiming that men and women are equal and lamenting, "Why do I pay for dates? When we're buying a house after marriage let's go half and half. I'm no f---ing prince." But, as his critics have pointed out, women can't equally split the bill if they aren't earning an equal wage.

Unfortunately, abuse and violence in relationships is also something South Korean women disproportionately contend with. According to a report released this year by the Seoul Metropolitan Government, 88.5% of women living in Seoul said they had been psychologically or physically abused by their boyfriends or husbands. Of these women, 24.5% said dating involved psychological abuse, with 22% saying threats were involved and 10.7% reporting physical violence - 37.4% of the women who experienced violence had to be hospitalised.

San E's character says that, unlike the men on the news, he is not dangerous and that women should trust him, echoing the #notallmen sentiment often expressed on the internet.

Last year, a viral video of a man assaulting his ex-girlfriend in an alley prompted police to launch a 100-day action plan to reduce violence against women. San E's character acknowledges this "dating violence" yet, despite his problematic ideas about women in the song, claims that he's "not one of those losers in the news."

He also references a shocking incident that happened at "Gangnam Station at night", in which a woman was stabbed to death by a stranger in the bathroom. The attacker struck her randomly, saying he did it "because women have always ignored me". The event ignited public outrage, with the train station becoming the site for a makeshift memorial. San E's character says that, unlike the men on the news, he is not dangerous and that women should trust him, echoing the #notallmen sentiment often expressed on the internet.

The narrator of the song also critiques the appearance of "woke progressive" women, saying, "childishly they don't wear bras, don't shave their armpits, cut their hair short...I like your hair long, don't change."

The Free Corset Movement has been growing among Korean feminists protesting Korea's notoriously high beauty standards, with women following complicated skin-care and makeup routines. Plastic surgery is seen as a normal part of life, with parents sometimes gifting their children with cosmetic procedures as a graduation present. The women in this movement are trying to break the mould by going out without makeup, trying shorter hairstyles, and rejecting what society expects of their appearance.

San E's character appears ignorant of these societal pressures: "When did we ever say you had to be pretty?".

Whether San E respects women is up for debate. But whatever his intentions when creating the song, his lyrics have prompted more people around Korea and the music community to discuss and reflect on their attitudes towards gender and equality.

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Rap song sparks a gender conversation in South Korea

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Sister, why mad? Blame system, not men. I am feminist. A song released recently by Korean rapper San E has touched a nerve in South Korea. The controversial song "Feminist" critiques Korea's dating culture, beauty standards and the gender pay gap, which he calls a "f---ing fake fact".

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 Extreme Online Feminist Groups Womad and Megalia.

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 Extreme Online Feminist Groups Womad and Megalia.

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Womad and Megalia are controversial online communities that take extreme feminist views.

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Advertisement
South Korean rapper San E has landed himself in hot water with a series of incidents in which he ranted against the burgeoning feminist movement in the country. His actions are some of the most visible in a small but growing pushback from men who feel threatened by South Korea's burgeoning women's rights movement this year.

The trouble started last month when San E a new song called "Feminist," in which he calls out what he sees as hypocrisy among women. The song includes lyrics like "You'll probably say among OECD countries/ Korea has a gender pay gap of blah blah blah/ F***ing fake fact/ Hey if you want those rights so bad why aren't you going to the military?" and "Oh girls don't need a prince/ Then pay half for the house when we marry."

After getting intense pushback, including a powerful response song from female rapper Sleeq called "," San E released an apology, insisting that the song was not about his actual views on women's rights. Rather, he insisted he was just attempting to satirize the views of faux feminists who believe those things about women. The response rang hollow for many, especially after San E doubled down on the controversial views at a concert this past weekend.

When the San E took the stage at Brand New Music's year-end concert on December 2, the crowd began booing him, prompting the rapper to start a against feminists, particularly focused on radical feminist groups Womad and Megalia. "Womad is poison. Feminist no. You all are mentally sick," he said. "I don't think there's a need for me to respect you if you're not going to respect me... I don't care how much you all attack me. I support sane women." He later doubled down on these views, releasing another new song on YouTube focused on these radical feminist groups, and then posting a video claiming that news outlets edited the concert footage to make him look bad.

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Brand New Music's CEO personally came on stage at the concert to apologize for the outburst, and the company an official apology afterward, but it does not appear that they have taken any formal action against the rapper.

Womad and Megalia are controversial online communities that take extreme feminist views. Megalia is an online forum founded in 2015 out of a frustration with what the founders saw as discriminatory administration of other mainstream websites. The site has drawn controversy and has even been shut down several times for its posts, which regularly include threats of violence against men. Womad is even more extreme - it spun off from Megalia after they banned the use of homophobic and transphobic slurs. Womad often includes even more graphic speech against men, including against the queer community.

The mainstream women's rights movement in South Korea has been growing in recent years, and has really taken off in 2018 - although the word "feminist" remains controversial because of its association with those more extreme groups. The movement started gaining momentum back in 2016, after a man randomly stabbed a young woman in Gangnam - the perpetrator later "I did it because women have always ignored me."
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In 2018, the movement grew even further with the enthusiastic adoption of #MeToo, which the resignation of high-level politicians, famous actors and directors, and more. More recently, women have large-scale protests against spy cam porn - an epidemic of using tiny cameras hidden in public bathrooms, hotels, and more to record videos of women without their knowledge, which are then posted online. In new released today by Twitter Korea, the top three most tweeted about social topics in South Korea this year were "School Me Too," "Feminism," and "Spy Cam," showing the growing visibility of women's rights issues.

There have been setbacks, however. One of the most high-profile men accused of assault, former governor and presidential candidate Ahn Hee Jung, was later . And when it was revealed that actress Jung Yu-mi would be starring in a film adaptation of the popular feminist novel "Kim Ji Young Born 1982," her personal Instagram account was with nasty comments. Other female celebrities, including Red Velvet's Irene, Girls' Generation's Sooyoung and actress Nam Ji-hyun, got similar backlash for even mentioning that they had read the book.
Jenna Gibson is a doctoral candidate in political science at the University of Chicago and a Korea blogger for The Diplomat. You can find her on Twitter at @jennargibson.
In this way, San E may just be the most overt and public expression of a growing frustration and fear among South Korean men as the women's rights movement takes hold. His views have certainly sparked conversation, even though the discussion may in some cases be counterproductive. What remains to be seen is how South Korean society will grapple with these major issues, especially as pushback continues to grow.

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Rapper Symbolizes Backlash Against South Korea's Feminists

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Advertisement South Korean rapper San E has landed himself in hot water with a series of incidents in which he ranted against the burgeoning feminist movement in the country. His actions are some of the most visible in a small but growing pushback from men who feel threatened by South Korea's burgeoning women's rights movement this year.

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Founded on August 6th, 2015. Megalia is an independent website that embodies a new type of feminism.  Said to promote gender equality by humorously bashing misogyny on the South Korean web. They are seen as a radical feminist group in South Korea

The site has drawn controversy and has even been shut down several times for its posts, which regularly include threats of violence against men.

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Womad is an even more extreme spin-off of Megalia. WOMAD split from Megalia on January 22, 2016, after they banned the use of homophobic and transphobic slurs. Womad is a combination of the terms woman and nomad. The website often includes even more graphic speech against men, including against the queer community.

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If we're talking about K-pop stars who have it all - talent, charisma, and genuine personality - Hwasa has got to be one of the names on top. From the get-go, she has shown herself as a powerful force in music, dance, among other things, while keeping herself grounded and letting her true identity shine. In this perhaps slightly overdue appreciation post, here are just some of the reasons why Hwasa deserves all our love:

She's a great team player

Hwasa is an integral part of MAMAMOO, and while members are often in charge of particular roles such as vocals, rap, or dance, she can practically do everything so well. But she is one who embraces teamwork, which can be seen in how she blends well with other members while making sure she brings her own flavor to the group. Her lively and sociable personality enables her to work with anyone, whether it's a group of equally strong women (Refund Sisters), rapper-producers (Loco, DPR Live), a boy group (ONEWE), a senior in the K-pop industry (Park Jin Young, Uhm Jung Hwa), or even with an international star (Dua Lipa)! She always has great chemistry with MAMAMOO which results in magical perfect harmony, as well as achieving record-breaking hits with many others. It's no wonder why everyone wants to work with Hwasa!

She shines as a solo artist

When she's working solo, you can trust that Hwasa always delivers. She is part of every production process from writing lyrics, conceptualizing ideas, styling, down to the very last detail. Another thing that makes her solo comebacks more special is that she pours all her hard work into them. She tells The Korea Times in an interview about her single "Maria," "It's the 'fruit' of my sweat and tears. It is also brimming with the emotions I felt at 26. I have never devoted so much passion to anything else than this release ― I was truly obsessed with it and achingly loved it." She works hard to achieve top results, but more than that, it's primarily because she wants to put her best music forward to her fans. She adds, "I poured a lot of effort into the album. I hope my sincerity embedded in this work can be successfully delivered to my fans." Her songs are catchy, hip, and oftentimes upbeat, and she emphasizes that her lyrics always have a deep meaning. "Just like my previous song 'Twit,' 'Maria' has a touch of sadness on top of an exciting beat," Hwasa explains. "From an early age, I have always liked such songs because they seem to mirror people's actual life."

She has unique comeback concepts

Whether it's through her stage outfit or music video imagery, Hwasa is never afraid of trying something new. No matter how experimental or strong her concept is, she always gives her own take on it and pulls them off with confidence.

As for her music video concepts, her imagery and messages are often bold, unapologetically sexy, thought-provoking, and fearless. One Twitter user commented about one of her MVs, "TWIT is cute, upbeat, sad, emotional, and quirky. She has the RANGE for any genre because she's born with pure talent."

She lights up live stages on fire!

If you like Hwasa's pre-recorded, planned, and choreographed performances on-screen, you will definitely love her live performances! Her strong vocal range that remains steady even while doing literally breathtaking dance moves and impromptu moments are guaranteed to wow audiences. Just as fearless as she is when it comes to her concepts, she is even braver onstage, with her powerful delivery, iconic, and energetic performances.

She makes a bold statement about women empowerment

As if her imagery isn't enough proof of this, she's often honest about her struggles, beliefs, and advocacies, and tells it like it is to fans. One time on stage, she told the story about an audition gone wrong, not because of her, but because of an instructor who told her, "You're really unique and sing well. But you're fat and not pretty." But Hwasa didn't let detractors make her give up on her dreams and decided to not fit in with other people's strict beauty standards. In an interview, she says, "I love the line [in "Maria"] that reads, 'Why do you keep struggling ― you are already beautiful. I think this part brings comfort and energy to the listeners."

She remains unbothered by haters

If anyone follows the advice, "You do you," it's got to be Hwasa. Years ago she caused an uproar in Korean media when she appeared in casual pants and wearing a white T-shirt braless. Netizens and critics shamed her for this without knowing her reason. That day happened to be July 9th, which was the initial date that celebrates "No bra day," a day when women are encouraged to go braless to share awareness about breast cancer awareness. But whether that's just coincidence, Hwasa didn't want to explain herself or her decisions to anyone (and rightfully so) and simply addressed the issue as, "I'm dressing comfortably." She also doesn't get bothered or feel the need to change whenever critics bash her for what they perceive as her "provocative" and "controversial" outfits.

Her every facial expression is a mood

We don't really need to say more because her expressions do the talking!

She is a best-selling "influencer"

Many fans can relate to her and admire her stereotype-breaking personality, so they're often curious about what she eats, wears, uses, and want to buy them for their own! This is called the "Hwasa effect" by Korean media because she sells out everything that she touches. In the show "I Live Alone," she was shown eating gopchan g or pork intestines, and instantly, people started eating it as well as buying the gopchang brand she endorses after seeing the broadcast! Her outfits and accessories also become a trending topic online!

She puts family first

Despite all her success, she never forgets to look back on where she came from. She often makes time to visit her family in her hometown and drives all the way there for three to four hours. She is a dedicated and respectful daughter who remains humble. She is also vocal about her family's struggles in the past. In an interview, she said, "My family was really poor, but my uncle helped me with my living expenses and everything while I lived in Seoul."

She is as real as she gets!

Just as she is fearless about her outfits, she is also unapologetic about her no-makeup face and at-home image for all the world to see. In "I Live Alone," she's not afraid to make different facial expressions, be lazy, eat to her heart's content, and just be a normal human being like everyone else!

We stan a queen!

How does this article make you feel?
What other things do you like about Hwasa? Let us know in the comments below! DianneP_Kim is an English magazine and online editor based in South Korea. She is the author of a K-pop style book published by Skyhorse Publications, New York, and has recently released her second book about BTS. Check it out on Amazon, follow her on Instagram @dianne_panda, and subscribe to her YouTube channel at iwonderkorea!

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Bold And Fearless: 10 Things To Love About Hwasa

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If we're talking about K-pop stars who have it all - talent, charisma, and genuine personality - Hwasa has got to be one of the names on top. From the get-go, she has shown herself as a powerful force in music, dance, among other things, while keeping herself grounded and letting her true identity shine.

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Hwasa Talks About Breaking Beauty Standards

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Hwasa Talks About Breaking Beauty Standards

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MAMAMOO's Hwasa may not fit into everyone's conventional idea of 'pretty', but that doesn't mean she's not gorgeous-and she knows it. Here are 8 times she said to hell with beauty standards and rocked it as the unapologetically beautiful woman she is.

1. When she spoke up about colorism

While many K-Pop idols are fair-skinned, there are plenty with a naturally darker, more tanned complexion that's just as beautiful. Hwasa is one of them-but unfortunately, she's often the target of colorist hatred.

Even today, Hwasa is still the target of jokes about her skin color from netizens. But instead of brushing it under the rug, she tries to call attention to it where she can. In one interview, she even mentioned how she was labelled a "problem child" because of her skin color when she was little.

2. When she vowed to set her own standards

At MAMAMOO's concert, Hwasa told a heart-wrenching story of an audition she once attended. Though she wowed the casting agents with her singing and performance, they ultimately turned her down with a cold comment: "You're fat and not pretty".

Thankfully, she didn't let that stop her. At first, Hwasa ran home in tears. But then, those words became a major turning point for her. Knowing her dream was to be a singer, she promised herself one thing-to set her own beauty standards.

If I don't fit into this generation's standard of beauty, then I will have to become a different standard.

- Hwasa

It's something she's repeated time and time again. She's also encouraged her fans not to try to fit into the existing standard of beauty, assuring MooMoos that being yourself is much more impressive.

It's cooler if you decide those standards on your own. Something that's really like you. I believe that's what true beauty is.

- Hwasa

3. When she warned fans against dieting

Unfortunately, dieting is often unavoidable for K-Pop idols, who need to keep up a certain level of image and fitness with each comeback. But that didn't stop Hwasa from warning fans against diets. She said that despite the industry's pressure, she and the rest of the MAMAMOO members try to eat freely as often as they can.

If you keep dieting, it's not good for your mind or body.

- Hwasa

4. When she gave Kang Han Na confidence

When actress Kang Han Na expressed shame over a revealing dress on Happy Together 4, guest MC Hwasa assured her that it's not something she should want to remove from her past.

Hwasa complimented Kang Han Na on her cool choice of outfit, which even prompted Yoo Jae Suk to add "I don't think it's something you need to erase."

5. When she shut down the debut hate

Debuting should be a happy time for idols, who trained for so many years to stand in the spotlight. Unfortunately for Hwasa, her debut was fraught with cruel comments from netizens telling her that "MAMAMOO would be a pretty girl group if it wasn't for Hwasa". Many of them even demanded that she should leave the group.

But Hwasa found the strength to shut down that hate and keep it from affecting her. Hwasa has said that all those critical comments early in her career only made her stronger. Instead of letting herself be hurt, she optimistically took on the challenge of changing everyone's perceptions of her.

Those negative comments made me say, "I'll show who I am properly".

- Hwasa

6. When she cut her hair without permission

K-Pop companies often impose restrictions on their artists' hair, asking them not to cut or dye it without the CEO's permission. RBW was the same with MAMAMOO before debut; the CEO had expressly asked the members not to cut their hair before their first single was released.

But Hwasa wasn't about to pander to the idea that short hair isn't attractive enough for debut. Not only did she cut it without permission the next day, she boldly revealed it to the CEO by asking if he liked it.

7. When she wore that bodysuit

And that's not the only time Hwasa made her own decisions without consulting the CEO. One of Hwasa's best known media moments is from the 2018 Mnet Asian Music Awards (MAMA) in December 2018, when she wore a very revealing red bodysuit. Given that many netizens criticized the outfit for falling outside the usual girl group standard, most idols would seek permission before wearing something like it.

But CEO Kim Do Hoon revealed that he didn't know about the outfit beforehand, saying he was surprised by how short it was when he watched the performance. But above all else, he said he trusts the MAMAMOO members and believes they should choose their own outfits since they're the ones who have to wear them.

8. When she said performing is what's most important

It can be easy for anyone to get caught up in looks and appearances, so it must be even harder for K-Pop idols not to focus on them. But ultimately, Hwasa says that the most important thing is that she gets to sing on stage happily.

No matter how I'm criticized, in the end I'm going to sing in front of those people. I'm so happy standing on this stage itself

- Hwasa

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8 Times MAMAMOO's Hwasa Said F*ck Beauty Standards & Paved Her Own Way

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MAMAMOO's Hwasa may not fit into everyone's conventional idea of 'pretty', but that doesn't mean she's not gorgeous-and she knows it. Here are 8 times she said to hell with beauty standards and rocked it as the unapologetically beautiful woman she is.

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https://kpop.fandom.com/wiki/Jessi

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Jessi

Other name(s)

Jessica H.O / Jessica H.o. (formerly)
Ho Hyun-ju (호현주) (Korean)
Eun Bi (briefly)

Birth date

December 17, 1988 (age 32)

Occupation

Rapper, singer-songwriter, composer

Group debut

May 25, 2006 (Uptown)
July 17, 2014 (Lucky J)
July 1, 2016 (Unnies)
October 10, 2020 (Refund Sisters)

Jessi (제시) is a Korean-American rapper and singer currently under P Nation. She is a former member of the hip-hop groups Uptown and Lucky J, and project girl groups Unnies and Refund Sisters.
She made her solo debut on December 1, 2005 with the single album " Get Up", under the name Jessica H.O.

2005-2006: "Get Up" and Uptown

On December 1, 2005, she made her solo debut with the single album " Get Up" and performed the title song, "Get Up", on the TV program .

A year later, in 2006, she was added in the hip-hop group Uptown, replacing their original vocalist, Yoonmirae, and their debuted on May 25 with the studio album .

2009: "The Rebirth"

On January 15, 2009, Jessi released her first digital single, " The Rebirth". She then took a break from music and returned to the United States.

2014-2016: Lucky J and Unpretty Rapstar

On July 17, 2014, after a five year hiatus, Jessi debuted as a part of the hip-hop trio Lucky J, under YMC Entertainment. From January to March 2015, she participated in the first season of Unpretty Rapstar. In 2016, Jessi was a member of the first season of the variety show Sister's Slam Dunk and its group Unnies. The project group released their first single on July 1, 2016.

2017-2019: Un2verse, "Down" and signing with P Nation

On July 13, 2017, Jessi released her first mini album, . A year later, on July 6, 2018, she released her sixth and last digital single under YMC Entertainment, " Down".

On January 24, 2019, she signed with PSY's new agency, P Nation. Her first release under the agency was the single " Who Dat B" on September 23, 2019.

On November 1, 2019, she released the single " Drip" which featured Jay Park.

2020: Nuna, Refund Sisters

On July 30, Jessi released her second mini album Nuna with "Nunu Nana" as the title track.

On the June 20 episode of Hangout with Yoo, Lee Hyori revealed she wanted to form her dream girl group consisting of herself, Uhm Jung Hwa, Hwa Sa, and Jessi. On July 30, it was confirmed the four would be holding their first meeting to discuss on the project.

The project group, Refund Sisters, debuted on October 10 with their first single " Don't Touch Me". Under the group Jessi's official stage name is Eun Bi.

Discography

Producing and wiritng credits

Filmography

References

Official links

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For other people known as 'Eun Bi', see Eunbi. Jessi (제시) is a Korean-American rapper and singer currently under P Nation. She is a former member of the hip-hop groups Uptown and Lucky J, and project girl groups Unnies and Refund Sisters.

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In the Who Dat B Music Video Jessi Wears a Top That Says "Fake".

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In the Who Dat B Music Video Jessi Wears a Top That Says "Fake".

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Jessi's Semi-Final Performance. Season 1 Unpretty Rapstar

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Jessi's Semi-Final Performance. Season 1 Unpretty Rapstar

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[Unpretty Rapstar] ep.07: Jessi(제시) - Unpretty Dreams @Semi-Final

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Cheetah's Semi-Final Performance. Season 1 Unpretty Rapstar

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Cheetah's Semi-Final Performance. Season 1 Unpretty Rapstar

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[Unpretty Rapstar] ep.07: Cheetah(치타)- Coma 07′@ Semi-Final

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Unpretty Rapstar Final Stage. Cheetah, Jessi, & Jidam ft. Ailee.

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Unpretty Rapstar Final Stage. Cheetah, Jessi, & Jidam ft. Ailee.

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[Unpretty Rapstar]ep.08: Final stage "Cheetah & Jessi & Jidam (feat.Ailee)-아무도 모르게"

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South Korea's Escape The Corset Movement

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South Korea's Escape The Corset Movement

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Having short hair and no makeup is a common symbol of the Escape The Corset" movement. The movement aims to reject South Korea's standards of beauty and social pressure to conform.

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Hongdae Became The Physical Center of Korean Hip Hop Scene

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Hongdae Became The Physical Center of Korean Hip Hop Scene

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Even though the focus is on K-Pop, K-Hip-Hop emerged at the same time with Seo Taiji & Boys pioneering both K-pop and K-Hip-Hop to the general South Korean public. K-Hip-Hop became mainstream quickly. K-pop is greatly influenced by the western hip-hop scene.

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The surprisingly political history of K-pop

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The influence of the "wave" of Korean music and film on global culture was no accident.

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At a gallery in Seoul's fashionable Gangnam district, the walls are lined with stark black-and-white photographic portraits of young women. Some smile, some stare at the camera impassively. Some are naked. All have short hair and no makeup.

It's the third such exhibition by South Korean photographer Jeon Bora, who seeks to document women who reject the country's standards of beauty and the social pressure to conform.

The women liken this pressure to a corset and have dubbed their movement, which began last year, "escape the corset."

Jeon, 25, describes using her camera lens to show her subjects as they really are, and not how South Korean society wants them to look. Advertising, entertainment and other media in South Korea commonly promote a female appearance that includes a porcelain complexion, luxuriant long hair, lots of makeup and form-fitting dresses. An emphasis on big, round eyes has helped fuel a boom in cosmetic procedures.

"I wanted this exhibition to destroy the socially defined idea of a woman," Jeon tells NPR.

The exhibition is open only to women. (NPR received special permission to attend.) Just as visually striking as Jeon's portraits is another wall at the gallery, covered with before-and-after photos submitted by her subjects who "escaped the corset." In some cases, the change is so drastic that it's hard to believe the two pictures are of the same person.

Jeon herself was largely spared pressure to conform to South Korean standards of beauty because she was a judo athlete in high school and had to put athletic performance above all else. But no sooner had she quit the sport and started college than friends started to comment about her lack of makeup and loose, unisex clothing.

"You're not taking care of yourself," she recalls them saying. "Do you want me to teach you how?"

She declined. As she became aware of the "escape the corset" movement, she set out to document its effects on other young women. When she photographed her subjects, she asked them to fill out questionnaires asking what message they wanted to convey in order to understand them better.

One responded: "Dear sisters and friends, I wish we could become humans that exist as we are, and love and be loved as we are. You are you, I am me, we are us, without the makeup, without the corset. Just a human. I love you, always, as you are."

Jeon also encouraged her subjects, who were at various stages of "escaping the corset," to look at themselves without makeup or photo editing. For many, she says, this was awkward at first. Some cried during their photo shoots.

"They said they didn't have the confidence to look themselves in the eye," she recalls. "But after several viewings, they started to pick out the pictures they liked and find features that they like about themselves."

The movement is most visible on social media, where women have posted defiant pictures of hair they've shorn and cosmetics they've smashed, with a Korean hashtag meaning "proof of discarded corset."

Yoon-Kim Ji-Young, a professor at the Institute of Body and Culture at Konkuk University in Seoul, argues that in South Korea, women are up against a multibillion-dollar industrial complex, including cosmetics, plastic surgery and entertainment, which sends women mutually reinforcing messages.

"This huge mechanism unilaterally defines the ideal body image for young women, as well as the direction and size of their dreams," she says. As a result, she says, many young Korean women aspire to become YouTube makeup coaches.

Traditionally, she says, Korean women are taught that beauty is their biggest asset. By getting married, they can exchange that asset for social and economic status. Even today, such views affect women's options and choices related to careers, marriage and motherhood. Rejecting beauty standards leads some women to rebel against an entire social structure, she says, and that means boycotting romance, marriage, sex and childbirth.

"Women are not simply looking to destroy the cosmetics industry by smashing makeup," she says. "Their aim is to subvert the huge male-centered matrix called the patriarchy."

Yoon-Kim adds that not until they have "escaped the corset" do many women realize that they've been taught to blame themselves for the discrimination they encounter, and to feel that it's their own fault for not being young, skinny or pretty enough. A 2017 poll found that nearly 40 percent of respondents experienced discrimination based on their appearance when applying for jobs. Applicants are commonly asked for photos, as well as information about their height and weight.

"The constant feeling of obsession, self-hatred and fatigue in this competitive society," she says, "robs us of the energy to address its fundamental, structural inequality."

Some women say they've paid a high price for escaping the corset - they've been fired from jobs, and reportedly even assaulted. Such stories make other women fear for their own safety. Kim, a 20-year-old college fine arts major who asked for reasons of security that NPR use only her surname, says she was harassed by strangers and her own family after she cut her hair last summer. She decided to do it simply because having long hair was too hot.

"When you get an undercut, men stare at you on the street," she says. "They look at you up and down. My parents asked me, 'Why did you cut your hair? Have you gone out of your mind?' They even asked me if I'm a lesbian."

These reactions prompted her to question her beliefs about beauty. To help give other women courage, she started drawing cartoons about women taking actions to escape the strictures of beauty.

One popular scene from her cartoons, which she posts in an online community, shows an anguished young woman sweeping a table full of cosmetics onto the floor.

"Keep your sorrow brief and your anger long," advises another character. "That anger will be your revolution and your beginning. The harsher the backlash, the greater your relief will be."

Kim was encouraged to see some quotes from her cartoons on placards carried by feminists last summer in Seoul at street protests against spy cams in women's bathrooms. She tried to raise about $500 online to support her work and says she has received 300 times that amount.

But she says her escape from the corset has brought mixed results. On the one hand, she has found that men now treat her as an equal. They give her access to social circles and information previously forbidden to her. They invite her to smoke with them after classes. But they don't invite other women whose appearance is more conventional, and she feels that she is treated simply as one of the guys.
Seoul bureau assistant Se Eun Gong contributed to this report.

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South Korean Women 'Escape The Corset' And Reject Their Country's Beauty Ideals

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Amid intense social pressure to conform, a photographer in Seoul aims "to destroy the socially defined idea of a woman." Women in her photos wear short hair and no makeup.

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Unpretty Rapstar is the sister show of Show Me The Money that was aired after the success of Show Me The Money. Unpretty Rapstar is a survival show that features female rappers who had started the careers of some of the contestants such as Jessi and Cheetah.

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TATTOOS, FASHION, MASKS - GIMMICKS IN K HIP-HOP

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READ TIME: 3 MIN There are countless ways to find fame within the Korean hip-hop scene, whether that be a catchy viral hit or winning a rap survival show such as, High School Rapper or Show Me The Money.

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THE IMPACT OF BLACK CULTURE ON K HIP-HOP

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THE IMPACT OF BLACK CULTURE ON K HIP-HOP

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THE IMPACT OF BLACK CULTURE ON K HIP-HOP

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February 1st marked the beginning of Black History Month. The annual celebration, originating in the USA, seeks to recognize the contributions of Black people to society. Celebrating Black history was first proposed in 1926 with 'Negro History Week' to honour African-Americans and raise awareness of their history.

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Watch the music video

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YEZI (예지) – NO NAME (노네임) Lyrics (Color Coded Han/Rom/Eng)

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The show, which features both underground and mainstream rappers, is credited with increasing the popularity of hip hop in Korea.

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Jessi (제시) - Cold Blooded (with 스트릿 우먼 파이터 (SWF)) MV

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After slow gains in women's rights, the country is facing a type of political correctness enforced by young men angry at feminists, saying they undermine opportunity.

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Bae In-kyu, the head of Man on Solidarity, one of South Korea's most active anti-feminist groups, leading a rally in Seoul last month. "Feminists are a social evil," he has said. Credit... Woohae Cho for The New York Times

SEOUL - They have shown up whenever women rallied against sexual violence and gender biases in South Korea. Dozens of young men, mostly dressed in black, taunted the protesters, squealing and chanting, "Thud! Thud!" to imitate the noise they said the "ugly feminist pigs" made when they walked.

"Out with man haters!" they shouted. "Feminism is a mental illness!"

On the streets, such rallies would be easy to dismiss as the extreme rhetoric of a fringe group. But the anti-feminist sentiments are being amplified online, finding a vast audience that is increasingly imposing its agenda on South Korean society and politics.

These male activists have targeted anything that smacks of feminism, forcing a university to cancel a lecture by a woman they accused of spreading misandry. They have vilified prominent women, criticizing An San, a three-time gold medalist in the Tokyo Olympics, for her short haircut.

They have threatened businesses with boycotts, prompting companies to pull advertisements with the image of pinching fingers they said ridiculed the size of male genitalia. And they have taken aim at the government for promoting a feminist agenda, eliciting promises from rival presidential candidates to reform the country's 20-year-old Ministry of Gender Equality and Family.

South Korea is reckoning with a new type of political correctness enforced by angry young men who bristle at any forces they see as undermining opportunity - and feminists, in their mind, are enemy No. 1. Inequality is one of the most delicate issues in South Korea, a nation with deepening economic uncertainty, fed by runaway housing prices, a lack of jobs and a widening income gap.

"We don't hate women, and we don't oppose elevating their rights," said Bae In-kyu, 31, the head of Man on Solidarity, one of the country's most active anti-feminist groups. "But feminists are a social evil."

The group spearheads the street rallies and runs a YouTube channel with 450,000 subscribers. To its members, feminists equal man haters.

Its motto once read, "Till the day all feminists are exterminated!"

The backlash against feminism in South Korea may seem bewildering.

South Korea has the highest gender wage gap among the wealthy countries. Less than one-fifth of its national lawmakers are women. Women make up only 5.2 percent of the board members of publicly listed businesses, compared with 28 percent in the United States.

And yet, most young men in the country argue that it is men, not women, in South Korea who feel threatened and marginalized. Among South Korean men in their 20s, nearly 79 percent said they were victims of serious gender discrimination, according to a poll in May.

"There is a culture of misogyny in male-dominant online communities, depicting feminists as radical misandrists and spreading fear of feminists," said Kim Ju-hee, 26, a nurse who has organized protests denouncing anti-feminists.

The wave of anti-feminism in South Korea shares many of the incendiary taglines with right-wing populist movements in the West that peddle such messages. Women who argue for abortion rights are labeled "destroyers of family." Feminists are not champions of gender equality, but "female supremacists."

In South Korea, "women" and "feminists" are two of the most common targets of online hate speech, according to the country's National Human Rights Commission.

The backlash represents a split from previous generations.

Older South Korean men acknowledge ​benefiting from a patriarchal culture that​ had​ marginalized women. Decades ago, when South Korea lacked everything from food to cash, sons were more likely to be enrolled in higher education. In some families, women were not allowed to eat from the same table as men and newly born girls were named Mal-ja, or "Last Daughter." Sex-preference abortions were common.

As the country has grown richer, such practices have become a distant memory. Families now dote on their daughters. More women attend college than men, and they have more opportunities in the government and elsewhere, though a significant glass ceiling persists.

"Men in their 20s are deeply unhappy, considering themselves victims of reverse discrimination, angry that they had to pay the price for gender discriminations created under the earlier generations," said Oh Jae-ho, a researcher at the Gyeonggi Research Institute in South Korea.

If older men saw women as needing protection, younger men considered them competitors in a cutthroat job market.

Anti-feminists often note that men are put at a disadvantage because they have to delay getting jobs to complete their mandatory military service. But many women drop out of the work force after giving birth, and much of the domestic duties fall to them.

"What more do you want? We gave you your own space in the subway, bus, parking lot," the male rapper San E writes in his 2018 song " Feminist," which has a cult following among young anti-feminists. "Oh girls don't need a prince! Then pay half for the house when we marry."

The gender wars have infused the South Korean presidential race, largely seen as a contest for young voters. With the virulent anti-feminist voice surging, no major candidate is speaking out for women's rights, once such a popular cause that President Moon Jae-in called himself a "feminist" when he campaigned about five years ago.

Yoon Suk-yeol, the candidate of the conservative opposition People Power Party, sided with the anti-feminist movement when he accused the ministry of gender equality of treating men like "potential sex criminals." He promised harsher penalties for wrongfully accusing men of sex crimes, despite concerns it would discourage women from speaking out.

But Mr. Yoon also recruited a prominent 31-year-old leader of a feminist group as a senior campaign adviser last month, a move intended to assuage worries that his party has alienated young female voters.

By law, Mr. Moon cannot seek re-election. His Democratic Party's candidate, Lee Jae-myung, has also tried to appeal to young men, saying: "Just as women should never be discriminated against because of their gender, nor should men suffer discrimination because they are men."

Mr. Lee sees the gender conflict largely as a problem of dwindling job opportunities, comparing young South Koreans to "chicks struggling not to fall off a crowded nest." "We must make the nest bigger by recovering growth," he has said.

It is hard to tell how many young men support the kind of extremely provocative​ and often theatrical​ activism championed by groups like Man on Solidarity. Its firebrand leader, Mr. Bae, showed up at a recent feminist rally​​ dressed as the Joker from "Batman" comics and toting a toy water gun. He followed female protesters around, pretending to, as he put it, "kill flies."

Tens of thousands of fans have watched his stunts livestreamed online, sending in cash donations. During one online talk-fest in August, Mr. Bae raised nine million won ($7,580) in three minutes.

Women's rights advocates' fear is that the rise of anti-feminism might stymie, or even roll back, the hard-won progress South Korea has made in expanding women's rights. In recent decades, they fought to legalize abortion and started one of the most powerful #MeToo campaigns in Asia.

Lee Hyo-lin, 29, said that "feminist" has become such a dirty word that women who wear their hair short or carry a novel by a feminist writer risk ostracism. When she was a member of a K-pop group, she said that male colleagues routinely commented on her body, jeering that she "gave up being a woman" when she gained weight.

"The #MeToo problem is part of being a woman in South Korea," she said. "Now we want to speak out, but they want us to shut up. It's so frustrating."

On the other side of the culture war are young men with a litany of grievances - concerns that are endlessly regurgitated by male-dominated forums. They have fixated, in particular, on limited cases of false accusations, as a way to give credence to a broader anti-feminist agenda.

Son Sol-bin, a used-furniture seller, was 29 when his former girlfriend accused him of rape and kidnapping in 2018. Online trolls called for his castration, he said. His mother found closed-circuit TV footage proving the accusations never took place.

"The feminist influence has left the system so biased against men that the police took a woman's testimony and a mere drop of her tears as enough evidence to land an innocent man in jail," said Mr. Son, who spent eight months in jail before he was cleared. "I think the country has gone crazy."

As Mr. Son fought back tears during a recent anti-feminist rally, other young men chanted: "Be strong! We are with you!"

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The New Political Cry in South Korea: 'Out With Man Haters'

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After slow gains in women's rights, the country is facing a type of political correctness enforced by young men angry at feminists, saying they undermine opportunity. Send any friend a story As a subscriber, you have 10 gift articles to give each month. Anyone can read what you share.

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MAMAMOO don't shy away when they have something to say and with their latest song "Hip", they've taken aim at the haters with some pointed lyrics and visuals.

At their showcase, MAMAMOO's Hwasa said the song is about "living a life where you don't care about how other people see you and it's a song about a life that's the most like you. Sincere 'hip' comes from the mindset of loving myself, so the song conveys the meaning of valuing yourself and living confidently rather than caring about what others think".

With that in mind, the four-member group star in a music video that has some striking visuals to match up with their message. From the climate emergency to fashion call-outs, there's plenty to dissect in the "Hip" MV, and you can hear MAMAMOO loud and clear.

1. Climate emergency on blast

The members appear as protesters carrying signs about the climate crisis, immediately capturing your attention as one of the many 'controversies' they call out in the MV.

2. President Hwasa

Firstly - yes, we would vote for President Hwasa, that's not even a question. Secondly, this particular moment is a response to negative press Hwasa received after wearing a crop top bra to the airport. She followed it up by wearing t-shirts with no bra on her next airport visits, as a subtle retort to sexist criticism.

3. Solar + drag queens

K-pop has a long way to go when it comes to LGBTQI+ representation. There's the occasional music video storyline (often serving more of a punchline than an honest portrayal), but mainstream K-pop doesn't reach out to LGBTQI+ communities often. Having two drag queens perform in this MV is a meaningful choice.

4. Moonbyul running the show

The narrative of women in power is still not common in entertainment globally and South Korea is no different: K-dramas have started showing more working women, and we already know about so many hard-working women in K-pop, but it's not the status quo yet.

That makes the visual of Moonbyul, in a suit sitting comfortably like a boss in a record label's office, both inspirational and aspirational.

5. Leaders!

It's in giant letters so you can't miss it: in the opening and final shots, they're surrounded by messages of 'we make it cool', 'I'm the trendsetter' and more. It's a rally cry to all women to stand tall and follow your own path, and it's motivational as hell.

If you haven't watched MAMAMOO's "Hip" yet, check it out now!

Hear us on SBS PopAsia Digital Radio

Listen in 24/7 on Digital Radio, by downloading our free mobile app or by streaming live here on our website.

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5 ways MAMAMOO are speaking their minds on "Hip"

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MAMAMOO don't shy away when they have something to say and with their latest song "Hip", they've taken aim at the haters with some pointed lyrics and visuals. At their showcase, MAMAMOO's Hwasa said the song is about "living a life where you don't care about how other people see you and it's a song about a life that's the most like you.

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Seo Taiji & Boys brings Hip Hop to South Korea

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Seo Taiji & Boys brings Hip Hop to South Korea

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How Seo Taiji combatted censorship and paved the way for K-pop - Blog | Splice

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Learn about how Korean musician, songwriter, and producer Seo Taiji combatted censorship and shaped the landscape of popular music.

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It is difficult to discuss the history of Korean popular music without mentioning the name of Seo Taiji. He entered public consciousness as leader and composer of the three-piece boy band Seo Taiji and Boys, who released their self-titled album Seo Taiji and Boys in 1991.

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http://www.koreaherald.com/view.php?ud=20220228000931

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The East-meets-street style of beats were once censored and unwelcomed here, but now, the blossoming genre is topping charts and has become a musical staple.

Not only are the rapping styles leading trendsetters, but the genre has built its own culture to represent the nation. But unlike other entertainment companies, the hip-hop scene is made up of smaller labels that specialize only in the genre.

Following is a look into nine hip-hop heavyweights that are making a splash on the global music scene.

Standing for "Above Ordinary Music Group," AOMG was brought to life in 2013 by Jay Park and is undoubtedly the trendiest label in the music industry here, performing music that is done both in the mainstream and the underground.

Since its establishment, the music scene has witnessed the meteoric rise of hip-hop in Korea, and the record label has been at the forefront of it all. It has also armed itself with tunes that interweave hip-hop, hard rap and R&B with a philosophy grounded on "creative freedom."

Many of the artists were also masterminds behind rap competition programs like Mnet's "Show Me the Money" and "High School Rapper," which have helped to popularize the genre.

Covering music from hip-hop to R&B, the label also boasts some of the biggest names. AOMG houses 20 artists, including rappers, vocalists, producers and DJs. Names that make up the agency include producers like Gray, Code Kunst, Loco and Lee Hi.

Last February, Yugyeom of boy band GOT7 joined the label after his contract ended with JYP Entertainment, and rapper Coogie is the latest face on the roster.

Recently, Jay Park stepped down from the CEO spot, although he still remains an adviser for the agency.

Jointly founded by Jay Park and his American counterpart Cha Cha Malone in 2017, H1ghr Music is a company pioneering the next wave of hip-hop. With the ambition to showcase undiscovered talents in R&B and hip-hop, the agency has shed light on budding virtuosos.

The agency is currently home to some of the greatest artists of this generation, including rapper pH-1, producer Groovyroom and Jay B of GOT7, to name a few, and these big names are making a bold mark with their sounds.

Its batch of talented artists is known for reshaping the definition of hip-hop. Swerving from mainstream rap, the new vanguard of rappers is offering trendy yet new flows, sounds, moods and positivity through their lyrics.

Not only can they push musical boundaries through songs, but the artists are also commercially viable. Sik-K is a popular musical figure and fashion icon, having made a special appearance for Off-White's fall-winter 2020 runway show.

H1ghr Music is also famous for dropping songs that feature its entire roster. In 2020, the label dropped a two-part compilation album titled "Red Tape" and "Blue Tape" and won for label of the year and music video of the year at the 2021 Korean Hip-hop Awards.

Just Music, also known as Linchpin Music, was founded by Swings in 2009 when he was under Brand New Music. It's currently home to artists like Han Yo-han, model Park Sung-jin, who goes by Jimmy Paige as his stage name, and Giriboy.

First launched in 2012, Mnet's "Show Me the Money" TV competition ratcheted up the growth of hip-hop by allowing rappers in the underground community to find fame, as many of the label's rappers gained popularity through the show. C Jamm and Vasco, who now goes by Bill Stax, are two of the many rappers who found glory through the show under Just Music, although Bill Stax departed the label in 2018.

The rappers under Just Music are also famous for reflecting their personalities: Their songs are raw, give joy and spit fire. Many musicians tend to blast out their thoughts and creeds with creative yet honest lyrics, and the label's compilation albums "Ripple Effect" and "We Effect," released in 2014 and 2017, respectively, vividly show their distinctive musical personalities.

VMC, or Vismajor Company, started as a crew called "Vismajor" in 2011, comprising Deepflow, Babynine, Wutan and Ven. The record label was later established as an independent label in 2014, and is helmed by Row Digga and Deepflow, who is known as one of the mentors for the hip-hop competition series "High School Rapper."

Unlike other labels, VMC is famous for its several classic hip-hop albums. Deepflow's third LP, "Yanghwa," dropped in 2016, was praised for bringing real hip-hop tunes to the masses, and won him artist of the year at the 13th Korean Music Awards.

Nucksal's first LP, "The God of Small Things," also released in 2016, gained the limelight by conveying a message through music that every cloud has a silver lining.

Currently, VMC is home to illustrious rappers such as Don Mills, Los and Rohann, and manages producers, DJs, engineers and designers.

The now-disbanded 1llionaire Records was created in 2011 and had controlled the rap game for nearly a decade with only three artists: Dok2 and The Quiett, who helmed the label, completing its list with Beenzino. The trio triumphed by tweaking the hip-hop scene in Korea.

Among many hip-hop labels, 1llionaire was the fastest in adapting to West Coast G-funk, and the trio's signature style was trap music. Dok2 and The Quiett played a pivotal role as mentors in the third season of "Show Me the Money," and Dok2, in particular, made a seismic change by introducing "money swag" and influencing the flow and rhythms of trap music.

The trap-style tracks the tandem wrote during the program, like "YGGR," performed by Bobby of boy band Ikon in the semifinal stage, became a sensation in 2014, creating a major hip-hop trend that year.

The group of three also went big by finding themselves touring in the US and exporting Korean hip-hop sounds, but are now defunct as Dok2 and Beenzino announced their departure from the label in 2020.

Ambition Musik was founded by then-1llionaire Records' CEO The Quiett and Dok2 in 2016 for one purpose: to cater to up-and-coming artists and put out songs that are different from 1llionaire Records.

Initially, the label was small in size and managed just three rappers: Kim Hyo-eun, Changmo and Hash Swan. But now, the agency has added five more newcomers to its roster: Ash Island, producer Way Ched, Leellamarz, Zene the Zilla and Don Malik.

The label boasts one of the best rap heroes but doesn't necessarily pursue a style that fits into the standard definition of hip-hop in people's dictionaries. Leellamarz is a violinist-turned-rapper, Changmo uses the piano as his forte and Ash Island reshapes the melodies of hip-hop by singing rap. With his iconic producer tag "Way Ched, It's Your Way," Way Ched is also famous for collaborating with artists from other big-name hip-hop companies like Trade L of H1ghr Music.

After adding more names to its label, Ambition Musik was honored as the label or crew of the year at the 2020 Korean Hip-hop Awards.

Wavy was established by singer-songwriter Colde in 2018 and started as a one-person label when he put out his first solo EP, "Wave," in September that year. Now, the agency plays a crucial role in Colde's musical universe.

Colde often describes Wavy as a label that does "unconventional and avant-garde" music with a lot of digital touches. Also, as the name of the label suggests, just like how Wavy reminds of "wave," the ripples of constantly transforming waves add more diversity to music.

From R&B and hip-hop to indie, Wavy is a label that allows music to speak for itself. It houses seven artists, including Apro, Khakii and the self-made band Wave to Earth.

Founded by YG Entertainment's producer Teddy Park in 2016, the Black Label is a subsidiary of K-pop powerhouse YG Entertainment.

The agency initially started by overseeing hip-hop artists like producer Kush, Zion. T, R.Tee, Vince and Okasian. But it continued to expand its list by adding Jeon Somi, a former member of girl group I.O.I, and American child model Ella Gross.

The Black Label has been involved with many hip-hop ventures in Korea, as Zion.T appeared on three seasons of "Show Me the Money," recognized for his musical skills and as a mentor. Other artists also continue to carve out a path for themselves by bringing out fresh hip-hop and R&B tunes.

The latest to join Korea's hip-hop scene is Dream Perfect Regime: a multigenre group with a collection of artists and visionaries in music and the visual arts. With videographer and singer-songwriter DPR Ian at the helm, nine members, including DPR Live, Ian, Rem and Cream, make up the label.

Famous for his "Coming to you live" watermark tag, DPR Live brought his studio sound to the masses with his "Coming to You Live" EP in March 2017. DPR Ian earned his stripes as a video director and is known for directing the music video for Taeyang's "Wake Me Up."

Since then, DPR has built its solid career as an independent label and broadened its horizon by continuing to treat audiences with unique yet creative music and projects.

The DPR crew strove for more by collaborating with the Seoul Tourism Organization for last year's "Your Seoul Goes On" campaign. DPR Live and DPR Cream also teamed up with conglomerate Lotte Group for a commercial jingle under "New Today, Better Tomorrow."

By Park Jun-hee ( junheee@heraldcorp.com)

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Masterminds behind hip-hop in Korea: Who are they?

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The East-meets-street style of beats were once censored and unwelcomed here, but now, the blossoming genre is topping charts and has become a musical staple. Not only are the rapping styles leading trendsetters, but the genre has built its own culture to represent the nation.

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One of the most intrinsic parts of Hip-Hop is the idea of crews. At its very core, a crew is a group of like-minded artists who work closely together to create music and art and provide support to each other. The formation of crews within the Hip-Hop scene rose to prominence in the late 80s/ early 9…

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How the genre came to Korea and changed the sound of K-pop forever.

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https://kprofiles.com/yezi-profile-facts/

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KNOW YOUR K-HIP-HOP: YEZI | Lee Ye-Ji or YEZI (예지)

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Lee Ye-Ji or YEZI (예지) as she is stage-named as, is a South Korean Rapper and Singer, currently under JG Star Entertainment. Loved by her fans for her elegant yet strong and powerful rap flow, Yezi also captivates the listeners with her mellifluent vocals in the chorus of her tracks 😉 Birth Date: August 26, 1994 Debut Date: August 31, 2012 TMI: Former member of the K-Pop girl group, FIESTAR under LOEN Entertainment.

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Why Korean Women Are Hesitant To Label Themselves Feminists

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Why Korean Women Are Hesitant To Label Themselves Feminists

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Why Korean Women Are Hesitant To Label Themselves Feminists

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'Maybe I'd say I'm a feminist if I wasn't in Korea, but there's a certain stereotype and stigma that comes with the title here.'

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APink's Son Naeun receives criticism for posting picture with caption "Girls Can Do Anything"

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APink's Son Naeun receives criticism for posting picture with caption "Girls Can Do Anything"

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How Feminism Became a Dirty Word in South Korea

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How Feminism Became a Dirty Word in South Korea

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In his article " Why So Many Young Men in South Korea Hate Feminism," S. Nathan Park characterizes aggressive misogyny among young South Korean men as a misguided perception that men face societal disadvantages in response to efforts to "break the glass ceiling." Park argues that this escalating political current has driven the demographic's embrace of conservative politics, embodied by the mounting popularity of conservative leader Lee Jun-seok.

However, the impetus for this collective misogyny is more complex than a reactionary response to the perceived illegitimacy of progressive gender equality. The demonization of feminist discourse and ideology, underpinned by a misconstrued belief that the term is synonymous with radicalism and misandry, is central to this accelerating political current reflected in Lee's anti-feminist discourse.

Park argues that a prevailing meritocratic ideology underpins young South Korean men's opposition to feminism. Removed from the historical struggles of previous generations of Koreans, young men today enjoy a "distorted moral sensibility" tied to the individualist pursuit and capitalist stresses of a rigorous and competitive educational and employment landscape. Systemic gender inequality, indicated by statistics such as the gender pay gap widening from 34.6 percent in 2018 to 37.1 percent in 2019, is undermined when viewed through a meritocratic perspective, "where the poor are to blame for their own suffering." Accordingly, Park notes that young Korean men overwhelming endorse the statement, "women earn less because they give less effort to their careers."

Consequently, Park argues the current misogynist tide is motivated by young Korean men's perception of women as "threats who continue to receive preferential treatment." Despite the World Economic Forum ranking South Korea 115th out of 149 countries on Gender Equality in 2018, societal efforts to combat gender inequality are construed as creating a punitive environment for young men. This predicates, as Park argues, men's perception that they are "victims of feminism."

However, a meritocratic viewing of the "meeting point of gender and power" is not enough to account for the embrace of aggressive misogyny displayed by such large cohorts of young Korean men. Feminist discourse promotes hostility and fear in young Korean men because it has been misconstrued as inherently radical and misandrist.
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Online communities advocating women's rights have led to a growing misunderstanding that feminism is ubiquitous with misandry. The Korean website Megalia was founded to combat and mirror pervasive misogyny by providing an online forum where women could air similarly derogatory comments toward men. An escalating extremist culture of misandry led to the site being repeatedly shut down, with this more radical discourse gravitating to other websites and online communities. Launched in 2016, splinter site Womad features posts claiming to have committed crimes against men.

Interviewed for The Korea Times, researcher Lee Na-mi worries that the "rebound phenomenon" embodied by such websites, in retaliation to misogynistic sites such as Ilbe Storage, risks the feminist movement being "distorted and perceived wrongly." This is echoed by Korean feminist YunKim Jiyoung, who tells Vice that "feminists are being presented as misandrists to be silenced and to have their efforts for gender equality stigmatized." This is despite Womad's doctrine specifying that its members do not define themselves as feminists. The altruistic campaign for gender equality risks being jeopardized by radical discourse that is not representative of feminists' movement for gender equality.

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The effects of such stigmatization manifested in 2018, when musician San E released his the song " Feminist," littered with misogynist lyrics. He followed this with an anti-feminist outburst during a concert, exclaiming "Womad is poison. Feminist, no. You're a mental illness." His words misrepresent feminism as being synonymous with these radical movements.
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The implications of the growing stigma associated with feminist discourse are evident in comments from 23-year-old Seoul student and self-proclaimed radical feminist Shin Set-byul, who told NBC News: "I would say it's still dangerous to openly call yourself a feminist in Korea today." This is reiterated by comments from Seoul café owner Sira Park, who told Vice: "I don't want to be called a feminist here in Korea... there's a certain stereotype and stigma that comes with the title here."

This demonized perception of feminism is echoed in the vitriolic online responses to the social media posts of female celebrities promoting feminism. Singer Irene's 2018 Instagram post, featuring the novel "Kim Ji-young, Born 1982," acknowledged by many as feminist literature, was met with scathing and hostile online responses from male fans. "She has virtually come out as a feminist, and I'm no longer her fan," commented one male social media user.

Hateful reactions to celebrities' feminist allegiances have contributed to a culture where feminist ideology is shunned and subject to apologism. Musician Son Na-eun's 2018 Instagram post, featuring a phone case with the phrase "Girls can do anything," was similarly maligned. After negative backlash led Son to delete the post, her agency issued a statement rejecting her association with feminist discourse, dismissing the slogan as "simply a product of the French fashion label Zadig & Voltaire." This apologist response reflects an urgent desire to disassociate from any feminist messaging.

The anti-feminist jargon employed by conservative leader Lee Jun-seok, whom Park views as the "political champion" of misogynist young men, is indebted to proliferation of the myth that radical, misandrist movements are intrinsically linked with feminism. In his book, "Fair Competition: Asking Value and Future of Korea's Conservatism," Lee acknowledges; "Deep down in their hearts, I think moderate feminists would have mixed feelings toward Womad." However, this concession invokes a continued skepticism of the feminist movement by suggesting its point of difference with radical misandrist movements is marginal.

Consequently, Lee's comparison of Womad to "terrorists" serves to proliferate, exploit, and capitalize on societal misunderstanding of feminism. This approach complements his agenda's focus on disbanding measures that promote gender equality, such as promising to abolish female quotas in his party, the People Power Party (PPP). Since Lee's jargon is rooted in an attack on radical feminism, an understanding of the stigma arising from Korean society's confusion of feminism with these radical movements is crucial to scrutinizing how his election as leader of the PPP has accrued the support of misogynist young men.

Stigmatized public perception of feminist ideology, understood to be permeated with misandry and radical feminism, underpins young Korean's men's perception of themselves as "victims of feminism." Alongside contributing factors such as the demographic's "worship of the idea of meritocracy," the demonization of feminism is critical to understanding the "over-the-top hostility" toward this discourse, which Park contends is central to young men's embrace of conservatism.

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How Feminism Became a Dirty Word in South Korea

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Advertisement In his article " Why So Many Young Men in South Korea Hate Feminism," S. Nathan Park characterizes aggressive misogyny among young South Korean men as a misguided perception that men face societal disadvantages in response to efforts to "break the glass ceiling."

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CL

Birth date

February 26, 1991 (age 31)

Occupation

Singer, songwriter, rapper, model

Solo debut

May 28, 2013 (Korea)
August 19, 2016 (U.S)

Family

Lee Haerin (younger sister)

CL (씨엘) is a South Korean singer, rapper and songwriter under Very Cherry. She is a former member of the girl group 2NE1.
She made her Korean solo debut on May 28, 2013 with the single " The Baddest Female" and her American debut on August 19, 2016 with the single " Lifted".

2008-2009: Debut with 2NE1

In 2008, YG Entertainment announced the debut of a new girl group consisted of CL, Bom, Minzy and Dara. Before their official debut, the group collaborated with BIGBANG in a song titled " Lollipop" for a commercial advertising the LG Lollipop phone, which was released on March 27, 2009.

On May 6, 2009, the group officially debuted with the single " Fire", which was included later in their first mini album 1st Mini Album, which was released on July 8, 2009.

2013-2016: Solo debut, 2NE1's disbandment

On May 28, 2013, CL officially made her Korean solo debut with the digital single " The Baddest Female".

On October 15, 2014, it was announced that she was preparing to make her solo debut in U.S. under Scooter Braun's music record Schoolboy Records. She officially made her American solo debut on August 19, 2016 with the digital single " Lifted".

On November 25, 2016, YG Entertainment announced the group's disbandment. CL, alongside with Dara, remained in the agency as solo artists.

2019: Departure from YG, In The Name Of Love

On November 8, 2019, YG confirmed that CL had left the agency after deciding to not renew her exclusive contract. She later signed with SuneV.

She released her first project album since her departure form YG Entertainment between December 4 and December 17, called In The Name Of Love.

2020-2021: "+Hwa+" and Alpha

On October 17, 2020, CL announced that she will comeback on October 29, later revealed it would be a single titled "+Hwa+".. On October 28, 2020, CL performed her single on The Late Late Show with James Corden and announced she would be releasing her first solo album, , on November 30. On November 16, 2020, CL announced that her album would be postponed until early 2021.

On August 13, 2021, it was announced that the album would be released in October, along with two pre-release singles. The first pre-release single " Spicy" was released on August 24. The second pre-release single " Lover Like Me" was released on September 29. The album's release date was later revealed to be October 20.

Discography

Filmography

Reality shows

References

Official links

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CL (씨엘) is a South Korean singer, rapper and songwriter under Very Cherry. She is a former member of the girl group 2NE1. She made her Korean solo debut on May 28, 2013 with the single "The Baddest Female" and her American debut on August 19, 2016 with the single "Lifted".

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Hello Bitches By CL. Mnet Asian Music Awards Performance.

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Hello Bitches By CL. Mnet Asian Music Awards Performance.

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[CL-HELLO BITCHES] KPOP Concert MAMA 2015 | EP.2

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last look: south korea's surprising anti-feminist movement - cnn video

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Last Look: South Korea's surprising anti-feminist movement - CNN Video

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Fareed looks at how an anti-feminist backlash has gripped the Asian economic powerhouse after recent efforts to integrate more women into the workforce.

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Cheetah. Winner of season 1 of Unpretty Little Rapstar.

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Cheetah

Zodiac sign

Gemini

Cheetah (치타), born Kim Eun-young (김은영) is a South Korean rapper who debuted under Now Entertainment as a member of Blacklist in 2010. She later debuted as a solo artist in 2014.
Discography

Studio albums

Extended plays

As lead artist

Collaborations

Filmography

Television shows

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Cheetah (치타), born Kim Eun-young (김은영) is a South Korean rapper who debuted under Now Entertainment as a member of Blacklist in 2010. She later debuted as a solo artist in 2014.