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KPOP Criticized in the United States

KPOP in the United States

By Ashley SandovalPublished 6 years ago 3 min read
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One of the South Korean pop groups called Got7

Nowadays, music is seeping through our pores in our skin. Music is something you can use to escape the problems in your life, even if it means you’ll be stress-free for three whole minutes. I feel like anything that isn’t English and Spanish don’t get the recognition it deserves here in the States. I feel like people don’t want to expand their music genre from rap, hip hop, r&b and country to Korean pop music and Korean hip hop. I really want to address some questions regarding this music genre that DOES exist, but rather is being ignored or put down by the language barrier.

“They don’t work as hard as the artists here in the States.” Actually you’re right...they work HARDER than they do. They are constantly rehearsing to not only sing, but to DANCE live in front of thousands to millions of fans, who not only enjoy the performance, but also some that criticize and find a way to call out a mistake they’ve made. KPOP groups get way more hate for the smallest mistakes they make. Such as not being a certain skin color or being too dark and not being porcelain enough to seem “beautiful” or “handsome,” and them being dark skin is “ugly” or “dirty,” not being skinny enough, or even or not weighing light enough, will create some physiological problems and then thinking that they’re being judged by everyone, which isn’t true. Members not being treated equally by their management is often one of the most COMMON thing there is in this entertainment business. If a member is not born in South Korea or isn’t 100% Korean, they’re paid LESS than the members who ARE Korean. Some members had to leave the group for the sake of their health at risk. They get hurt or even sick at some point in their career. Lawsuits are also one of the few reasons for disbanding (no longer together) groups and even having to serve the South Korean military.

Even idols (KPOP group members) have to go out of their way to serve the military when they are older than 25-years-old and having to leave their group members and fans behind, hoping that when they finish their service and return, that they’ll be waiting for them to return. Sadly, not all the groups stay together while one of them leaves, which can be heartbreaking, but is the truth. While here in the U.S, none of the artists are NEEDED to go to the military without signing a permission contract. We should acknowledge that Korean pop groups are as hard workers as the artists in the States, since they also try to learn English to communicate with international fans, which is appreciating many other cultures, as well as ours.

There are also double standards for female and male idols. When a female wears something that seems a bit more explicit and just shows a bit of their stomach, shoulders or thighs, they automatically name her a 'slut' for showing off a bit more skin than usual, but for the males, who are often SHIRTLESS, they are shown as 'manly' or 'rough' which is more of a compliment than what they call a young lady who is not doing anything promiscuous at all except choosing clothes that are used SPECIFICALLY for live shows, so that they can be a bit more comfortable to dance in. If the female member chooses to change their appearance, it's mainly because they want to stop being criticized by the media and the people who talk negative about them, and that's the same reason why they lose weight in the most harmful way by going on extreme diets or not eating at all.

Personally, I have concluded that for the artists here in the States, at award shows, if they don't win an award at all, they normally just ignore it and continue to make more music in the future. The KPOP groups, however, they see this as a mistake to learn from, which also makes them feel like they have let their fans down by not getting enough sales on their albums. It really puts them down, however they come back STRONGER than ever. They want to be known in the United States and many different countries, so they often collaborate with many different American artists around the world to seem a bit more cultural. I hope we can have a bit less criticism and allow this type of music to be on the American radio stations and even on our own television.

fact or fiction
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About the Creator

Ashley Sandoval

My mind is always open to new things and will never judge others for believeing in other things.

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