Female Sexual Objectification in K-pop

By: Selena Lai

Female sexual objectification is evident in Korea and is becoming increasingly ubiquitous and normalized through K-pop (Saeji 2013, 342). Although men are also sexually objectified, it is more prevalent with females. This presents the issue of how woman self-monitor as a result of how females are depicted through media. “Sex sells” is proven through “sexy concept” K-pop music videos that idealize a submissive sexy woman. Female sexual objectification will remain present in Hallyu as long as they have full media support. I argue that if the media transitions to filtering meanings and depicting K-pop groups through empowerment rather than a sexually objectified way, negative influences on female viewers and female K-pop idol exploitation will be reduced.

As the industry grows more competitive, Kpop idols are being pressured and exploited into performing sexual concepts to gain popularity by appealing to male audiences. Stellar is a victim of this trend with their music video, “Vibrato”. In the video, there is metaphorical storytelling as the four girls are inside clear boxes clearly frustrated with cameras surrounding them. However, their attitudes become lively and they attempt to appear sexy in front of the cameras after four barbie dolls are dunked in red paint. This is visual representation of losing their innocence by being “[manipulated] … in order to meet socially prescribed role expectations in a male-dominated society,” (Lin and Rudolf 2017, 28). Although their video faced backlash, they continued to promote as they were able to achieve popularity - for the wrong reasons. In an interview conducted by No Cut News, Stellar expressed, “we didn’t do it because we wanted to, having experienced two failures after ‘Marionette’, we accepted the reality”. As evidenced, the sexy concept was being used as a last resort with pressure from their agency. This is mentally and emotionally damaging for female K-pop idols who pursue their careers through musical talent but are met with the glass ceiling of sexual objectification.

When it comes to influence, “Media can be powerful agents of socialization in the lives of young people, particularly on sensitive topics such as sex and sexual attitudes,” (Kistler and Lee 2009, 84). Although there is censorship to block sexual content for underaged viewers, female sexual objectification is still present in the attitudes and focus of media. To prevent sexual objectification, media can determine the degrees of “sexiness” that can be aired through choreography, camera shots, and lyric meanings. With the media’s support in filtering sexual messages, visual content, and featuring K-pop groups in an empowering way, viewers are influenced to stray from stereotypical beliefs about gender and sexual roles (Kistler and Lee 2009, 72). As a result, the media will become a positive outlet for female empowerment and gradually change the behavioural consumption of fans. Thus, protecting female K-pop idols from exploitation.

Word Count: 464 (Including in-text citations)

Kistler, E. Michelle and Lee, J. Moon. “Does Exposure to Sexual Hip-Hop Music Videos Influence the Sexual Attitudes of College Students?” Mass Communication and Society 13:1, (2009): 67-86. doi:10.1080/15205430902865336.

Lin, Xi and Rudolf, Robert. “Does K-pop Reinforce Gender Inequalities? Empirical Evidence from a New Data Set.” Asian Woman, Vol. 33, No. 4, (2017): 27-54

Saeji, Cedar T. “JUVENILE PROTECTION AND SEXUAL OBJECTIFICATION.” Acta Korana, Vol. 16, No. 2, (2013): 329-365.

Serendipity. “Stellar Honestly Open up about Why They Had No Choice but to Go the Sexy Route.” Allkpop. 6Theory Media LLC. https://www.allkpop.com/article/2015/07/stellar-honestly-open-up-about-why-they-had-no-choice-but-to-go-the-sexy-route (accessed 11/19/18)