T!Na asked 8 months ago
I think it’s beautiful how K-pop artists like Taemin and Jimin confidently bring both their masculine & feminine sides forward to enhance their performance and dance in general as an art form. But I wanted to know how new this is and if being ‘gender-neutral’ is seen differently in Korea? How common or uncommon is it?
1 Answers
Danny Kim Staff answered 8 months ago
Being called androgynous is not a slur, it’s a praise on their facial characteristics. It usually means you have some mystery in your face, and you would only say that to someone in a nice way.
Now, is the androgynous look seen as weird or different? I personally think it’s different enough where you won’t be seeing it every day, but it’s fairly common in the realm of Kpop and K-Entertainment. It’s not really a ‘shocking’ or novel concept in Korea anymore.
I can remember as far as 15 years ago – Lee Joon Ki gained immense popularity with his feminine look. I think he opened a lot of doors for how men can look differently. He drew in a whole ‘flower boy’ craze, where men were praised for being beautiful and feminine.
In Kpop I think it’s even more common to see androgynous concepts – especially among male idols.
However, I think you should note that having a ‘androgynous’ or ‘gender-neutral’ look and actually identifying oneself as non-binary or gender neutral/fluid etc. would be a whole different thing. Just because many Koreans are used to gender-neutral looks doesn’t mean they will be accepting of gender neutrality itself. It’s just the look that people are used to.
Now, is the androgynous look seen as weird or different? I personally think it’s different enough where you won’t be seeing it every day, but it’s fairly common in the realm of Kpop and K-Entertainment. It’s not really a ‘shocking’ or novel concept in Korea anymore.
I can remember as far as 15 years ago – Lee Joon Ki gained immense popularity with his feminine look. I think he opened a lot of doors for how men can look differently. He drew in a whole ‘flower boy’ craze, where men were praised for being beautiful and feminine.
In Kpop I think it’s even more common to see androgynous concepts – especially among male idols.
However, I think you should note that having a ‘androgynous’ or ‘gender-neutral’ look and actually identifying oneself as non-binary or gender neutral/fluid etc. would be a whole different thing. Just because many Koreans are used to gender-neutral looks doesn’t mean they will be accepting of gender neutrality itself. It’s just the look that people are used to.
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