#taehyung queerness

[cocamalfeta]

The Queer Aesthetic in K-Pop

Well, I hadn't paid much attention to this part of the Idol culture, but after hearing the last so heteronormative songs by Jungkook with their vulgar and misogynistic lyrics it should be clear (?) his queerness was merely a matter of stylistic choice made by his company, regardless of his actual sexuality. Obviously, the "shipping" culture is part of that queer aesthetics too, as being encouraged by the same company, and so it shouldn't be meant --again-- to be anything close to reality. I already could tell when Jungkook wore some BDSM-related jewelry and some fans were willing to believe he was into that lifestyle (¡!). Anyway, whether it's his personal choice or K-Pop aesthetics, you can check other Jk instances of supporting queerness here:

Personally, though, I'd take the following pic for instance --aimed to promote an idea of genderless fashion-- as more like displaying a performance than reality. Fans aren't meant to take it literally (imo...)

You can read more about this in The Queer aesthetic: from camp to commodification; The mainstreaming and commodification of queer aesthetics; The commodification of queer culture and many others as this has been happening for years. Also, read The paradox of Queerness in K-Pop:

To appeal to this public and feed these practices, there have been a couple of MVs with heavy queer subtext, like Red Velvet’s MV for “Monster”. In the MV, bandmates Irene and Seulgi, popular idols amongst lesbians and sapphics, are picturing almost kissing. If sapphic subtext in music videos of such huge bands can be received as a step towards more queer representation in K-pop, it sparks conversations on queerbaiting, especially when put side to side with the treatment of openly LGBTIQ+ artists in the industry. Indeed, K-pop idols are often forced to keep this part of themselves private and are put aside if they decide otherwise. Maman, known as Magoply, bore the cost of it when she came out on television after her debut in 2007 and was kicked out of her label as a result. More recently, when artist Kim Tae Seub debuted under the stage name HOLLAND and tried to tackle LGBTIQ+ topics, he was rejected by labels and had to crowdfund the money to produce music on his own. 

And finally, speaking of a bandmember who has been pretty vocal regarding queer aesthetics. I mean Taehyung who has a public celebrity girlfriend but sings and dances to queer-coded songs and movies and even somentimes wears high heels (¡!).

I can't picture Namjoon wearing high heels though, but the thing is it's just a performance, doesn't speak on his sexuality in any way or form. No matter gay, bi or straight. They're just following safe trends. Consider then the experiences of Leslie Cheung who actually suffered from real backlash when performing with a pair of red high heels and who eventually committed suicide following a drepression.

[b-baang]

カモメ ` ᕦ ˓⠀⠀˓ 𝗌𝗐𝖾𝖾𝗍 𝗉𝖾𝖺𝖼𝗁 , 𝖽𝖾𝖺𝗋 𝗋𝖺𝗂𝗇 𝒔.

⠀⠀  사랑   ( ✿ ) 𝗹𝗮𝗱𝘆 ര 🌸

𝗒𝗈𝗎𝗋 𝗉𝗋𝖾𝗍𝗍𝗒 𝖿𝖺𝖼𝖾 𝖺𝗇𝖽 𝖾𝗅𝖾𝖼𝗍𝗋𝗂𝖼 𝗌𝗈𝗎𝗅

love ﹙ . . . ﹚ @miniepsds , ✿

[hopegirrl]

Rainy days

I'm thinking about you . . .

[peachjagiya]

🚨⚠️ one more spoiler ⚠️🚨

His shirt says Love My Way.

His shirt... Says... LOVE MY WAY. You'll never in a million years guess what film THAT was in.

What a shock to us all! 💜🌈

[taehyungfirst]

Taehyung engaging with queer content every single month I knew he would have loved the new Guadagnino’s movie 😭

[usmiletk]

V of BTS akah KIM TAEHYUNG for Pop Magazine 💚🌸🔥

[minyooon3012]

I absolutely love rpwp. I love that he isn’t afraid of putting himself out and showing his true colours, I love that he doesn’t stick to the k-pop stereotype and has his own genre, I love that his music videos are so wonderfully weird and I love that he has his own identity, which he shows us through music.

[hoseoks-reader]

THE PERSON THEY LIKE COMES OUT TO THEM

Don’t copy or repost on other accounts. Y/N - your name

Warnings coming out as queer.

The person they like texts them to come out. Here's each member's reaction. 🤗

NAMJOON

SEOKJIN

YOONGI

HOSEOK

JIMIN

TAEHYUNG

JUNGKOOK

To all my queer folks, I love you. I'm proud, you're valid and you matter. 𖹭

[kittykatyoongi]

a compilation of my favorite gay bangtan memes

[archlovesvmin]

Wlw couple spotted! Lets go lgbtq+ community !!

[sookja]

blue mv (2023) by taehyung dir. shin dongle x เท่าไหร่ก็ไม่พอ mv (2022) by bell supol dir. naruebet kuno

[peppertaemint]

Dear Peppertaemint,

I sort of think of you as an expert when it comes to K-Pop, media literacy and topics that deal with queer themes, given your writings on Taemin's work for example. I hope my inquiry won't be considered a waste of time because I know you don't deal with silliness in your inbox, but I will try my luck.

I will admit that I keep up a bit with the BTS members, albeit scarcely. I happened to read on twitter (known as X now) that through his artistic expression, Taehyung is either indicating he is queer or perhaps a suporter (an ally just like Valentina) of the community. All that is supposedly apparent in his first solo music video, with references to queer cinema or the clothes he's wearing for a photoshoot. Of course, this is not the first time this has been speculated in online circles. I'll post a link at the end of this message so you could get an idea of what I'm trying to explain.

What I would wish for is a more unbiased opinion from someone with vast knowledge and a cultural background and who doesn't feel the need to prove anything about their bias. At least I think he's not your bias. Please correct me if I'm wrong.

I'm looking forward to your response. As always 🩷

Sincerely

Lady A. Assante

https://twitter.com/polyatannies/status/1689591513032900608?t=Kp20X2STVljKh0RDs7MNVg&s=19

Hello Lady A. Assante,

Despite there being a high probability that this ask is a put-on, I’m going to take it at face value and reply in earnest.

I looked at the link you sent, which was a tweet of a Russian video purporting to tie the films Velvet Goldmine (1998) and Jubilee (1978) to Taehyung’s recent MV and, seemingly, his identity. I can’t read the Russian blocks of text in the video, but I can see the split-screen shots comparing Tae to characters in Velvet Goldmine. I can also see that Taehyung appears to wear a shirt of the film Jubilee in a promotional photo.

Now, I’m old enough to have been around when Velvet Goldmine came out; it’s a film about sexuality and aesthetics in the glam rock era, and it not-so-subtlety tells, at least in part, a take on the long time rumour of David Bowie and Mick Jagger’s liaison as lovers during glam rock days. In all honesty, I cannot see how this film in any way, shape, or form, has any relation to Taehyung’s “Love Me Again” MV beyond perhaps they both involve sequinned outfits.

“Love Me Again” is a slightly moody, barebones MV of Taehyung singing in a Spanish cave surrounded by retro items. His hair is a golden mess, while his clothes are cheap sequin getups with golden chains around his neck. Tae is moody in his MV, but he’s no glam rocker. He’s a crooner lost in time and confused. He ends the MV practically disgruntled. For me, the through line of the exotic setting, the props and the styling doesn’t quite come through. So, there wasn’t a lot for me to take away from Taehyung’s MV, but when all his MVs are released, I will watch them in order and share my thoughts. Again, I don’t see any meaningful relation between these two works. And certainly I don’t see anything overtly queer about Taehyung’s MV. If someone wants to come with concrete examples of “he said X” or “he did X” or “he wore X,” then I can consider such things.

And about his clothes: Derek Jarman was an important gay rights activist in the UK. But his activism was, more generally, in the 1980s onward, and focused on certain laws that effected education in the UK as well as raising awareness of the AIDS epidemic. These are very important works, especially to me living in Britain as a queer person. However, the film Jubilee is not about that work. It’s a punk film in response to the Queen’s Jubilee in 1977, and it presents a dystopian future of monarchical Britain and features some of the best punk bands of the time, including The Slits and Adam and the Ants. That shirt is about the punk movement - an important movement in Britain to be sure, but it isn’t centred on queerness.

My advice to Kpop fans looking for queerness in Kpop is to start with those who are doing concrete things in the genre: Holland and OnlyOneOf are a great place to start. Then you can look at Taemin, Key and SHINee as a whole, and reach out from there. SHINee’s “My Identity” from the album Hard (2023) was played at Seoul pride this year. I’d really recommend having a listen. And before a critical interloper writes in to say that everything queer must be cryptically coded because SK isn’t safe for LGBT+; I’m very aware of the rights people are lacking in SK. However, there are levels to meanings in art, and every artist has their own comfort zone when it comes to what they wish to share, and what they wish to be “unlock-able,” and what they wish to keep firmly for themselves. What I don’t think is helpful is conspiracy-level theories about art being queer-coded. That’s because art is already meant to interact with its audience; what a piece of art means to you is what is the most important. If you find something that speaks to your queer side in Taehyung’s work, than for you, that’s what his work is. That doesn’t mean his identity matches yours. There’s no need for that. That’s the beauty of art.

As a postscript, this shot here is exactly what reminds me of Key’s solo work: spooky retro style. That’s Key’s signature, which has been a personal extension of certain works in SHINee’s oeuvre (like “Married to the Music”). What remains unclear for me is what this union of elements signifies for Taehyung.

[hopegirrl]

[peachjagiya]

Hey, hi, hey there.

I hate to labour the point but I made this film my entire personality for two years too...

Polo shirt on Tae, shorts and white sneakers with socks on guy in background.

Alexa, play Love My Way.

[taehyungfirst]

Antis calling Taehyung homophobic will always be crazy to me. He’s been appreciating and sharing queer artists for years. And I say this as a queer person myself, you sound ridiculous 😭

[usmiletk]

KIM TAEHYUNG / BTS V’ S LETTER FOR HIS UPCOMING ALBUM ‘LAYOVER‘ on Friday, September 8th.

[TRANS] One of Taehyung’s 1 hand written letters

“For taking care of me for 10 years

“For wrapping me in a hug for 10 years”

“For being courageous and cheering me on”

“Thank you for making me happy and crying with me”

[..] I love you so much and I purple you a lot”

[TRANS] One of Taehyung’s 2 hand written letters

Army, are you doing well?

It's been so long since I've written a letter, so it feels quite awkward,

But I wanted to express my emotions even if it's through a letter. I'll write a few words

First of all, my first album has been released

I think the Armys reading this letter will share the same thoughts as me, you will think, "how did you grow up so much?"

It feels like just the other day when I wore really bold eyeliner and did a showcase 10 years ago, can you believe that smiling troublemaker kid has released a solo album?

Truthfully, I've been preparing this for a very long time, but my song writing pace was slow, and it was delayed because my actions were slow in every way.

Regardless, I thought about it a lot since it was late, and I was able to prepare for it much harder.

And even though the album is released, I think what's more important to me is that 10 years have passed with Army and Bangtan.

During that time, I made many memories, I've grown a lot, and I grew taller from the love I received.

I'm the same, but the way I think has changed.

I must have become an adult

I think I've become that much stronger