#androgyny idol

[gnossienne]

Suranne Jones in Orlando by Sarah Ruhl (Royal Exchange in Manchester, 2014) (x)

[kpop-bbg]

[club-cheongyang]

[denim-bias]

[itstomowo]

the detective princess🪷🥞

[cascadianights]

Something something why do you think you so readily believed the idea of "androgyny" or "nonbinary" meant a thin masculine body stripped of curves or breasts and any unseemly hair that might break the illusion of degendering and a child-like body

[mortalboy]

if you guys understood my vision of patti smith being non binary but being born in a time where that identity couldn’t be realized. you would GET IT!!!

[devilst0at]

Hm. A small comment slightly relating to a post I saw today, even though it was really well thought out and beautifully illustrated. Absolutely no shade or hate, I would just like to share my views -

While I can see how Longlegs could be perceived or interpreted with a twinge of transphobia, especially considering its similarities to Silence of the Lambs (which, by the way, I LOVE but do see how people could interpret BB as problematic portrayal of a trans woman), I genuinely as a trans person do NOT believe that Longlegs is meant to be transphobic in any way. Here is why:

Dale Kobble/Longlegs’ androgyny is not directly related to his horror. His look is inspired by glam-rock, and androgynous looks and flashy fashion was all the rage in that subculture. Look at Marc Bolan or David Bowie - it’s all about long hair, interesting makeup, androgynous fashion, flares and boots and what have you. Dale is a huge nerd about glam-rock and I believe he models his own look after his idols - he wants to be attractive and cool and youthful like them. As to why I believe they would make him this way, I feel the whole point is that he’s washed up and weird and tries way too hard at his look, it’s almost desperate, especially considering the plastic surgery. That’s what’s disturbing about it - outdated, fake, desperate, washed-up. Dale Kobble is not a trans woman! He’s a man who thinks glam-rock is cool and wants to be pretty like Marc Bolan. Men can wear pink and makeup and have long hair and still be men. The fact that Dale is so washed up and tries so hard at his looks to a point of surgically created horror is the reason he’s creepy, not because he’s androgynous in itself.

I think it’s so important as a community to talk about and consider the way media portrays transness and androgyny, but Longlegs is just… not that. It’s a movie about generational trauma and processing trauma and abusive dynamics and satanic panic and the complexities of morality to me, amongst other things.

It’s also just a fun horror movie about a weird guy who worships Satan and sings randomly.

[ckret2]

I was mentally playing devil's advocate because I have a terrible habit, thinking "While I agree, there are authors who might just add details for the sake of visualization without any intended impact to the scene and it's important to keep in mind, like with the outfit descriptions in my immortal" and immediately realizing

That is a silly comparison to begin with

The outfit descriptors in my immortal DO impact the scene and the reading, especially in terms of how you imagine the author of the story

My Immortal would not have been as impactful as it is without these details

Even if the author didn't intend it as a meaningful detail, if it can be read as having meaning, then it can have meaning

those outfit descriptors are absolutely intentional

YEAH BABY THAT'S WHAT I'M TALKING ABOUT!!!

The curtains were blue for a reason and Ebony Dark'ness Dementia Raven Way had icy blue eyes like limpid tears for a reason!!!

Was it GOOD writing? By most measures, no! But the author told us every color in Ebony's hair, every garment on her body, and every product on her face because she was deliberately trying to craft the perfect visual representation of the quintessential 2006 white goth girl.

Even the simple little fact that her fishnets are pink instead of black tells you something—the scene-tinged aesthetic movements the author was drawing from even though she only references "goth" style, the fact that Ebony as a character skews feminine in her presentation rather than the genderbendy androgyny that's also common in the goth scene—but we would have gotten a very different description if the pink fishnets had been the only color mentioned in her wardrobe.

You know and I know and everyone knows that the author gave her pink fishnets because she probably thought they looked "cool" amidst all that black—but the fact that the author prioritized a "cool" main character (rather than a dull everyman or a dislikable villain) tells us about the author's literary priorities, and what the author considers "cool" shapes the whole story.

Those over-the-top descriptors tell you exactly what kind of a character Ebony is going to be, exactly what aesthetics & tropes the story is going to explore and glorify (doom, gloom, goths, vampires!), and exactly who the author idolizes and considers admirable—from the specific (Amy Lee and Gerard Way) to the broad (nonconformist counterculture rebels who stand defiant against conformist "preps").

Was every detail in Ebony's appearance necessary? No. But did every detail matter? Oh yes. Every last bit told us a little bit more about her character, the story to come, and the author behind it all.

[waitmyturtles]

At a bar in Euljiro, one of Seoul’s up-and-coming hip neighborhoods, two voices intertwined in a duet. One was high-pitched, the other an octave lower.

But there was only one singer, a 27-year-old named jiGook. The other voice was a recording made years ago, before he began his transition and hormone therapy deepened his voice.

“I don’t want to forget about my old self,” he told the 50 or so people at the performance, a fund-raiser for a group that supports young L.G.B.T.Q. Koreans. “I love myself before I started hormone therapy, and I love myself as who I am now.”

Like many other South Korean singers, jiGook, who considers himself gender fluid, transmale and nonbinary, wants to be a K-pop star. So do Prin and SEN, his bandmates in QI.X, a fledgling group that has released two singles.

What makes them unusual is that they are proudly out — in their music, their relationship with their fans and their social activism. They call themselves one of the first openly queer, transgender K-pop acts, and their mission has as much to do with changing South Korea’s still-conservative society as with making music.

In the group’s name — pronounced by spelling out the letters — Q stands for queer, I for idol and X for limitless possibilities. Park Ji-yeon, the K-pop producer who started QI.X, says it is “tearing down the heteronormative walls of society.”

Very few K-pop artists, or South Korean entertainers in general, have ever been open about being lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender or queer. Though the country has become somewhat more accepting of sexual diversity, homophobia is still prevalent, and there are no legal protections against discrimination.

For entertainers, coming out is seen as a potential career killer, said Cha Woo-jin, a music critic in Seoul. That applies even to K-pop, despite its young, increasingly international fan base and its occasional flirtation with androgyny and same-sex attraction.

“K-pop fans seem to accept the queer community and imagery so long as their favorite stars don’t come out explicitly,” Mr. Cha said.

That’s not a compromise that QI.X is willing to make.

The bandmates’ social media accounts, which promote their causes along with their music, are up front about who they are. So are their singles, “Lights Up” (“The hidden colors in you / I see all the colors in you”) and “Walk & Shine,” which Mx. Park says “celebrates the lives and joy of minorities.”

“Someday, we want to be on everyone’s streaming playlist,” said Prin, 22.

As a producer, Mx. Park, 37, who identifies as queer and nonbinary, has worked on hits for well-known K-pop acts like GOT7 and Monsta X. But she wanted to make music that spoke directly to people like her, with “an artist who could encapsulate our lives, love, friendships and farewells.”

She met some of the QI.X members through a K-pop music class she started in 2019, designed with queer performers in mind. (In other classes, she said, “It was assumed that female participants only wanted to learn girl-group songs and male participants only boy-group songs.”)

SEN, 23, said that when Mx. Park asked her to join QI.X, “it was as if a genie in a bottle had come to me.”

SEN had been a dancer and a choreographer for several K-pop management agencies, including BTS’s agency, Big Hit Entertainment, now known as HYBE. The people she worked with knew she was queer, and they were welcoming.

But whenever she auditioned to join an idol group, she said, she “never fit the bill for what they wanted.” People would say she was too short or boyish, or comment about her cropped hair.

That’s not an issue for QI.X, which doesn’t aspire to the immaculately styled look of the typical K-pop act (and, in any case, couldn’t afford the ensemble of stylists those groups have). Individuality, they say, is part of the point.

QI.X often performs at fund-raisers, for L.G.B.T.Q. and other causes, and sees its music as inseparable from its activism. Maek, for instance, an original member who sang on both singles but is on hiatus from the group, works for the Seoul Disabled People’s Rights Film Festival and volunteers for a transgender rights organization.

With no support from a management agency, Mx. Park and the group do everything themselves. They handle their own bookings and manage their social media presence, recording videos themselves to post on TikTok and Instagram.

Many of the videos are shot at LesVos, an L.G.B.T.Q. bar in Seoul that often serves as QI.X’s studio and rehearsal hall. Myoung-woo YoonKim, 68, who has run LesVos since the late 1990s, grew up at a time when lesbians were practically invisible in South Korea. “I would often think, ‘Am I the only woman who loves women?’” they said.

The QI.X members adore Mx. YoonKim, whom they call hyung, a Korean word for older brother. During a recent video session at LesVos, after dozens of increasingly comical lip-syncing takes of “Walk & Shine,” Mx. YoonKim started to join in. Before long, everyone was bent over with laughter.

To a casual observer of K-pop, it might seem surprising that so few of its artists are out. As Mr. Cha, the music critic, notes, L.G.B.T.Q. imagery has been known to surface in K-pop videos and in ads featuring its stars.

Some critics see this phenomenon as “queerbaiting,” a cynical attempt to attract nonconformist fans — or to deploy gender-bending imagery because it’s seen as trendy — without actually identifying with them. To Mr. Cha, it suggests that K-pop has a substantial queer fan base, and that some artists might simply be expressing their identities to the extent they can.

Mr. Cha thinks the taboo against entertainers’ coming out reflects a general attitude toward pop culture in South Korea: “We pay for you, therefore don’t make us uncomfortable.” (Similar attitudes seem to prevail in Japan, where one pop idol recently made news by telling fans he was gay.)

QI.X’s fans, who call themselves QTZ (a play on “cuties”), love the group for charging over that boundary. Many are overseas and follow the group online, leaving enthusiastic messages. “I’m so happy I can finally have an artist in the K-pop industry that I can relate to on a gender level, on a queer level,” one said in a video message to the group. “I’m so excited for you!”

The band also gets hateful messages, which its members do their best to ignore. Prin, 22, is optimistic that attitudes in South Korea are changing. (Joining QI.X was Prin’s way of coming out as gender queer, but friends were much more surprised by the news that Prin was in an idol group.)

The biggest show of QI.X’s career, so far, was in July at a Pride event, the Seoul Queer Culture Festival. In recent years, it had been held at Seoul Plaza, a major public square. But this year, the city denied organizers permission to hold it there, letting a Christian group use the space for a youth concert instead.

Activists saw that as discrimination, though the city denied it. Conservative Christians are a powerful force in South Korean politics, having lobbied successfully for years to block a bill that would prevent discrimination against gay, lesbian and transgender people. Organizers held the festival in Euljiro.

For its set, QI.X had about 20 backup performers, some of whom were their friends (Mx. YoonKim was one of them). They had rehearsed only once together, on the festival stage that morning, because they hadn’t had the money to rent a big studio.

Christian protesters were picketing the festival, some with signs that read “Homosexuality not human rights but SIN.” But fans were there, too. As QI.X sang “Lights Up” and “Walk & Shine,” hundreds crowded in front of the stage, many wearing headbands that were purple, the group’s color. There were Pride flags, and signs that read “We only see you QI.X.”

Hours later, the excitement still hadn’t faded for QI.X. “I felt alive for the first time in a while,” SEN said.

Text by Jin Yu Young, photos by Chang W. Lee (if you have a NY Times subscription or a free trial, the videos and photos of this piece are wonderful!)

[kwangyanese]

actually need male idols to stand on business when it comes to androgyny or femininity... literally no point in wearing a skirt or putting hair extensions on you still look and move like a man.... if it's just gonna be a visual thing you better put some more makeup and actually play with either innocent or sensual visuals and not look like you want to die inside because you have a skirt on. it's really not that hard. also maybe if you have a wayyyy too masc build put that dress DOWN you look stupid as fuck, try something else. if it's gonna be a more movement kind of thing you better not think twice before moving your hips or your hands in a feminine way. you can be as pretty as a woman but those stiff ass movements literally kill the whole fucking vibe. like if you're gonna be humoruous or embarassed about it then at least do it in full glam and act like drag queen or something. can't stand men who put nail polish on and think they're the most fem twink out there. kill yourself!!

[kpop-bbg]

[club-cheongyang]

[denim-bias]

[qu0rky]

I have to speak my mind on the whole “*insert male kpop idol* is mother” debacle. Because it is such a non-issue, that 100% stems from misogyny, internalized or otherwise.

Let me make this very clear right from the start, if the idol has stated that he’s genuinely uncomfortable with fem terms, then you have no right to continue using them. Idols have way more freedom than y’all like to believe, and have always made their boundaries clear so…

Jeonghan and Seonghwa are okay with being called mother. They’re androgynous and they know it. They also don’t give a fuck how they’re perceived because they’re comfortable in their masculinity enough to know that being called fem terms won’t affect the way they see themselves.

And i am TIRED of you guys getting offended on their behalf because you find femininity to be an insult, it is not. Go check yourself and realize your subconscious misogyny.

There are so many real problems in the kpop community and instead you focus on gay people and women trying to find comfort and celebrate androgyny. It’s so important to have this kind of representation in kpop.

One day, i’ll also get into shipping and why that low key also isn’t a real problem. But i’ll keep a maximum of one controversial post per day. So see ya!

[anonshu]

OH TO BE YOU, ANDROGYNOUS KPOP IDOL

I had to download this off twitter but the way I'd die for this elegant, sassy androgyny