#voidpunkf1sh

[uiruu]

Wait explain the bulbasaur propaganda racism thing? What did they do? (Good faith question, I genuinely haven't heard about this til now)

more on this post: https://gwencube.tumblr.com/post/189027226979/dream-coffins-xtra-spooky-pomoapple

[acesian]

@voidpunkf1sh yeah I agree!

I don’t think I’ve talked about this before but I’m getting really uncomfortable with both intense kpop fans and intense kpop haters.

Antiblackness, antisemitism, colorism, sexual assault, underpaid or manipulated stars, sexualization or fetishization, and yellowface are all real, harmful problems with some kpop artists or fans. People do need to be aware of these problems and condemn them. They should be taken seriously. I think this is pretty obvious to most people I interact with.

Similarly, a lot of people will rightfully criticize when certain anti-kpop people say obviously racist things like “all kpop look the same” or make fun of actual korean people using their own faces for having “kpop profile pics”.

However, I don’t really see people talking about how those views stem from the way people talk about kpop⁠—as if it were a homogeneous group rather than diverse artists making up Korean popular music. I often see an absolute lack of recognition for Korean individuality. That’s why people say “I hate kpop”, because to them it is a unified concept. Condemning kpop as a whole requires viewing kpop as a singular thing. Treating kpop stars as all the same is just an advanced version of “all Asians are the same”.

As such, people tend cite shitty individual actions as reasons to hate kpop as a whole, but that 1) puts the blame on people who didn’t take part in the problem and 2) allows the actual bad people to escape accountability and the full criticism. It’s not fair to blame all Korean pop artists because you can’t identify the ones you’re actually mad at.

With western music, people say things like “I hate Ariana Grande” or “I hate Taylor Swift fans”. Yet when it comes to kpop, people aren’t saying “I hate BTS and their fans” (racism, antisemitism) or “I hate Loona fans” (many instances of complete disrespect and lack of sensitivity to the dead). It doesn’t sit right with me that you all differentiate between western artists but not Korean ones.

In addition, many of the problems rooted within the industry are also found in western industries, but aren’t criticized the same way. The poor treatment and sexual assault of stars isn’t a kpop issue, isn’t a Korean issue, it’s an issue of greedy management, entitlement, and a gross disrespect of boundaries and bodily autonomy. When people bring up the same problems in American films or music, it doesn’t lead to people blaming the entire genre. Instead, people will focus their attention on the source because saying “I hate kpop/kpop fans” straight up does not help with the way kpop stars are treated.

People can be mistrustful or disapproving of kpop based on the very real issues but we should be more nuanced in the way we view and talk about kpop. For the most part, I don’t think it’s on purpose, since the people I’ve seen have been criticizing the overt racist sentiments mentioned earlier. 

I’m not asking people to change their feelings. Please be more considerate about how you express them.