Kpop Celebrity Pressure

Okay, so this probably makes no sense to most of you, so I'll give you a brief lowdown.

In Korea, the celebrities are known as 'idols' and they pretty much dominate the entire entertainment industry. You can't be a successful idol-group without being good singers, dancers and actors. They also have to do about three billion variety shows every week.

Anyway, celebrities in the world of Kpop are not only astoundingly good looking, they are also unbelievably thin. Being Asian myself, I understand the pressure to stay thin and I also appreciate how much more pressure must be on celebrities but I just wanted to point out how I'm really enjoying seeing the sudden increase in the number of 'beastly' male idol groups that are coming out. The most famous, of course, being 2PM. And more recently BEAST where the guys are perfectly muscled.

Despite the SHINee, Super Junior, Big Bang and DBSK boys being incredibly good looking, it's kind of off-putting to girls when the guys are thinner than they are. In SHINee's latest music video Ring Ding Dong, Taemin (who is only sixteen and a few months older than I am) is so painfully thin and you have to wonder whether he's eating enough to grow. But it is these groups that have the most success... The beastly idols are famous and successful... but when I ask most of my Asian friends who they think have the better bodies, they undoubtedly say the latter.

The girls in the world of KPop are even worse. With plastic surgery being almost a necessity to get ahead and excruciating exercise timetables and highly restricted eating habits, it's little wonder girl groups such as SNSD, Brown Eyed Girls and KARA and people like Lee Hyori and Baek Ji Young are so thin it makes even me want to shove a couple of cakes down their throats.

I wonder if the overwhelming number of sticks dominating the Asian media has anything to do with the stereotype that all Asians must be thin. Because it's not true. And I really have to wonder if there'd be so much pressure on Asian girls (and guys) if these groups weren't what everybody compared them to.

I know what you're talking about. I'm not asian, but I know of those artists.

I think it does go with the territory because they want to put their best foot forward as a country. Of course there are fat/overweight/average sized asians, but if their top groups and idols had saggy bellies and jelly thighs, people would think that they were letting themselves go if that was the cream of the music crop. ((And you would you want to see BEG's hip dance with swishy bellies? ))

I have no doubt that SNSD has caused a number of eating disorders to try and gain "honey thighs" and -0 waist lines, but there are plenty of American celebrities that have the same effect. Plus, many KPop stars have confessed to diets to lose those extra pounds (Did Miryo diet before comeback?).

I also think that the stereotype comes from asian body types in general. They are thought to be smaller and more petite, man  or woman. These groups just idolize it, and even with the "beast" boys, there's muscular, but not bulky. Still quite lean.

Korea/Asia wants to look their best to the outside world, just like everyone else does. If America could take back their new fat look, I'm sure they would in a heart beat. :)

omg i totally get what you mean! i was reading this article the other day about nara from b2y having an 18 INCH WAIST?!??! i didnt even know that was possible! mind you, she is quite short but still! 18 inch!!! im glad to see that most of the comments were on how they think its too skinny but they seem to be american and im thinking that the reaction from koreans are different

and also top from big bang (<3 btw :P) didnt yg say to him 'do you really want to become famous looking like that?' so he went and lost loads of weight. ok yeah he was at an unhealthy weight and all so it was good at the end but shouldnt they be more worried about health than the appearance? unleeess i misunderstood and yg was actually worried about health instead

hmmmm

anyway i doubt he would have been accepted if he hadnt lost weight :(

but isnt there that Big Mama group? where they arent conventionally good-looking in korean standards but are reeeeally good singers? i think it was cool that they were accepted ^_^

and can i just say, woohooo!!! a fellow kpop lover! finally!! all my friends are into random indie things and no one has heard of any of the korean stuff :(

@Jaefuma: I know what you mean T_T SNSD's Tiffany has apparently got the legs everybody wants and Sica has the waist everyone wants- and I'm just like "SERIOUSLY? Tiffany's legs look like toothpicks and my three year old cousin probably has a larger waistline than Jessica..."

And about the beastly idols being lean as opposed to bulky- it's really sad T_T Like, Jaebeom and Chansung both had to lose weight before promoting 2PM's second album and I honestly didn't know WHY those two would have to :S

Everyone expects Asians to be anorexic brainboxes and I guess the anorexic brainbox celebrities (Onew was SECOND in his entire school whatwhat? :'D) have something to do with that.

le sigh.

@Attinew: OMG YES!!! I READ THAT YESTERDAY!! There was a picture and her head looked wider than her waist which is NOT NORMAL nononononono!! Have you read the one about Taegoon and his not eating or drinking anything but rice and water for two months in order to lose 20kg? :'( I just don't know HOW anyone could even do that T_T

Yeah. TOP did need to lose some weight... and I am damn glad he did ;) (guyishot) But he doesn't need to lose anymore and yet people still think he's 'a bit big'. Same with Hyoyeon from SNSD, people say she's fat and I just don't know how anyone could possibly think that.

OMO!! I must immediately go check that Big Mama group out :) Thanks for telling me about it.

WOOOOO :) I have forced my friends to get into Korean groups- they usually just watch all the music videos I have on my iPod and Blackberry :') I don't think anyone can watch DBSK's Mirotic and not have a mental spasm :L

Have you seen the one to Park Bom's solo? The first time I was like "WTF?" but then I watched it again with english subtitles and got what was going on and cried for about three hours :')

she looked freHEAKY 0.o im SOOOOOO glad im over my 'obsessed-with-being-skinny' phase because that just looks painful!

omg SERIOUSLY?!?! rice and water for TWO MONTHS?!?!? that must have been so BLAND!!! how did his brain work!?

top IS hot!!! i didnt want to say it before but im sooooooo glad he lost weight - he gives my eyes something to look forward to when i wake up :P did you see that photoshoot they did for NII! *droooool* i cant wait for his solo album to come out :D he's not big!! hes just tall!!! but lol hes sooooo cute and shy ^_^ and really stiff when he walks hes like a robot :P

did you hear part of their new hallelujah song? it sounds sooooo good!!! yey!! they are going back to their r&b roots now :D:D:D oooh i cant wait till until yb's album too!! but they are making us wait too long >:(

*sigh*big bang ^_^ they are so addicting ive suscribed to a whole bunch of subbing channels on youtube :P

and its so wierd anything teddy produces is sooo good. actually anything yg seems to be good :P and map the soul ftw!!! but i cant believe epik high arent gonna do anything for like 3 years cos tukutz is at the army :(:(:(

ooh did you see that 2pm countdown thing? i wonder what its for

SNSD?!? fat?! theres two words i thought that i would never see in a sentence!! all of them are so skinny!! i cant believe that someone would say hypyeon is fat!!! and i swear they have a really strict excercise regime, even their dances are based on them!!!

omg park bom! lol at the random e.t. scene and the tasty cakes.

omg i just watched it with subtitles and its sooooooo sad!!! and the bit at the end where hes like 'sorry for not protecting you'   :'(

Ikr? I was just sat at my computer for about half an hour going WTF IS THIS?!

Yeah! And he says he worked out for 4 hours every day as well... how he didn't die I don't really understand. Hang on, here's the article:

http://community.livejournal.com/omonatheydid nt/1905177.html

YES!!! Every magazine photoshoot they do is total drooooooools ;) Hehe, he's doing a solo album too?! I can't wait.

Lmao... TOP Robot. I'd totally buy one of those heh.

Yes! Big Bang is totally adorable. I kinda want them to do Korean music again. Is that bad? Their Japanese stuff is good- but stuff like Last Farewell and Haru Haru pwn all their other-language stuff.

Teddy is like... TI. Not everything by him is good... but anything feat. Teddy is bound to be AHMAYZIN!! Have ya heard The Leaders? ;)

I HAVE SEEN IT!! I AM HOPING SFM IT'S A COUNTDOWN TO WHEN JAY COMES BACK!!!

I know! Hyoyeon's like, the shortest out of them all and so she's slightly curvier than the others but she still looks seriously underweight... They have mental problems. -_-

Yeah... is it wrong to really want to eat that yellow one she made? :') I was really expecting him to be waiting for her in the field at the end but then it showed that and it just broke my heart. I swear, if someone were to sit down and watch the music videos to:

Haru Haru (Big Bang)

**** Kimi wo Suki ni Natte Shimattandarou (DBSK)

Because I'm A Girl (Kiss)

You and I (Park Bom)

They would kill themselves at the end. :')

YAY TO ALL OUR KPOP SPEAK AND HARDLY ANYBODY ELSE UNDERSTANDING A WORD WE'RE SAYING!! ^____^

omg how did he NOT get blown away by the wind!!! im glad that hes focused on being healthy because overly skinny is rarely a good look :P

TOPs album is bound to be so goood!! they were talking about it on yg live :D speaking of yg live - the bastards they gave us a preview of TOP TV and they CUT US OFF >:( they dangled it in front of us and took it away. whyyyyyyyyyy!!!

omg have you seen him in IRIS!!! his eyes are so INTENSE!!!

i love it when i get random dreams with TOP in cos hes always really hot in them :P

hmmm i didnt like their japanese stuff as much as their korean stuff :( im really looking forward to their new album though :D:D so glad daesung is back !!!

lol love your analogy!!! he IS like a korean TI. omo the leaders is so good but i lolled at the random fighting talk near the end :P i wanted gd to do more stuff like that on his album but his stuff is still good ^_^ did you see the butterfly mv? its soooooooo cute!!!

omg jyp is soooooo suspensy with this marketting strategies!!! some people are saying its a countdown for their new album but i hope its for when jay comes back because that would be SO COOOOL! and it would be kinda wierd if they did all this and he wasnt coming back and they were doing something this quick. i hope there isnt a new replacement leader though :S

they ALL look underweight!! they all have like tiny waists and yet are still dieting and stuff :S

omg those cakes looked soooooooo good. and when she was sprinkling stuff on the icing. it was like an m&s advert. in extra slow-motion

lol haru haru would have been sad if i didnt watch a parody of it first :P i love the parodies people make of videos they are hilarious especially when the acting is really serious

oooh BEAST! they look really good! when i saw their street attack teaser they got me really interested :D but i thought they were gonna be more beastly :P the songs on their album are good

kpop ftw!!!! lol this thread is gonna come up on the recent threads page and when people look at this they'd be like 'gdragon? dbsk? suju? what is all this secret code?!?! *nrevous breakdown*'

I reckon he had to be lying a bit. Nobody can survive on just rice... and I'm Asian so rice is like, a necessity. :')

Oh yess!!! I hate how the Korean entertainment companies DO THAT! SM Ent. posted a video on their youtube of Henry's birthday and at the end, just after Donghae smushes the cake into Henry's face, it shows Leeteuk leaning in about to LICK THE CAKE OFF HIS FACE... but then the video ENDS!!! T_T

I love the KeyxAmber video they put up where they have the lizard conversation :') In English. Key's english is amazingly good! And Jonhyun's Hello Kitty laptop made me laugh for about an hour ;L The Ring Ding Dong MV is so good I want to EAT IT.

YOU DREAM OF TOP?! I WANT TO BE YOU FOR A BIT!!

Yeah I've seen the Butterfly mv. :) It's so sweet. I love when they become 'real'. :')

If they suddenly add some new person to 2PM I'mma cut a bitch. :'L If they perform and Jaebum's suddenly back, I'll actually cry with joy. I watched them perform Instead of Saying Goodbye in the dance battle against SHINee today and it made me smile so much. And then I remembered Jay was gone and it made me sad again T_T But if he's coming back... YAYYYYY!!!

M&S... Marks and Spencers... YOU'RE BRITISH!!! HELLO MY FELLOW BRITISH PERSON!! Most people on here are American so it's nice to meet a fellow english(wo)man :) I love the cakes. I googled Magnolia to try and find some of the recipes on how to make them :')

Hah! I love GD's hair in Haru Haru. I actually full on CRINGED when he had that hideous orange MONSTROSITY for hair in the Gara Gara Go mv. I like his new blonde hair too, though it reminds me a bit of Yo Seob from BEAST. :')

Speaking of BEAST- yeah, if they want to steal the beastly idol title from 2PM they gonna have to GET THEY ACT TOGEVA!! ;L They're good and I definitely prefer them to MBLAQ, but they still need to be more... I dunno... Beastly? ;)

LMAO. Let's confuse them some more... Sungmin. Ryeowook. Eunhyuk. Leeteuk. Shindong. Yesung. Kyuhyun. Donghae. Hangeng. Heechul. Kibum. Siwon. Kangin. Henry. Zhoumi!! (screw Only13) ;)

My favourite's Hangeng. Who's yours?

hhmmm i swear sumos live on rice. i saw it on blue peter ^_^ lol! i remember when it was the only thing that was watchable on at 5 o clock and i was always so bored :P but i loved there random tasks and ever changing presenters and animals

omg none of my non-asian friends understand our need for rice :P my mum is rice's biggest fan :P we have it like every day and im still not tired of it :P and i start craving it if i dont have it for more than like 3 days :P once i went to portugal for 10 days and the ride home all i could think about was having rice for dinner :P

AAAHH!!! JUST before he was about to lick him!!! but then again its not like you couldnt find another video of suju skinship :P

lolll i just watched the key amber video and the hello kitty laptop is soooooooo cute!!!! and lol at the 'bizarre..bizzare...lizard' :P

Omg the ring ding dong mv is so different to their old stuff! But im not complaining :P i like how they make any dance move seem so easy :P

Omo the dreams were so cool. In one of them he was putting face paint on my (don’t ask me why :P) and then he slept in my bed and I wasn’t sure what to feel :P and sr was there too but he didnt understand what i was saying :P and then in another one, he was feeling upset because someone said he is too shy so he was trying to be more loud and he hugged me. :D !!!!!!!!!!!

:( im not sure if jay will come back cos i just read an article and the representative was like 'nothings changed about jay's situation' but i hope they are just creating hype and he really does return!!!

2pm are sooooooo good at dancing and jay's abs *drool* did you see that news programme in seattle that did a piece on him - talk about invading his privacy!!! they like found his house and everything 0.o

m&s bakery is the BEST and their cafe muffins mmmmmmmmmmm

GDs hair in photoshoots are good and i loved the hair in haru haru and last farewell but that wierd bush in gara garo go was ..well wierd!!! CL pulls it off better :P ew and that time he grew it really long up to his shoulders i think for the hite beer ad :P

omg yo seob is so cute though!!! i like beast way better than mblaq they are so funny :P but you have to admit that street attack teaser where they danced to r kelly and unkle was sooooo cool :P i was a bit disappointed that they are a bit preppy now :( but that random dance break in their mv was a tad beastly

henry and zhoumi ftw! EUNHYUK!!! hes HILARIOUS!!! but he looks a bit like tablo sometimes doesnt he? 0.0

lol they say super like schuper ^_^  <3

Blue Peter? :') I haven't watched that since the Konnie Huq days :')

Yeah! I have to have rice every day. I went skiing to Italy with school and even though the food there was to die for, I still was like "WHERE'S THE MOFOING RICE?!"

Lmao, Heechul seems to be into man-on-man action :')

Yes! Key is so funny. I wish I knew someone like him :') Amber seems cool too.

I'm not complaining either (despite Taemin's ridiculously skinny legs in those leather trousers). Key in particular looks fiiiiiiiiiit azzz in it.

Hehe, oh TOP- keep enjoying those dreams beebeezee ;D I lolled so much when I read the thing on Omona about how his kiss with Hyori was voted the best moment in MKMF history. I also rofled when I heard they changed MKMF to MAMA. How ridiculous is that going to sound. GD getting his award and going "Thank you for my MAMA." :')

I watched the first two episodes of Wild Bunny today. I really want him back. I dunno, because apparently JYPE is holding it's America auditions on the 7th and then 2PM are making their comeback on the 13th... so they might be bringing Jay back. But the countdown says something's happening in 25 hours... I really can't wait.

And yeah, that thing seriously freaked me out. WTF was that, stalking him to his house and his church.

Lol. Marks and Spencers clothes are ridiculous. It's all shapeless granny-style outerwear... and that's just the kids section ;)

YEAH! I loved his Haru Haru and Last Farewell hair. His hair in Lollipop was ridiculous. He looked like some sort of demented ginger lion.

I'm watching their subbed documentary as it comes out :') The BEAST boys are so funny! I really hope maknae Dong Woon gets some more screen time! I drooled over his outfit in the Bad Girl dance break. It's so cool! I love Gi Kwan! He's so cute. :) Who's your favourite?

Hennny :) Zhoumi has a really nice voice. Yumm :D Eunhyuk is funny and a really good dancer!! Lmao, I see where you're coming from :') But I kind of went off him after reading the Sukira Transcript on his ultra sexist thinking and how he's like, anti-interracial marriage. Leeteuk is really pro woman-power and thinks mixed race marriages are FTW because mixed race kids are always really good looking :') I love Leeteuk's thinking :L But yeah... favourite's still Geng ;)

LMAO!! OH MY SHOOPA GIRL NI SHI WO DE SHOOPA MAN :')

lol when our rice cooker broke a part of me died inside :( those were one of the hardest days to live :'(

omg did you see that boys generation thing that taemin was in?? 0.o

haha really? the best moment in mkmf history!?!? hmph. well it woud've been better if i was there instead. or if top just kept his lips virgin :P

:P ikr? MAMA!?! but at least they dont have to go 'thanks for the em kay em ef' and instead they just say 'thanks for the mama' ... as wierd as it sounds

!! arrrrgh jyp is being a pain in the bum why are they so vague! >:( all the did was release a teaser song and i dont even know if jays voice is there or not :(

lol wild bunny is hilarious. all their random tasks :P

yes, shapeless granny style stuff .. but with high school musical and hannah montana embroidery

lol and his hat!! and his clothes are whoooooole other story :P

saaaame! i just watched the episode where they choose beds but i still dont understand how you're supposed to play that ladder game :S ooomg did you see their dance battle episode? aaah its so hard to choose between them!!! i love how they are always smiling in their perfs ^^ they rarely show much of dong woon :( du jun and yoseob are sooooo funny!!! :P and i like junhyungs attitude :P and aj <3 and i love hyunseungs voice *sigh* beast fighting!!

scahwaaaaaaaat!!!! eunhyuks sexist!!! and anti-interracial relationships!!! nooooooo!!! well thats MY chances out the window :P lol well-observed leetuk, well-observed. they ARE usually good looking. like chanel imam

aw han geng ^^ did you see suju full house? lol they are so childish! and did you see that clip where hangeng is leaving to go to china and him and heechul are just really awkward and stalling because they dont want to part :P

well they can get away with the shoopa because of their amazing ability to make that dance move look good^^

Oh man- now I feel like I have to check out KPop!  I have done some dabbling in J-Pop but not much outside of that.

check it out!!! you know you want to 0.0

its sooo good but make sure it doesnt become too much of an obsession. last summer i had a miniphase and i couldnt focus on anything else :S but im sober now ^^

i havent really looked into jpop much, is it good?

A little late, but...that 18 inch waist was SCARY. It didn't look pretty because the rest of her body was bigger than her waist. Adding a few inches really wouldn't kill her. <.< Her view from the side...ugh, it was just werid.

I think UEE is now the lady with the thighs to have because she's the new "it girl." I don't know...curves wouldn't kill some of these stars, but only the more mature stars can have them now-a-days. :(

omg i know right? it kind of looked like she was gonna topple over from the weight of her head

i havent really seen many photos of UEE but the ones i have seen, she looks pretty healthy to me ^^ so im glad. but she kinda annoys me :P

HOW DID YOU SURVIVE WITHOUT A RICE COOKER?!?!?!?! OMG I WOULD HAVE ACTUALLY DIED!!!

Lmao no. But I shall have to check it out. Have you heard Jonghyun has swine flu? :') I know it's mean but... I rofld. :')

I love how everyone always starts crying when they win their awards. "I'd like to thank God for my MAMA *sob*" :L

Heh, the timer's been reset AGAIN!! I just want Jay back!! Have you seen the 2009 Dream Concert Fancams of their perfs? In Taec's rap in 'I Hate You', does he start with "Bring Jay back to my world..." or am I just hearing things? I know he shouts Jay's name at the end but I'm not sure if he says bring Jay back to my world at the beginning or not :')

And LMAO, I laughed so much at Junsu and Khun getting really pissed off at Jay, Taec and Chansung sneaking off to the club :') WooYoung is so funny "WooYoung-ah... WHY are you in your pajamas?!" :')

Oh good GOD do not speak to me of HSM OR Hannah Montana. EWW!!!

BEAST is B2ST!! ;) I love them too :) I think they're all really cool. Hah, it always makes me laugh how Koreans say 'hwaiting' instead of 'fighting'. :') No I've only seen episode 1 and part of 2 so I'm not at the dance battle yet. But it has shown some dancing and they're all really good! I wish they'd show more Dong Woon though!!

Yeah! I was like "Hyukjae... you just dropped 12 positions in my SuJu member ranking and Teuk just took your place." Yes I later replaced Teuk with Hangeng, soo? ;L

Awww, Hangeng and Heechul are so funny! OMG YES!! I kind of love Geng after watching it, he's so adorable when he's trying to get Erica's attention and when that fails he just goes back to Heechul :'). Have you read the story Heechul wrote where him and Geng are the main characters and they're animals? :') It's so cute. If you haven't, I'll send you the link.

Have you seen the Relay talk where Heechul talks about Hangeng, it's so funny! You can tell how close they are from watching it.

And of course... I have seen the infamous Hangeng/Heechul on stage live kiss. It freaked me out slightly but it was still really funny. :')

I would kill to be able to dance like Eunhyuk or Hangeng. Seriously. I'm about a SHINee on the dance abilities. I'm working my way up to a DBSK ;)

I wrote Erica... but I meant Eva :')

@attinew: UEE's actually pretty normal (body wise). But there are some pictures of her that have been photoshopped to hell. XD I'm tired of seeing her though. <.< But everyone needs their 15 minutes.

@grrirox: The whole Jay thing is just silly. I thought that he had cursed the country of Korea the way people were acting, and then it was the opposite as soon as he left. It's so stupid! They need to just bring him back.

BEAST is very poppy to me. XD They're cute though. I like Rain's boys better (Bi Babies~). I think they're both cool in there own way though.

I feel you! some of those girls are sooo ridiculously...small! (like ALL of snsd ugh) my solution? look at the more "realistic" figures in kpop like Hyori (great figure, not unrealistically tiny though) or the girls in 2ne1 (while they're small, they're all in great shape, and actually look like...real girls) for inspiration, but only that. after all, they're moving constantly, dancing, training, and have people watching what they eat all the time haha

Lee Hyori only looks that way because she's in her 30's and she normaled out. When she was younger, she was just as thin, if not thinner than half of these girls. And 2NE1 is pretty normal, though Minzy is pretty skinny. In After School, Behka's body is HOT. People call her fat all the time, but I think she has an awesome body for such a young girl.

HOLY MOLY SO MUCH KPOP NEWS THIS WEEK!!! t.o.p. has a dog?!! taeyang's wedding dress video <3 <3!!! creepy 2pm mv (dont even get me STARTED on their hair!!! :P)!!! subtle hints at jay's return!!! gdragons butterfly mv!! rains abs!!! dara's 40kg weight??!! 0.o

taecyon said that? i feel your pain taecyon i feel your pain!!! wooyoung ftw!!! i love the faces he makes!!! is it me or is khun reeeeeally serious sometimes? o.0

hsm gets on my nerves especially when randomers on the street start singing it >:(

yey!! dongwoon!! hes so cute!!! and he's always smiling (beautifully might i add!) in perfs!!! i think because his voice is quite low they dont give him that much to sing :( did you see that clip from inkagayo (probably spelt that wrong :P) of him and yoseob doing the rankings? it was sooooooo cute!!! i love his hair too ^^ but you gotta love junhyung too :P he does this imaginary butt slap every performance have you seen it? :P i just wanna pinch his cheeks!!

full house is hilarious!! esp when they try to speak english!!! and heechuls crazy fashion sense! and their failure at the mr wolf game!! have you seen the suju intimate note? its soooo funny!!! omg heechul made a story about themselves as animals!!! thats so cute!! do you have a link?

lol have you seen that clip from masters of ears (? not sure) with eunhyuk and a little girl and she kept on asking abou kangin? she is so funny! :P

oooh it would be so cool to be a 2pm on the acrobatic abilities!! it would get me out of any situation!! like if i didnt have enough money for my gum and the shopkeeper would be like 'oi you cant buy that' and i'll be like *series of backflips and slap in the face' and i'll make my swifty escape :D

are you watching the family this year? hehe its so funny!