(Source)
The front and back covers of American Born Chinese (2006) by Gene Luen Yang, my first completed book of 2013!
Body Image, Health
— Korea’s Pop Music Explosion Is Fueling a Plastic Surgery Boom (Alternet; KoreAm)
— The Evolution of Asian Eyebrows: A (Dia)critical Contemplation (Pasadena Art Beat)
— Park Geun-Hye & Skirts: HATE this Double Standard (Korean Gender Cafe)
— Wait A Minute, Did North Korea Just Get Sexy? (NK News.Org)
— In Japan, Tattoos Are Not Just For Yakuza Anymore (Japan Subculture Research Center)
— Foreign Cosplayers Are Welcome In Japan (Kotaku)
— Is Natural Beauty More Oppressive Than Make-up? (XX Factor)
— Femen’s Neocolonial Feminism: When Nudity Becomes a Uniform (Alahkbar English)
Censorship, Media
— KCSC Keeps Trivial NK Speech Blocked (Infidelworld)
— Over 1,000 Films Rated in 2012 (Kobiz)
— Put simply, JYJ fans are like an organized gang on Nate (Netizen Buzz)
— Netizen Explains Roots of Korean Conservative Online Community (KoreaBANG)
— Kim Sori’s MV teaser featuring her cameltoe rated 12+ (Netizen Buzz)
Crime
— First-ever chemical castration sentence handed down (The Hankyoreh; The Marmot’s Hole)
— Sexual Assault and Harassment, Child Self-defense, Domestic Violence Shelter Volunteer (Korean Gender Cafe)
— Child molesters getting probation thanks to settlements with parents (The Marmot’s Hole)
— 가정폭력 Domestic Violence Awareness : Music & Media (Korean Gender Cafe)
— Go Young Wook again accused of sexual assault against a minor (Asian Junkie; Netizen Buzz; Omona They Didn’t 1, 2)
Dating, Relationships, Marriage
— Chinese Love Notes: Broken Dreams (Selly’s Little World)
— Forgive me a little sentimentality on a Sunday morning (I’m No Picasso)
Education, Parenting, Demographics
— 안녕히 계세요 (Shotgun Adventures)
— South Korea Prepares The Young For A Rapidly Aging Population (NPR)
— Low South Korean birth rate raises fears (The Financial Times; free registration required)
— Unwed mothers call for Park’s attention (The Korea Times)
— Surge in Twins as Older Couples Seek Fertility Treatment (The Chosun Ilbo)
— N. Korea moving into aging society (The Korea Times)
— Test Me: The Relationship Between TOEIC & Communicative Competence (Scribblings of the Metropolitician)
Economics, Politics, Workplaces, Ladygate
— One Small Step for a Woman, One Giant Leap Backward for the Nation (Asiapundits)
— Beate Gordon, Long-Unsung Heroine of Japanese Women’s Rights, Dies at 89 (The New York Times)
LGBT, Sexuality
— HIV/AIDS Awareness Campaign in Seoul (The Kimchi Queen)
— Reading List: Becoming a Female-to-Male Transgender (FTM) in South Korea (The Kimchi Queen)
— The Gay Teen-Boy Romance Comic Beloved by Women in Japan (The Atlantic)
— Gay star Hong Suk Chun’s guesting on ‘Radio Star’ receives a favorable response (Netizen Buzz)
Miscellaneous
— AIDA MAKOTO: Monument To Nothing (Art Exhibition Reviews) (Japan Subculture Research Center)
Pop Culture
— When culture meets decorum (radio-palava) (Angry K-pop Fan)
— New Year, New Look, New SNSD? (Seoulbeats)
— Girls’ Generation has a boy and some serious gender troubles (Beyond Hallyu)
— The Year in Korean Movies (Spoiler Alert: ‘Wow’) (Mark Russell’s Website)
— Block B files suit against Stardom Entertainment for lack of payment, wants contract nullified (Asian Junkie; Angry K-Pop Fan; Omona)
— Raining on Rain’s Parade: Celebrity Soldiers and Special Treatment (Seoulbeats)
— The concept of T-ara’s new Sexy Love MV is quite dehumanizing and it reeks objectification (Angry K-pop Fan)
— Has K-pop Lowered Our Music Standards? (Omona They Didn’t)
— Jung So-min: “Watching my bed scene with my parents was awkward” (Dramabeans)
— PSY: What would have happened if a foreign singer had sung anti-Korean songs? (The Marmot’s Hole)
— Congratulations Psy on your tremendous success! Time to become a vegetarian and ride a bicycle to work (Korea: Circles and Squares)
Social Problems
— Y’all are funny. Just stare back? This is Incheon. (I’m No Picasso)
— Normal Sadism, Weak Boundaries, and Social Unhappiness (Gord Sellar)
(Links are not necessarily endorsements)
The Grand Narrative 