(Sources: left, right)
On the left, a virile healthy reminder that men are also increasingly being objectified by the Korean media these days (via Kiss My Kimchi). On the right, that SM Entertainment were also clearly on drugs when they made those teaser images for Super Junior’s latest album…
Meanwhile, a minimalist Korean Gender Reader this time, which will have to be the norm from now on (I’m very busy this summer!). But on the plus side, they’ll also be much more frequent and up-to-date:
1) South Korea becomes the first Asian country to chemically castrate sex offenders
2) More Korean women are marrying younger men
3) Can bikini-clad foreign women at Cheonggyecheon be punished? Should they?
Update: See On Becoming a Good Korean (Feminist) Wife also
4) Do Asian women with white men suck?
Christine Han discusses reactions to her earlier post (see #5 here)
5) Korean HRC issues guidelines on sports and human rights
In reaction to scandals that emerged in 2008Â regarding sexual assaults of student-athletes and professional athletes by their coaches
6) Dear K-pop: down with Playboy bunny ears! (See #1 here and #5 here also)
7) 3 Jeju teenagers arrested for prostitution
8) China’s most populous province launches a public criticism of the one-child policy
9) 2011: The Year of the Chinese Woman?
10) Piggy Dolls “piggy” no more? (See #10 here for some background)
(Source)
The Grand Narrative 
You forgot the name of the SuJu album – Ubersexual. Hah. Also, a note to them: Ridiculous fashion does not work with the least cool of boy bands. Stich with the younger Shinee and f(x) for that.
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Thanks. Actually, I never knew, and honestly don’t know much at all about Super Junior, except that every time I look for Korean ads with men doing things normally associated with women, like aegyo, head canting, and vacant smiles and so on..then they’re invariably the first guys I come across. Looks like they’re growing up a bit now though, and with a title like Ubersexual, then the photos even begin to make a little sense too (not much mind you, and I’m still not discounting the use of drugs!).
Perhaps I’ll be using Teen Top in my next Gender Advertisements lecture instead? God, they’re young…
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And the actress, Park Si-Yeon, is 32… I like that chorus, though, and I’m entertained by a cheater’s anthem only concerned with the practicalities of the affair.
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Really? I’ll actually be translating it sometime in the next 2 weeks (partially at a reader’s request, and partially just for a change), and I’m already finding their obvious youth quite jarring. So it’s already bad enough trying to suspend my disbelief at them being playas in a nightclub, but now that I also know that their supposed girlfriend is actually twice as old of some of them, then I just know I’m never going to get past their age(s).
On the plus side though, hopefully it’s going to make me a bit more objective about teenage girl-groups’ MVs…
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Pardon my reference to the teenage social sites for K-Pop, as I’m just a teenager myself, but if it’s one thing that has been intriguing and almost horrifying, it’s the amount of defensive this song receives from girls my own age. From the sites kpopsecrets.tumblr.com , two have spoken out and most are either blaming the “Noona” of the song for condoning such an act, or simply ignoring the song and accounting the boys looks instead. Considering the amount of hatred SNSD, KARA, and other female groups get for their concepts, I was disappointed this one was being praised.
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Hi James, Thank you so much for linking to my opinion post on GlobalAsianCulture.com! Plus I’ve been enjoying your tweets, look forward to more conversations.
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You’re welcome. I just wish I’d found your blog sooner!
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To clarify, the concept is ubersexual and the album is titled “Mr. Simple”… oh the horror.
I commented to ask: What’s your opinion of the weight loss of Piggydolls? They’ve been receiving both praise and criticism over this..
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I really looked into the Piggy Dolls yet sorry, but my first (very brief) impressions are here.
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