K-Pop Stars

K-Pop has been on the rise for a couple of years, gaining more and more popularity across the world. When I first encountered the bright and colourful, intense and extreme world that is K-Pop, it was through the song Gangnam Style  by the artist PSY. Back then, I didn't think much of it apart from that it was a rather catchy song and a cool dance routine. The next time I came into contact with the kpop world, it was through a friend who had made me curious about the music and bands for a rather long time.

Sulli, for Ceci Magazine September 2013 (Source x)

The Korean music industry works in a very different way to the European or American one;  it is pretty much ruled by three big record companies, SM Entertainment, YG Entertainment and JYP Entertainment. The musicians are recruited at a young age, 13-18, and then trained for at least a couple of years before they debut. The training methods are often criticised for being very restricting on the trainees, giving them little free time and harsh training conditions. All K-popstars have to look a certain type, and plastic surgery is quite common for both males and females. Their diets, especially shortly before a comeback, are extremely strict, and the right body shape is very important. For example, during one talk show a member of the audience thought it was appropriate to say that the girl group f(x) still had some weight to loose in his opinion, and then told one of the girls, Sulli, that she should loose some weight around her arms (Sources: x & x).

T.O.P. (Source x)

The member T.O.P. of the boy band  BIG BANG is also known to have lost 20kg in 40 days, before his record label YG Entertainment would accept him into the training programme (Sources x, x, x).

T.O.P. - before and after his weight loss (and make-over)
the image is a screenshot of a video, which I couldn't find,
but this picture was posted on here: x

What I like about the Korean pop culture though, is that it applies these standards onto both men and women equally. Both genders have to be skinny, attractive and wear make up as well as fashionable clothing. The record companies realised the immense potential to make the fans like a certain group or more, if they are more attractive, and therefore sexualise men and women equally. This is a very different point of view to the European and American pop culture, where the sex appeal of women is a lot more important to the success of an artist than the sex appeal of a man.

After following a couple of artists for a while, I have also realised the danger that this poses to the musicians, and the fans. To the fans, these kinds of images just repeat the message that women have to be sex objects, and add the subliminal message that men have to be that as well. They also make it look normal to be extremely skinny, and try to hide when they've had plastic surgeries. To the artists, constantly having these unrealistic standards applied to themselves can lead to high insecurity about their body and image, and therefore easily slip into depression or other personality disorders, as well as eating disorders. The K-pop industry is a very stressful environment, and long exposure to it can be harmful to the musicians. The before and after picture of T.O.P. also illustrates quite well that they go through quite extreme make-overs - imagine how it must make the k-pop stars feel when their record label tells them even though they are talented they can only be successful if they change completely how they look. Shouldn't music be more about what it sounds like than what the person who makes it looks like?

Charlie Crxsh

Beyoncé, Kesha, Lily Allen - The Struggle of female Pop Stars

The trend in society currently is to teach women that in order to gain power and authority, they have to be sexually attractive. It is not enough for a woman, to simply be intelligent, or very good in their field, they also have to be attractive to a certain extent in order for this to be recognized. This is why I find it so problematic, when pop culture names Beyoncé a strong and independent woman, because I feel that it will reinforce this trend. Her fans often consider her to be so great, because she is considered good-looking and attractive. Of course it's okay for a woman to be both, authoritative/powerful and attractive. I think what I struggle with mostly is that there is such a double standard between female and male pop stars/musicians. This picture of Beyoncé and Jay Z at the Grammys 2014 illustrates this quite well:

Beyoncé and Jay Z, Grammys 2014

Both Jay Z and Beyoncé are globally famous and successful musicians, and belong to the top of their field. So why is it, that Beyoncé has to basically wear lingerie, but Jay Z wears a suit, when they are performing together? Beyoncé is a great singer, I totally agree with that, but I also feel like she is (maybe unknowingly) reinforcing the trend that for women, sexual attractiveness and intelligence or power go hand in hand (patriarchy's response to the sexual liberation of women).

Beyoncé GQ Cover shoot February 2013

In this GQ Interview, Beyoncé does address equality issues, that would be quite interesting to explore, however most of the article focuses on either her clothes, her make up or her body. Why does it have to be that way? Shouldn't an interview be more about what she said, not how she looked? It might be that Beyoncé sees herself as an emancipated woman, and wants to come across that way. But the way people react to her is to objectify and reduce her to her looks only.

Kesha, I fear, might be facing a similar issue. She, too, is a sexually liberated woman but the response of the media is to objectify her, and call her a "slut" for talking about her sex life in her songs. Kesha imitates the way men talk about women in pop music, but inverts it. For a while I struggled with seeing a way that feminism, or gender-equality, can be successfully talked about in pop music. However, I feel that Lily Allen has found a good way to do so in her video "Hard Out Here", and I hope it will start a new phase of feminism in pop culture.

Lily Allen - Hard Out Here (Official Video) from Sammy Neal - Video Editor on Vimeo.

The lyrics are sarcastic and funny, and the video makes Lily Allen's message more obvious. Her background dancers do provocative dance moves, but they are almost grotesque and not very "sexy" due to the slow motion at some parts. It also makes it seem weird that these kind of dance moves are most commonly the way that female dancers dance in pop culture.

Some other videos of Kesha and Beyoncé:

Timber - Kesha ft Pitbull, Warrior Interrogation, Die Young - Kesha, Take It Off - Kesha, Partition (Explicit) - Beyoncé Drunk in Love (Explicit) - Beyonce ft Jay Z Pepsi Beyoncé "Mirrors" - Official 2013 video

Charlie Crxsh

P.S.: Could you imagine a man dressed like (e.g.) Beyoncé in the Partition music video in this scene? He would look ridiculous, people wouldn't take him seriously - and just because it's a female body, not a male one, it makes it look desirable.... 

Sexism in India

Over Easter I've had the chance to visit the country India, and while I have enjoyed it and learned a lot about it's culture and history, I've also encountered a lot of misogyny here. Sexism is common in Europe, too, but it takes a whole new form in India. In Europe, sexism is more passive, and less violent, I feel. Being in India made me realise, why a woman would want to wear a headscarf, or a veil, simply because the way some men look at me here makes me feel more uncomfortable than I've ever felt before. I feel like if they're going to look at me anyway (because of my skin colour), I at least don't want them to actually see the shape of my body. However, I quickly realised, that this is only treating the symptom of the problem, not the cause. The cause would be to teach the men here that you shouldn't objectify and silence a woman simply because of her gender. A large part of society (the conservative part) follow to some degree the rules, that a woman, once married, has to live at her husband's family's house, be a house wife (but it's okay for them to have a job before) and sometimes even wear a full veil in front of her parents-in-law, as a sign of respect. Rules are also placed on women regarding who they can speak with and who not - for example a married woman may not be allowed to talk to her father-in-law, or her husband when in public.

I actually met a about 30 y/o Hindi man, who told me that his wife has to fully conceal her face when at home, and is not allowed to talk to his father. When we responded with confusion and surprise, he continued to tell us that this is a sign of respect that his wife is not showing her face to his parents. I really do fail to see how having a veil in front of your face 24/7 is a portrayal of respect. I can slightly understand that wearing a headscarf that covers your hair can be respectful when in a religious place, because it hides an aspect of physical appearance that we usually highly decorate (plus it also protects you from the sun), therefore making a visit to a temple or mosque more about following a religious ritual or prayer, and less about how you look. But it annoys me how men don't have to hide aspects of their physical appearance, because it assumes that women will always be more decorated than men. 

Back to full veils - I've tried wearing one once when I forgot to put sun cream on my face and I was fearing a sunburn. While I successfully avoided a sunburn, I also noticed that the scarf I'd wrapped around my nose and mouth made it difficult for me to really engage in conversation. It drowned my voice slightly, it hid my mimics, if I wanted to be a noticed part of the conversation, I had to put a lot more effort in it than usually. I didn't wear it for long, and sought the shade instead, because wearing a full veil made me feel uncomfortable. This experience made me realise that, having to wear a full veil all the time would probably make whoever wore it feel rather horrible and restricted at first, and then probably apathetic. Why bother engaging in conversation when it is such an effort, and your probably rather traditional mother-in-law probably wouldn't quite listen to you anyway? And you weren't even allowed to talk to your father-in-law? Seems like a pretty good way to make sure that those women stay put. 

Walking down the street here, as a European woman of pale skin colour, you can expect men to stare at you. Take pictures of you on their phones without asking your permission. Point at you and discuss your appearance with the other men around you. Making it obvious they "enjoy" your presence a little more than you'd want. They probably won't stop taking pictures of you even if you've told them through waving your right hand dismissively (or your left hand, which is considered an insult here). The simple act of someone taking pictures might not sound so "bad" if you've never experienced it, but imagine walking down a street and having random strange men of all ages take pictures of you, and you don't even want to imagine what they're going to use those pictures for.. Street harassment takes different forms here. 

As a European, you might not find it odd or invasive if someone brushes past you in a public place, or places your hand on your back, but in India this doesn't have the same implications as in Europe. There are rather strong rules on PDA in India, and even touching a woman in what would be considered okay and non-sexual is not permitted here. Then ask yourself why the men do it to Western women, because they know it doesn't mean anything to us, and they want to touch women, even if it's just on the shoulder or her arm. 

More on this later,

Charlie Crxsh

Exhibitions in London - part 2

Outside the Tate Britain on the way to tube, I saw this sculpture of a Ballet dancer. I love how graceful and elegant he looks, but he is still masculine. I like seeing things that combine masculinity and elegance.

(Jeté 1975 by Enzo Plazzotta, sculpture based on the dancer David Wall)

(Jeté 1975 by Enzo Plazzotta, sculpture based on the dancer David Wall)

Then I went to the Tate Modern to see the Energy and Process Display which I knew had some pieces I wanted to see.

(Cy Twombly, Untitled (Bacchus) 2006-2008, Acrylic on Canvas)

(Cy Wombly, Winter's Passage: Luxor, 1985, Bronze)

This piece was one of the ones I wanted to see. I don't usually like embroidery or fabric work, but since those crafts are traditionally considered female crafts, feminist artists do tend to use it in order to make a point.

This piece made me realise exactly how great the inequality used to be. It was only made 40 years ago, but the context of this piece has changed dramatically. The piece does a very good job at conveying how sexist society was, and that women needed to gain equal political rights. I realised that I have become very comfortable with status of women now, and forgotten how recent this development is. This made me realise the importance of the feminist cause, and that I should do a final outcome that is less explicit than I planned, but more based around gender equality.

(Margaret Harrison, Homeworkers, 1977, mixed media)

(Margaret Harrison, Detail: Homeworkers, 1977, mixed media)

(Margaret Harrison, Detail: Homeworkers, 1977, mixed media)

(Margaret Harrison, Detail: Homeworkers, 1977, mixed media)

(Margaret Harrison, Detail: Homeworkers, 1977, mixed media)

(Margaret Harrison, Detail: Homeworkers, 1977, mixed media)

(Annette Messager, The Pikes, 1992-93)

This installation made me feel quite uncomfortable, due to the combination of childlike toys and the violence suggested through the pikes.  I think the piece works really well, but I didn't realise that it was meant to comment on the hierarchies in male and female relationships, as the description says.

Description: Influenced by Surrealism and the Fluxus movement, Messager's works subvert hierarchies of power in the relationships between male and female, nature and culture, vulnerability and aggression. In this work she draws parallels between the potential cruelty of children's play and that of modern social and political structures. The pikes echo those used to display guillotined heads during the French Revolution; women were not allowed to carry these macabre trophies. 

(Annette Messager, The Pikes, 1992-93)

(Annette Messager, The Pikes, 1992-93)

I found Tracey Emin's piece quite interesting to look at. So far I have not encountered a lot of her work, so it was interesting to actually see one of her pieces after hearing so much about her. I quite like the colour scheme, even though the colours clash, it still works very well. I also like the phrase "The worse I could do is betraye", because for me it linked back to the idea that women only possess power and importance when in a relationship to a man. I also tried to find the handwriting that the description mentioned, but I couldn't see it anywhere. The description reads: "The quilt includes two patches inscribed in the artist's handwriting. One reads: '800 men and boys/ their bodies floating/like flotsam and/jetsam on the surf/ ice cold black/ waters, an eary [sic] grave,/ of which you invented'. The other accuses a woman of 'Crimes against Humanity': 'you, supposed mother - A mother who Reiked [sic] of Power CRAZY Hate and Fear, of all the terrible things that you did, in the name of political conquest': Its ending clearly refers to the Falklands War: 'In 1982, A year so many conscripts did not go home - Because you, you killed them all.'" Does the last text refer to Margaret Thatcher, the prime minister of the time?

(Tracey Emin, Hate and Power Can be a Terrible Thing, 2004, Textiles)

This piece was another one that I had looked up online, and found quite interesting. It is another way of art - media output - interacting with the outside world, which is what I'm trying to accomplish. Surprisingly, I had never heard of this video before, or the performance, which I found astonishing after watching the video. I thought it would have had a greater impact and echo in society, because it is a blunt criticism (when at the same time it is meant to celebrate the moon landing). The video was in a documentary-style, which I found a bit dragging at times. Layered on top of the clips are sound recordings of Neil Armstrong communicating with the base when taking his first steps on the moon.

quick blind sketch of the her final pose

In the same gallery space, I also saw this "painting"that I really liked. Watching people interact with it for a while, I observed that women were mostly using it to check on their face, while the men were looking in it differently. However people seemed to get uncomfortable when they realised that I was observing them observing themselves, as if they were doing something they shouldn't. When I looked at myself in the painting, I caught myself thinking "what if someone else in this room whom I can't see can now see me". At first I felt weird, but then I grew more comfortable with having my reflection displayed. 

I found this mug in the shop of the Tate Modern. I like the sarcasm and exaggeration that is used to make a point. The statements could be applied to a variety of careers - women just aren't taught to be ambitious in our society in the same way that men are. 

Then I visited the gallery@OXO, which had an exhibition of the "Women's Interfaith Network". The exhibition will be on until the 6th April, and is free of admission. The gallery made a point of only displaying female artists, because they are under-represented in mainstream museums.

(Miranda Sky, No I'm Spartacus, Mixed Media)

(Belgin Bozsahin, Opening, Porcelain, Glaze,  Lustre)

This piece reminded me of this sculpture:

(Paige Bradley, Expansion, Bronze with Electricity, 2004)

I think it is meant to convey a similar message as Paige Bradley's piece of work; that we are being restricted by society and that we should try to free ourselves.

(Bethan Arundel, Act Like A Lady, Photograph)

(Bethan Arundel, Act Like A Lady, Photograph)

(Bethan Arundel, Act Like A Lady, Photograph)

What I really like about this series is that the breasts and genitals have been digitally removed from the photo, yet I still had no problem identifying these women as women. Though the women are half naked, they are not portrayed in a sexual way - which isn't a very common sight.

(Sebnem Ugural, Pinhole Self Portrait, Digital C-Type Print, drum scanned)

I found this photograph very interesting because of the gradient light and shadow. I also like how the self-portrait isn't at all about how she looks, but how she is in her environment and her own personal space. In a way that makes it more intimate than it being a close-up of her face, because someone's bedroom is a very private space.

Charlie Crxsh