Legs, Legs, Legs

In an effort to intrigue you, I present part of the upcoming paper~

Although my own previous research revealed that many non-Korean K-pop fans saw the relatively unsexualized content (including choreography and lyrics) as one of the advantages of K-pop over pop music from America, the English language comments on Youtube clips of Boyfriend's January 12^th Music Core performance demonstrated the international fans' willingness to participate in objectification of the young men for performing the suggestive dance moves specific to how they were filmed.

Youtube user Lena Ali 1.18.2013

            "Cameraman keeps zooming in [sic] their crotches... not that I mind."

Youtube user Ye5y2003 1.16.2013

            "im [sic] not gonna lie I like those zoom and those moves :)"

Youtube user Nurul Afiqah 1.12.2013

            "I love the cameraman. zomming [sic] in at the right timing. mmmhmmm."

The same phenomenon [clearer if you read the paragraph before the above] can help explain the extreme objectification of the bodies of the members of Girls' Generation on the analyzed performance of "Oh!" at Madison Square Garden. Speaking on marketing of K-pop Epstein and Yoo discuss how the audience is given what they expect. In this way repeated emphasis on the legs of the Girls' Generation members is a "feedback loop," culture producers (such as SM Entertainment who created the DVD) give the audience what they expect (leg shots) in an attempt to "achieve brand differentiation," or at least to differentiate Girls' Generation from the other singing and dancing girl groups.

Running out the door, the Epstein and Yoo articles is from Japan Focus, 2012, and the title is "Multiple Exposures: Korean Bodies and Transnational Imagination"

~~End of excerpt but here are some photos to illustrate my point, all taken from the same song.

Up angles emphasize the legs

Finally why does the camera /editor choose to include the close-ups of them sticking out their tongues? Certainly I have something to analyze here!

Motivation, Research and the New Article

It's been hard to stay focused on writing this article on K-Pop and the construction of femininity. For one thing, I have to do lots of background reading which always leads to MORE background reading, which leads to MORE background reading, which leads me to throw my hands up in the air and decide to cook food instead. Or exercise. Or go take photos of mom's quilts because she's finally going to open an Etsy shop (don't worry, I'll popularize the link as soon as she has something in her store).

In order to do a good job on this article, I need to cite the research that already addresses aspects of femininity, sexual exploitation, and K-pop yet at the same time I have to avoid recreating the work other scholars have already done-- that's why I'm doing a performance analysis and looking specifically at choices that were made by the staff at Music Core, Inkigayo and the film crew for I AM SMTOWN as they presented these performances/these artists for the viewer.

Do they emphasize specific body parts through camera angles and close-ups (other than the face, of course)?
How do camera operators, editors, and the person choosing to use feed from camera A v. B v. C v. D treat suggestive clothing and choreography?
How is this different in each of the three cases I'm examining?
How does the gender of the performers impact the treatment by the camera? (Or does it?)
How do the emcees lead to emphasis on different aspects of the performers and their performance through use of descriptive phrases and adjectives as they introduce the acts or react to a performance?
How are backdrops and lighting decisions (or use of smoke machines) contributing to a gendered reading of performances? (Or are they?)

Those are some of the questions I'm seeking to address here. I want to take this paper from conference to publication as soon as possible.

I leave you with these blurry screen captures:

Music Core was not afraid of a momentary crotch shot of Boyfriend's suggestive pelvis thrust/penis stroke movement:

On the other hand Inkigayo only got this close to the same movement.

And close-ups of choreographic elements included details such as this hands to chest and then chest pop motion

Maybe next time I'll have more to say about Girls' Generation (this is a capture from I AM SMTOWN)

p.s. you're right, for the article I may abandon femininity as a focus and just look at differential treatment of the body depending on gender of the performer. But I better keep something specific to femininity in my conference paper since it's in the title... 

Femininity and K-Pop

I have followed K-pop (as an academic subject) with greater and lesser vigor over the past few years and several times I've even written academic papers on the subject and presented them at conferences. The world of K-pop is fascinating in a bizarre train wreck sort of way, and sometimes the music is good. This year I'm on the job market and I want to show my multiple spheres of teachable knowledge to the maximum extent possible, so I applied to present on K-Pop at the IASPM (International Association for the Study of Popular Music) conference in Austin, Texas. I left preparing the abstract until the last minute, and somehow was not able to prepare one that folded in my previous knowledge or research in any but the most incidental and general way. I was accepted based on my abstract for a paper titled "The Construction of the Feminine in Korean Popular Music: A Performance Analysis of "I AM: SMTown Live" and Multi-Artist Musical Variety Shows."

Whoa. Wait a second. I'm not someone who works on gender. Ever. Never have.

So, here's my first paragraph (at the moment it looks this way, anyway):

According to Philip Auslander, "the field of cultural studies generally emphasizes the reception of popular music much more than the performance behavior of musicians" (2004: 3). Auslander identifies reception of performance and performance of performers as two objects of study. I suggest that research can also focus on the presentation or framing of the performance. In this paper I will primarily consider the framing of performers of Korean popular music as presented by live music shows Music Core and Inkigayo and the performance documentary I AM SMTOWN: Live at Madison Square Garden. Consequently my attention will focus on choices made by the television stations and their emcees, stage and video production crews that produce the two music shows and by the decisions made by the director, film and editing crews who created the documentary for SM Entertainment. 

I will proceed to discuss how femininity is constructed not through talking about clothing, song choices, and dance choreography (all decided by the management company and production teams in greater or lesser consult with the artists before we ever see the performance), but through observing how the performances of the women on these shows is framed differently than performances of men are framed (fortunately for my analysis either women perform or men perform, there are almost no groups in Korea that mix men and women together). I might be onto something, I might not. I have viewed two entire episodes of Music Core and Inkigayo, and I am proceeding through the 4 DVD set of the I AM SMTOWN DVD. 

I would love to have your help. Point out something. Challenge. Share your thoughts or observations. Anything you say might help me think through these issues, please do not hesitate to comment.

Here are some clips that could help you help me:

Here is Boyfriend on Inkigayo (top), and on Music Core (below). I see a large difference in how the production companies and video crew for these two TV stations chose to shoot the performances. If you see a difference between the Inkigayo and Music Core framing of the same song by the same group on consecutive nights, please let me know what you see that's different. I don't want to tell you what I see as it may bias you. 

Here's a comparison with a female group, Girls' Generation. Again, I've put Inkigayo first and Music Core second. 

Please note that I am not claiming that either of these songs is really great. I'm just comparing the two "biggest name" performances on back to back nights but shot by two different production companies. Also because both songs are "dance" and performed by fairly large groups of artists with a more "mature" image (they aren't rookies, they aren't 15 years old), the comparison is more legitimate than if I asked you to compare singing a ballad in comparison with a large group dancing...

If you just want to comment based on the above, that's great, but I am also analyzing these performances below~~

I don't normally listen to K-pop outside the "dance" genre, but watching these shows I discovered the beautiful voice of Juniel who is also (surprise!) able to play an instrument. Inkigayo on top, Music Core below:

Men also get to do ballads. However I only have one male-sung ballad that is on both of these shows (Jan. 13th and Jan. 12th), and it's a duo. I still think you can compare with Juniel, however. 

Hello Venus is definitely not likely to get onto my frequent play list (esp. not this song), but here you go Inkigayo first:

Following cute girl group with cute boy group-- A-Prince with "Hello" 

Here's a duo that really should have gotten a better name: Ego Bomb. Really? Ego Bomb? Inkigayo first, Music Core second (just trying to be consistent here).

And the somewhat comparable Glam (except I'm sorry, I think their voices are atrocious). 

Comments? Please. Please. Please.Thank you^^

p.s. if you think these videos are pretty crappy quality (it's true, they are), then watch the entire show on Hulu (if you're in the US only, I think Hulu doesn't work outside the US).