Author
Han
K-pop’s Weakness in Gender Conformity used as the Music Video’s Main Focus Point of Attraction
T-ara’s music video, “Bo Peep Bo Peep” from their album Absolute First Album (2009), utilizes their visual advantages to appeal to the viewers, forces them to conform to the feminist stereotypes found in contemporary Korean society. From analyzing the costumes, choreography, lyrics, and the story-telling in the video, we can argue that T-ara’s video uses their body language, such as “aegyo”, described by the Asian studies Scholars, Aljosa Puzar and Yewon Hong (2018: 1), and other sex appeals, such as revealing clothes and dance movements, described by Asian studies scholars Stephen Epstein and James Turnbull (2014: 330), in order to attract the audience’s attention. In addition, communication scholars, Jin Dalyong and Ryoo Woongjae, believe the song’s popularity is due to the song’s simplicity, as well as the use of English-mixing (2014: 120).
The camera’s focus on the female protagonist’s body, dancing at the club in a skin-tight and revealing dress, caters perfectly to the male fantasies and encourages the male gaze (Epstein and Turnbull 2014: 330). At the first glance, one may be eluded into believing this music video promotes woman power when we see the female protagonist make all the ‘decisions’ during the characters sexual exchange. However, Epstein and Turnbull remind us that the society’s attitudes towards sexual objectification are desensitized due to the common use of sexual imagery in music videos (Ibid.) The music video ends with the female protagonist looking for a new (sex) target–further endorsing women as sexual objects, a common theme in K-pop, where little variations of gender roles are found (Ibid.) According to communication scholars, Michelle Kistler and Moon Lee, the elements described in “Bo Peep Bo Peep” make this music video the perfect example of the type of video that contributes to the negative “links between sexual media exposure and sexual attitudes, beliefs, or behaviours” (2009: 70).
The director’s backdrop choice of a simple stage turns the audience’s focus to T-ara’s visuals (Turnbull 2017: 129). T-ara’s ‘sexy-cat’ aegyo makes the (male) audience feel like T-ara is desiring for love and attention (Puzar and Hong 2018: 4). While everything else is kept simple, it is hard for the audience not to shift the focus on the overly sexualized dance movements of butt shaking and chest pumps in skin-tight clothes. Both the choreography and costume concepts use ‘cats’ to symbolically describe women as individuals who desire to be ‘followed’ and ‘chased’, all the meanwhile, the chorus will sing “follow me, follow me”.
The music video demonstrates no strong choreography or strong vocals. The simple chorus is composed of the repetition of “bo peep bo peep”, “follow me, follow me”, and only one line of Korean lyrics. This can serve two purposes: first, this will turn the audience’s attention to T-ara (as described above) and second, the simplicity of the song will make the song more memorable. The repetitive use of the song’s title in the chorus, makes it easy for listeners to remember the lyrics, and having a chorus that is entirely in English, creates the perfect hook to capture the audience’s memory (Jin and Ryoo 2014: 124). “Bo Peep Bo Peep” is both catchy and memorable due its simplicity, easy to sing along to, as listeners tend to prefer these simple tunes rather than complicated tunes (Ibid., 125).
Based on this analysis, “Bo Peep Bo Peep” reveals K-pop’s twist in the K-pop idol’s role in the entertainment industry, where singing is no longer the only focus. Although the artist's’ ability to sing remains important, K-pop producers finds other means of methods, such as sexual appeal and easy-to-follow lyrics to gather the viewer’s attention. “Bo Peep Bo Peep” demonstrates that T-ara conforms to the stereotypes in contemporary Korean society, specifically the subject matters on sexual objectification. Perhaps one could also argue the music videos success can also reinforce Epstein and Turnbull’s theory regarding the society’s de-sensitized attitudes towards women objectification (2014: 330).
The camera’s focus on the female protagonist’s body, dancing at the club in a skin-tight and revealing dress, caters perfectly to the male fantasies and encourages the male gaze (Epstein and Turnbull 2014: 330). At the first glance, one may be eluded into believing this music video promotes woman power when we see the female protagonist make all the ‘decisions’ during the characters sexual exchange. However, Epstein and Turnbull remind us that the society’s attitudes towards sexual objectification are desensitized due to the common use of sexual imagery in music videos (Ibid.) The music video ends with the female protagonist looking for a new (sex) target–further endorsing women as sexual objects, a common theme in K-pop, where little variations of gender roles are found (Ibid.) According to communication scholars, Michelle Kistler and Moon Lee, the elements described in “Bo Peep Bo Peep” make this music video the perfect example of the type of video that contributes to the negative “links between sexual media exposure and sexual attitudes, beliefs, or behaviours” (2009: 70).
The director’s backdrop choice of a simple stage turns the audience’s focus to T-ara’s visuals (Turnbull 2017: 129). T-ara’s ‘sexy-cat’ aegyo makes the (male) audience feel like T-ara is desiring for love and attention (Puzar and Hong 2018: 4). While everything else is kept simple, it is hard for the audience not to shift the focus on the overly sexualized dance movements of butt shaking and chest pumps in skin-tight clothes. Both the choreography and costume concepts use ‘cats’ to symbolically describe women as individuals who desire to be ‘followed’ and ‘chased’, all the meanwhile, the chorus will sing “follow me, follow me”.
The music video demonstrates no strong choreography or strong vocals. The simple chorus is composed of the repetition of “bo peep bo peep”, “follow me, follow me”, and only one line of Korean lyrics. This can serve two purposes: first, this will turn the audience’s attention to T-ara (as described above) and second, the simplicity of the song will make the song more memorable. The repetitive use of the song’s title in the chorus, makes it easy for listeners to remember the lyrics, and having a chorus that is entirely in English, creates the perfect hook to capture the audience’s memory (Jin and Ryoo 2014: 124). “Bo Peep Bo Peep” is both catchy and memorable due its simplicity, easy to sing along to, as listeners tend to prefer these simple tunes rather than complicated tunes (Ibid., 125).
Based on this analysis, “Bo Peep Bo Peep” reveals K-pop’s twist in the K-pop idol’s role in the entertainment industry, where singing is no longer the only focus. Although the artist's’ ability to sing remains important, K-pop producers finds other means of methods, such as sexual appeal and easy-to-follow lyrics to gather the viewer’s attention. “Bo Peep Bo Peep” demonstrates that T-ara conforms to the stereotypes in contemporary Korean society, specifically the subject matters on sexual objectification. Perhaps one could also argue the music videos success can also reinforce Epstein and Turnbull’s theory regarding the society’s de-sensitized attitudes towards women objectification (2014: 330).
Reference
Epstein, Stephen, and James Turnbull. "Girls’ Generation? Gender, (Dis)Empowerment, and K-pop." In The Korean Popular Culture
Reader, edited by Kyung Hyun Kim and Youngmin Choe. 314-336. Durham: Duke University Press, 2014.
Jin, Dalyong, and Woongjae Ryoo. "Critical Interpretation of Hybrid K-Pop: The Global-LocalParadigm of English Mixing in
Lyrics." Popular Music and Society 37, no. 2 (2014): 113-131.
Puzar, Aljosa and Yewon Hong. “Korean Cuties: Understanding Performed Winsomeness (Aegyo) in South Korea.” The Asia Pacific
Journal of Anthropology 19, no. 4 (2018): 333-349.
Turnbull, James. “Just Beautiful People Holding a Bottle: The Driving Forces behind SouthKorea’s Love of Celebrity Endorsement.”
Celebrity Studies 8, no. 1 (2017): 128–135.
Reader, edited by Kyung Hyun Kim and Youngmin Choe. 314-336. Durham: Duke University Press, 2014.
Jin, Dalyong, and Woongjae Ryoo. "Critical Interpretation of Hybrid K-Pop: The Global-LocalParadigm of English Mixing in
Lyrics." Popular Music and Society 37, no. 2 (2014): 113-131.
Puzar, Aljosa and Yewon Hong. “Korean Cuties: Understanding Performed Winsomeness (Aegyo) in South Korea.” The Asia Pacific
Journal of Anthropology 19, no. 4 (2018): 333-349.
Turnbull, James. “Just Beautiful People Holding a Bottle: The Driving Forces behind SouthKorea’s Love of Celebrity Endorsement.”
Celebrity Studies 8, no. 1 (2017): 128–135.