While there used to be clear expectations of what a man and woman should look and act
in the old days, within the past several years, these boundaries and stereotypes have been
gradually broken down, especially in the world of KPOP. With the rising popularity of LGBT
community and the open mindset of people toward life, it’s no longer so strange to see a
girl group in suits dancing powerful moves or a male idol promoting and wearing the entire
line of makeup. However, since South Korea is still very much a country where gender
norms are heavily imposed, things could go this far is of nothing natural; rather, it
comes down to a large amount of efforts made by fearless pioneers that dare to express
themselves and blur the line between genders.
BIGBANG’s G-Dragon Talking about the juxtaposition trend of masculine
and femininity, there is no way the chameleon leader of Big Bang wouldn’t be mentioned
first and foremost on the list. In KPOP in particular and South Korea in general, GD
has always been famous for emitting an oddly appealing vibe that both men and women can’t
hardly resist.
When doing photoshoot, whether the concept is chic, cold, happy or punky, the combo of
edgy face, monolid eyes, and twinkle smile would help him pull off everything as having
a piece of cake. So, have you ever wondered how G-Dragon would look as a female? GD answered
this question himself in an androgynous photo shoot with Vogue where he proudly posed with
luscious locks and designer outfits.
Even when GD had to show these two contrasting sides in one day, just with a little change
in the length of the hair and the style of makeup, a female version of him quickly appeared
out of nowhere.
Besides, since his rare genderless beauty is especially favoured by the fashion world,
he has soon risen out of the music border to enter the realm.
Here, the all-rounded artist has made his mark with genderless clothing choices and
as a fashion innovator, G-Dragon has also collaborated with renowned houses such as
Chanel to further reinforce his unique, gender-fuild image.
In fact, his dareness to challenge the gender norm is not only shown through fashion but
also through the way he experimented with different hairstyles and makeup brands that
once mostly catered to women. He is also one of the first male idols that publicly took
pride in his polished nails.
SHINee’s Taemin Looking at the current cool and cold image
of SHINee’s Taemin, some can hardly imagine how he could have made thousands girls jealous
for the soft and feminie look when first debuting. While males don’t usually have long hair
since they will end up looking either untidy or eccentric, Taemin easily pulled it off
with his gender-fluid visual.
With the long, silky, brown hair in the early days, he looked soft and gentle. However,
when he cut his hair short and put on the fierce and powerful expression, he looks like
nothing but an alpha man that will sweep away anything getting in the way.
The interesting thing is that this gender-neutral vibe not only stems from only his visual but
also from the way he thinks, works and lives as well.
Despite having danced his way to fame with SHINee since the age of 14, not only until
Taemin got more solo activities did people start to see the harmonious coexistence of
sharp-and-soft appeal in his persona. By hinging on this charm, he turned his 2017 solo song
“Move,” into a huge hit that was not only ground-breaking in terms of music but also
in stage costumes and choreography. By hitting the perfect balance point of the smooth yet
raspy vocals and the striking yet subdued choreography, Taemin has changed the way people
look at performances of boy groups and set up a new genderless standard for both his
music and the industry. In an interview with Billboard, Taemin wasn’t even hesitant to
express, “My aim was to find a middle ground, mixing both masculine and feminine movements
into the choreography together.” After all, since music is the work of art and a means
of creativity expression, it should never be stringed with any prejudices about genders.
For the whole promotion of “Move,” Taemin also only wore gender-fluild clothes to further
manifest the notable combination of graceful femininity and powerful masculinity—the
thing that not many artists had ever dared to bring into the mainstream.
Surprisingly enough, Taemin didn’t look cheesy in these sheer and revealing costumes;
instead, he emitted an artistically powerful yet feminie combination of aura that not everyone
could possess.
NU’EST’s Ren Since NU’EST used to be one of the top famous
boy groups of gen2, the era where many people still hold the stiff and rigid belief about
how men and women were supposed to look and act, Ren used to shook the whole Internet
when modeling skirts and dresses for a Chinese shopping mall.
However, he didn’t seem to care much since upon his photos’ release, Ren even shared
them on Twitter with the caption, “Am I a boy or a girl? I am a man. Fashion makes
a person and its impression.” For long, he has also sported his signature long hair
and rarely cut it short since debuting.
In an interview, Ren once admitted that people often told him that he was as pretty as a
girl, and he thought such comments were fun since they could intrigue people to get to
know him more. Still, despite the feminine visual, it’s hard to deny that he literally
turned into a different person with the explosive power and energy in NU’ESTs performances.
Super Juniors’ Heechul Besides being widely known for the unparalleled
savageness, Heechul is also famous for his stunning gender-fluid visuals that can never
be screwed up regardless of hairstyles, makeup or costumes. From ponytail, braid to wavy
and bob, he pulled them off naturally with the bright complexion and gentle facial features.
His fashion sense was also admirable since Heechul can wear whatever he felt right, from
sheer to silk and lace. In one concert of SuJu, he even put on the makeup style that
was initially made for girls with the puppy-eyed eyeliner and the gradient lipstick. Interestingly
enough, nothing was overboard and his finished look was completely fine and natural. You
can still clearly see him as a man but there remained an oddly attractive aura of femininity
just by the look of his face.
Since Heechul was also well aware of his gender-fluid visual, he even put on a girl disguise to
hang out with his girlfriend.
However, it was also for this genderless gorgeous visual and the countless times Heechul put
on makeup, feminine hairstyles and costumes, that he has been nonstop questioned about
his orientation.
In one episode of Knowing Bros, Heechul revealed that around that time, he saw an online post
affirming that he was gay 100%. Though he has long been hearing on the grapevine about
such rumours, he was still shook to read all the baseless statements himself.
Still, as a wise and eloquent persona, he didn’t blatantly turned that rumour down
and said that he was straight; instead, he replied in a gentle and funny way: “Of course
I’m not gay since I’m still interested in women. However, since I know that vehemently
denying this rumor would hurt people of the LGBT community to some extent, I decided to
not give a darn about the prejudices of people toward the way I live.”
Obviously, Heechul is one of the most typical examples for why you can’t and should never
judge a book by its cover since despite his soft and feminine look, he actually has a
caring and mature personality of a man of manners.
Jo Kwon Former 2AM member Jo Kwon is among the K-Pop
idols who are not afraid to challenge gender norms. His soulful and powerful voice has
captured the public’s attention, especially when he showcases his male diva persona on
television.
Besides, Jo Kwon is also known for his skills in fiercely nailing girl group choreography
on variety shows. The idol is also recognized for his eccentric and multi-faceted style
after he took part in the Korean adaptation of the musical “Priscilla” in 2014, where
he played the dual roles of drag queens Adam and Felicia. Going beyond femine clothes made
out sheer and lace with upper body cut-outs, he went straight onto incorporating heels
and corset to his crib. Although Jo Kwon did receive some praises for the incredible performance
of Priscilla, there were also false allegations on his sexuality. Unfazed by such issues,
Jo Kwon continued to do what he did best: slaying the stage and leaving people in awe.
(f)x’s Amber While the number of men challenging gender
norms in Korea increases every year, it’s quite apparent that female artists still continue
to struggle with breaking their own barriers. The entertainment industry is still conservative
in the sense that female idols are expected to display an elegant charm, wear pretty clothes
with current make-up trends to highlight their femininity, and maintain an angelic persona.
Sadly, such expectations not only come from producers, the public, management agency but
also many fans themselves.
Still, of all the female idols courageous enough to stand up and challenge the gender
norm, no one has done it as early and freely as f(x)’s Amber. Amber has proven that even
when her fellow members had long hair, wore miniskirts and she maintained the unique androgynous
style with a short haircut with wearing baggy shorts or pants, she wasn’t any less of
a woman.
She also wasn’t afraid to slap back at haters or people who roasted her appearance and personality.
If you follow Amber on social media, you’ll know that she actually made an entire video
called “WHERE IS MY CHEST?” and responded to all sorts of malicious comments about her
role in (f)x.
Of course, she didn’t go without hate. Although people have been rude, mistaken her for a
guy, and criticized her body, she continued to reject the notion that women have to act
or look a certain way. She has always shown confidence in her individuality and has learned
to take haters’ comments lightly and has even managed to joke about it.
So, which reasons do you think could explain why there are not so many female idols standing
up and breaking gender norms? Comment down below and share your thoughts with us.