It is common to possess an average-looking appearance, but as a K-pop idol in general
and a female idol in particular, this will inadvertently push them into debate filled
with disparaging comments and harsh criticism.
This is because, in Korea, beauty is one of the top-tier factors in evaluating an idol.
Worthy mentioning, not all female idols when they first debut are highly appreciated by
netizens in terms of visuals and some even get hate for looking inferior to other members.
These female idols are some examples for that.
1.
Pharita Chaikong (BabyMonster)
YG Entertainment kicked off the new year with a blast by releasing the first look at the
soon-to-debut girl group BABYMONSTER.
In particular, as soon as the introduction video was released, foreign idols, especially
the 17-year-old Thailand girl, Phalarita Chaikong, aka Pear, garnered much attention but for
all the bad reason regarding her less-attractive visuals.
From this, pre-debut information and images about Pharita also started to be uncovered
by netizens.
Pharita is said to have a typical Southeast Asian visual with snuff-and-butter skin, a
bulbous nasal tip, and thick, full lips.
Despite looking super adorable, Pharita's facial features are considered not qualified
for a K-pop idol who is expected to possess perfect visuals with porcelain skin, super
small nose and heart-shaped lips.
Pharita, in fact, looks more mature than her real age.
It is undeniably that Pharita has a high-fashion vibe and chic aura due to having trained as
a model from early, her figure also really looks easy on the eyes, yet because she looks
somewhat more mature than her real age, people often say she’s too mediocre compared to
other youthful beauties of gen4 and her alleged average-looking visuals cannot leave any impression
on netizens.
Moreover, many also commented that Thai beauty, in fact, is not Koreans’ cup of tea since
their concept of beauty is different from of the world.
Therefore, it seems to be getting harder and more challenging for a 17-year-old girl like
Pharita to gain popularity in Korea.
Overtime, the negative comments about Pharita’s visual have ceased, but instead of being left
alone, she got caught up in plastic surgery accusations as Pharita’s face in the introduction
video was somewhat different from that in her predebut photos.
Netizens paid attention to parts of her nose and chin and realized that her nose is becoming
higher and slimmer.
Her face-shape also looks pointer than before with a V-line chin which is now in line with
Korean beauty standards.
However, fans said that even if Pharita having undergone plastic surgery is true, then it
would come as no surprise as plastic surgery is no longer a strange thing in Korea and
netizens should stop acting like having something done on the face is a sin, not to mention
that Pharita is an idol who has to pay attention to her appearance when appearing in front
of the crowd.
What’s more, many defend that the old pictures were of her from many years ago and maybe
at that time, she hadn't yet been in the onset of puberty.
And now, when she has finished puberty plus following a stringent diet and exercise, the
fact that she's getting more and more beautiful is nothing surprising.
2.
Hyein (NewJeans)
2022 has definitely been the year of Newjeans as they have taken the K-Pop industry by storm
and wowed fans with their outstanding visuals.
However, there is one sole member that is unpopular to netizens regarding her visual,
Hyein.
In fact, K-netizens said that her visuals are so unique and strange that it makes it
difficult for others to absorb.
In particular, Hyein has a rather long and big face which is totally different from what
it should be according to Korean beauty standards.
What’s more, her wide mouth and thick lips exude the mature and rebellious aura of Western
stars while Koreans’ tastes are gentle and elegant girls with small mouth and heart-shaped
lips.
Eventhough Hyein still has some features that match the Korean beauty standards like big
doe eyes with sharp double eyelids, many said that it looks as if she always tried to open
them as wide as possible, making them feel kinda uncanny and creating an impression that
she always frown.
Even worse, Hyein’s unsuitable makeup and cumbersome hairstyle made her fail to embellish
her beauty.
However, fans claimed that Hyein in fact doesn't fit the Korean beauty standards or the visual
type that Kpop fans like, but she really possesses all the beauty traits that every western girl
wants to have.
Moreover, Hyein is also the only one in the group who has a girl-crush vibe so sometimes
she seems not in line with other members whose visual fall to the cute end of the spectrum.
For fans, Hyein’s beauty is not universal but very unique, not overlapping with anyone
in the Korean entertainment industry.
Most recently, netizens couldn’t stop praising the female idol’s elegant and modelesque
visuals when she participated in the Diesel Pop-up event.
With a supermodel-like appearance and style, Hyein will definitely make it big in the fashion
field following the footsteps of many successful names like Jennie, Jisoo or Wonyoung.
3.
Chaeryeong (ITZY)
Right after her debut with ITZY, Chaeryeong has received countless offensive comments
on her allegedly unattractive visual.
While other members drew praise for their flawless unique visual, things were totally
different for Chaeryoung as netizens seemed to never stop using many harsh words to describe
her appearance, saying that she has no traits that could meet the beauty standard of an
idol.
Some netizens also claimed that she is the visual hole of ITZY when her beauty falls
far from behind compared to the rest and stated that it would be better if ITZY has a 4-member
lineup, and the one who should leave is Chaeryoung because her face obviously reduces the overall
beauty of the group.
Suffering from these malicious comments has created a really negative effect on her as
well as she is always stressed about her appearance.
Chaeryoung once shared on “No Prepare” that she used to be really confident with
her face back to her primary school time, but that feeling gradually disappeared when
she debuted as a Kpop idol.
Toxic comments thrown at Chaeryeong are so many that even her mother couldn’t stand
it and resorted to speaking up with words from the bottom of her heart to Kpop fans,
hoping that they would stop face-shaming her daughter because the value and beauty of a
girl is not only placed in her appearance.
Not only that, fans also stand up to protect the female idol, asking netizens to halt their
childish action since them finding her not attractive doesn't mean other people do too,
and it also doesn’t mean she’s ugly.
If her visual doesn’t suit their taste, all they need to do is to ignore her instead
of criticizing her all the time.
What’s more, fans hoped that netizens wouldn’t prioritize appearance over other things because
visual only couldn’t tell anything in a person, and being an idol is not just about
having an appealing face.
4.
Soyeon (G-IDLE)
When participating in Produce101 season 3, though having outstanding rapping skills,
Soyeon wasn’t approved to go further out of the blue because her visual was said to
be not enough to be an idol.
What’s worse, the female idol was even titled as “the ugliest candidate in Produce101
history”.
After debuting with G-IDLE, Soyeon’s visual is still a huge barrier to the female idol,
making her become the center of criticism.
Though netizens all gave Soyeon’s talent a recognition, they still pointed out all
the defects on her face and claimed that she is too ugly to be a female idol.
For example, poor Soyeon was often commented to have angular facial lines, single eyelids,
big nose as well as terrible makeup and dated hairstyle.
Some even frankly stated that it’s the fact that if Soyeon makes it to G-IDLE, then everyone
could be an idol easily.
They also believed that even if she could debut, she would soon flop due to her under-average
appearance.
However, since her debut with G-IDLE, Soyeon never stops taking care of her appearance,
and has had a dramatic change in terms of her hair, makeup and fashion style, turning
her flaws into advantages.
For example, her slightly slanted monolid eyes that were once considered a minus are
now the highlight of every G-IDLE MV because of their sharpness and charm.
What is also worth mentioning is that Soyeon also had a makeover with her aura, making
netizens couldn’t take their eyes off of her, especially her top-notch eye interaction
when performing, giving off a really sexy and swag vibe.
Needless to say, Soyeon’s current appearance is no less than that of the supposedly prettiest
members of the group, Shuhua and Miyeon.
So, do you think these female idols are really unattractive as netizens claim?
Or are some people just imposing their ridiculous beauty standards on these girls?