1. Arin (Oh My Girl)
Despite having debuted in an act produced by a small agency, WM Entertainment,
Arin still managed to get a decent amount of love and attention thanks to the peachy,
bubbly visual and the personality as bright as sunshine. Many also praised
Arin for having a fit figure perfectly suiting with the lively image and how she
was one of the rarest idols to not promote the bony skinny body trend which proved to
be nothing but a long-term detrimental hit to both one’s mental and physical wellness.
During that time, her face was already extremely small yet thanks to the adorable baby fat, she was
referred to as the symbol of the cutest chubby cheeks. Her arms and waist were both petite and
lean and thanks to having a pear-shaped physique, Arin still had hips and looked healthily slender.
One year ago when her weight started to garner lots of attention because some
said she looked so different from her debut days, one Youtube channel decided to make a video about
her weight loss and while she only had about 78k subscribers, this video amounted to 233k
views. In the comment section, many netizens expressed their regret and frustration as to
Arin’s drastic weight loss since back in the day, she looked absolutely lively and fit.
One remark with up to around a hundred likes said she had never found Arin fat
in her old figure and in fact, that’s what made Arin stand out most compared to other
members. Similar to how Joy from Red Velvet has always stood out for her Coke-bottle-shaped and
skinny thick type of body that not many idols have, and dare to have,
Arin used to be extremely well-known for having a slender upper figure with noticeable collarbones
yet her overall body is still fit and healthy. Another said Arin was also the very first and
only idol that she didn’t want to see shred any pounds even from her newly-debuted era and since
her face had already been extremely small in the first place, regardless of how one would
often look 15kg fatter on camera, many believed she was most probably underweight that time.
However, similar to how Jung Chaeyeon was bashed for her rather thick legs
although she was super-duper slender with shoulders fitting perfectly into the sharp
angular shoulders trend of Kpop, extremely tiny arms and a waist as slim as an ant’s,
Arin was also bashed for the alleged disproportionate physique.
That’s why eventually, Arin decided to shred tons of weight and back at the end of 2022,
she even made headlines for suddenly looking so bony just within a short period. On Koreaboo,
she was said to look “nearly unrecognizable” and in two snippets cut out from OH MY GIRL MIRACLE
EXPEDITION, Arin’s chest bones were sticking out like a sore thumb. Netizens said while there were
many female idols whose bodies were extremely slender, cases where one’s rib bulged out
like Arin’s was rare. Looking at her, some even found it hard to breathe because the chest bones
reminded them of severely malnourished people who could barely function and were always bedridden.
When Oh My Girl performed "Dun Dun Dance" at the Juan Media and Culture Festival in September 2022,
Arin went viral yet also for the same reason as before: a bony figure that ticked people
off just by looking. Looking from the side, netizens were all shook to see her body was
literally paper thin and while she wasn't even holding in the stomach, her waistline could still
fit in one hand. Since Arin shredded a dramatic amount of weight in such a short span of time,
many expressed their concerns, hoping that she hadn’t opted for the harmful yo-yo diet and also
expressing how sad it was for Arin to look as slim as Wonyoung though Wonyoung had always
been hated for implicit maintaining such a bony physique. When it comes to Arin’s figure now,
the majority of people feel more sorry and empathetic towards her for always having
to suffer regardless. For example, when she was a little chubby since that's the way her
body naturally built, she was objectified but when she managed to shred some weight,
she was right off the bat blamed for implicitly promoting the unhealthy skinny diet of Kpop.
2. Chaeryoung (ITZY)
Losing the debut ticket with TWICE yet later having another chance to enter the
Kpop industry as a member of ITZY, Chaereyong obviously has undergone a lot to get to where
she is today. Considering the high standards netizens often impose on idols visual-wise,
of course Chaeyreong also ensured to debut with her finest image.
However, Chaeryeong still decided to shred some more weight and looking at her current figure,
netizens felt like she must have suffered lots of pressure to meet up the high,
yet ridiculous, standard of the industry when it comes to the perfect idol image.
Back in the debut day, Chaeryeong not only made headlines for the admirable
patience to debut under JYP Entertainment but also for her youthful and trendy image,
which perfectly suited the highteen, love-myself concept of ITZY. Under one Youtube video where her
weight loss was documented, her figure was also praised for being extremely slender yet toned,
and considering how she is the main dancer of the act, her athletic figure also helped her
execute moves more sharply. Many also recognized Chaeryeong to be their bias wrecker when first
seeing her in ITZY for the first time and also since she was one of the rare female
idols that seemed to actually hit the gym and aim for a muscular figure. One comment
with up to 619 likes said that she was especially in love with how Chaeryeong
seemingly worked out more to tone up her figure in the Not Shy era and thanks to that,
she radiated a captivatingly unique look that this netizen had never seen in a Kpop idol before.
However, Knetz and the industry as a whole have never been big fans of female idols with
toned figures so eventually, Chaeryeong ended up losing weight though that also
meant she would lose muscles and her body would be more prone to health problems.
In one interview with Jungkook, people noticed that though Chaeryeong often talked about her
rigorous diet and workout routine in the past tenses, they really doubted if her current state
had improved at all because sticking to them seemingly had become her habit. Not only that,
she even admitted to refraining from cardio for the “well-developed lower body” and “wanted to
lose muscles” because they didn’t match up well with the beauty standard of South
Korea. She was also often caught picking at her food rather than finishing anything and
while idols are often bashed for doing so on camera, most only felt sorry and empathetic
for her considering the massive hate and criticism Chaeryeong has been receiving.
Eventually, with such an extreme diet, strong desire for a more girly figure,
and intense work-out routine, Chaeryeong managed to shred tons
of weight but sometimes, it also made fans question at what cost.
Her arms are now thinner than ever before, her waist is extremely small and her bucca fat is
also gone, making her V-shaped jawline more noticeable than ever before. In the industry
where both entertainment companies and the audiences are obsessed with looking paper thin,
of course the cost for Chaeryeong’s sacrifice would be their love,
their recognition and their support to help her quickly go to the peak of her reputation after the
darkest phase of an idol’s career: managing to debut just to be bashed on all fronts.
Still, according to fans, Chaeryeong trade-off
was still a big loss for her because what she’s got was still too little,
especially when taking into account the down-spiraling reputation of ITZY right now.
Needless to talk anything too further away, the recent performance of ITZY on SBS Gayo Daejun has
already proven how detrimental the process has been to Chaeryeong. On Christmas night
last year, Chaeryeong shook everyone when holding her stomach, crying nonstop while
being held by Lia backstage. Especially since the choreography of CHESHIRE is next-level hardcore,
not only fans but even netizens said they clearly felt the pain Chaeryeong
was undergoing though they only saw her through the little screen. Many believed
this was most probably the consequence of Chaeryeong skipping too many meals
3. Sakura (LE SSERAFIM)
When still active as a member of IZ*ONE, Sakura was already the most famous member thanks to not
only her visual, her kind personality but also a skinny yet fit figure. That was not to mention how
she also had an hour-glass figure, admirable proportions and especially shoulders that fit
perfectly with the sharp angular shoulders trend of Kpop. Even with just some Instagram updates,
she could still make headlines for the “alluring figure” and in photos taken from the side,
her physique even looked as surreal as the body of a main character in webtoons.
Basically, Sakura was already super-duper slender back in the day and since she
seemingly has a high metabolism considering her sustainable weight maintenance since her
first appearance on Produce 48, Sakura has never been the bad epitome of idols
implicitly promoting the detrimental beauty standard; until most recently.
As mentioned in some videos I have made before about how Sakura was rather overshadowed in LE
SSERAFIM, some believed she seemingly was trying hard to have the same reputation by shredding some
more weight in hope of having her features stand out more. Back in the middle of 2022, there was
a long thread on Allkpop forum complaining about her weight as because of the drastic weight loss,
her cheeks bones were sticking out in an extremely uncomfortable way. The OP also
said she looked way healthier back then and in the comment section, many agreed they almost failed
to recognize Sakura and now, her head always looked disproportionately big to her body.
However, fans believed netizens should have felt empathetic for Sakura rather than taking every
chance to tear her apart like that. Even sakura herself admitted since she had made the third
debut in her career, she felt really burdened and to ensure she was always at her finest,
obviously the very first thing to do was to look skinny as much as possible. Her health
was probably taking a toll on her vocal capability considering how it was always
shaky and trembling and so, fans hoped people could understand Sakura a little bit more.
So, do you know any other idols who are putting their health at
risk just for the sake of public recognition?