That's just how it is for 2nd-gen groups.
Their whole career is built on "we're ugly but talented, not like others" and more than half of their fanbase is Korean men who cannot stan beautiful men. They're nugus outside korea.
Seems like you weren't around at the peak of 2nd gen. Taeyang, T.O.P., and GD were considered visuals at the time. I wasn't a fan yet, but I remember girls here in the United States swooning over them. Beauty standards obviously changed. It's obvious you're discrediting their popularity by exaggerating a portion of their fans.
I'm not sure why many international K-pop stans love to stereotype Korean men for toxic masculinity. Sure, toxic masculinity exists among some Korean men, but on the flip side, lots of Korean men wear makeup, take their skincare seriously, and are not afraid to express an alternative form of masculinity. The beauty industry in Korea markets itself towards men just as much as it does towards women, a lot different from how it is elsewhere in the world.
With that said, outside Korea, BIGBANG only appealed to a niche. Always have and always will, but that's the norm for K-pop, especially when it comes to 2nd gen.
