RE: "Why does blackpink feel like they’re much more accepted in the US than BTS?"

That's actually a really good question, tbh I've never thought about it but it's true

Maybe just comes down to BP being a gg and BTS being bg, and BP being culturally diverse while BTS all being korean and Namjoon being the only english speaking one

For me at least BP are more targeted to the west since their debut so their relevance in the U.S. seems innate

BTS had to kinda climb up their way there

I'll pass the mic to the US residents

Quote from bo-thebear

That's actually a really good question, tbh I've never thought about it but it's true

Maybe just comes down to BP being a gg and BTS being bg, and BP being culturally diverse while BTS all being korean and Namjoon being the only english speaking one

For me at least BP are more targeted to the west since their debut so they're relevance there seems innate

BTS had to kinda climb up there way there

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Lol surprised BTS even touched America given how homophobic the country is. I’m mean it’s America, yuck…….Yeah Asian chicks are hotter so BP will do fine over there lol. Best of luck to them, I’m mean at least their stylist got it right at the VMA, minimum clothing, maximum erection 😏

Not sure about the USA but here in my country Malaysia, BP is more easily accepted then BTS. The biggest reason of hate that BTS got is the looking like a girl and wear make ups. Seriously. Some young ARMYs even got jumped on for wearing BTS merchs. I don’t know why people can hate based on that reason.

Musically, and in terms of fashion, Blackpink's team is more proficient in synthesizing elements to a d0pe degree.

bg aren't taken very seriously, there's the stereotype of a teenage girl fandom, and Asian artists are under represented. Combine the three things and it's an uphill battle. I've unfortunately worked with adults who only liked BP because they're pretty (and one of them was another Asian woman who said this). So some of what appears to be acceptance is probably them being fetishized/objectified.

BP is a GG where individualism advocates. And in the west, people are more into soloists than groups. So Blackpink is more like promoted like 4 superstars than a group.

BTS strength is their fandom power, it took them more time to hit big with the GP compared to BP.

It's simple because their fans is not army

As AyanEva said.. BTS also had and has to push through the stereotypes and criticisms they get for being a bg and having a predominantly female fanbase (which is actually a whole other discussion that i think should be talked about). This is obviously on top of the fact that their music is predominantly non-English and the boys themselves had to teach themselves English (except RM who taught himself before) as they were exposed to the industry.

that's what i have to say about BTS and the western music industry.

The tide is turning slowly, but Asian men still arent as desirable as Asian women here.

Also, the way Kpop favors flower boys does male Kpop idols no favors when they come to the US. It does regular Asian and Asian American dudes no favors either.

I'm too old for this stuff anyways lol, women my age care a lot more about intangibles than about pure looks so these things dont impact me as much, but if i were a teen/young adult, i would rather have popular Asian and Asian American male celebrities be more stereotypically masculine in appearance. Plenty of taller, built Asian dudes running around in my hometown that could be featured in commercials, TV shows, movies, music, etc. Hyperfixating on flower boy male aesthetics for Asian dudes could be a disservice and further stereotype us as effeminate, weak, etc.

That's my two cents anyway on this topic as an old dude living in two worlds, Korean and Korean American.

Quote from nevermindmejin

Not sure about the USA but here in my country Malaysia, BP is more easily accepted then BTS. The biggest reason of hate that BTS got is the looking like a girl and wear make ups. Seriously. Some young ARMYs even got jumped on for wearing BTS merchs. I don’t know why people can hate based on that reason.

This, I agree. BP is more accepted since they are girls from abroad, pretty normal reaction I would say. But for BTS, they are being notorious for no reason. The slander in the recent TC Chandler RM wins is unacceptable and disgusting, and it's not even an official one I think.

simple one is gg, one is bg, west see kpop boys gay or feminine so they hate

Quote from nevermindmejin

Not sure about the USA but here in my country Malaysia, BP is more easily accepted then BTS. The biggest reason of hate that BTS got is the looking like a girl and wear make ups. Seriously. Some young ARMYs even got jumped on for wearing BTS merchs. I don’t know why people can hate based on that reason.

Same situation here in my country.

Quote from nugubaldies

This, I agree. BP is more accepted since they are girls from abroad, pretty normal reaction I would say. But for BTS, they are being notorious for no reason. The slander in the recent TC Chandler RM wins is unacceptable and disgusting, and it's not even an official one I think.

The post about RM got 250k+ reaction and 58k+ comment on facebook. Its equivalent to being ratioed on twitter. The comments were xenophobic and calling him women as such... He didn't deserve that.

Quote from icyruios

I feel like because vibes wise BP is more similar to the Western girl groups like Little Mix/Fifth Harmony but BTS is very different from Western boy groups like One Direction/Backstreet Boys

I dont even think one direction taken much seriously despite them being english

Quote from icyruios

Or maybe not the boy band boy band, but maybe for Western countries since boy bands aren't a thing, they look towards actual bands like One Republic/Imagine Dragons sort of bands, and those are really different from BTS and KPOP boy bands in general.

Just a thought

they are more into masculine boy bands

coz BTS visuals is not what is generally considered masculine.

I honestly don't think the racial thing plays into as much as the gender does.

Girl Groups are always just more general publically accepted while boy groups are much more tilted towards very dedicated but more closed off fandoms.

I also think the very obsessive and dedicated nature of BG'S is a turn off for the GP.

Quote from icyruios

I feel like because vibes wise BP is more similar to the Western girl groups like Little Mix/Fifth Harmony but BTS is very different from Western boy groups like One Direction/Backstreet Boys

Edit: or maybe compared to male bands like One Republic/Imagine Dragons?

Are they any different to those other boy bands? How? I certainly wouldn't compare them to any (actual) band. They don't play their own instruments.

I think the sexualization/fetishization angle is being overblown. The media might be more likely to sexualize a girl group, but any boy band's fanbase does it plenty, it comes with the territory of being a boy band as it's a large part of their appeal, and both girl groups & boy bands are sexualized in Korea to begin with (do you read their raunchy social media posts for god's sake?) So Americans aren't exactly unusual in that respect.

Quote from jinaland

I dont even think one direction taken much seriously despite them being english

This. How much more a Korean Boyband with 7 members that has one English speaker only. Imagine the struggle. Honestly until now I'm still amazed how tf they got through in America. Lol

The fandom. The Curren situation of the fandom is very messy:

1. Aggressive, attacking anyone.

2. Too large

3. Achievement hunger

4. Don’t hesitate put down other acts.

If Armys can reorganise their fandom, thinks might be improve a little bit

Quote from inB4me

This. How much more a Korean Boyband with 7 members that has one English speaker only. Imagine the struggle. Honestly until now I'm still amazed how tf they got through in America. Lol

They didn't.

Contrary to what all these paid-for award show & talk show appearances may have lead people from other countries to believe, BTS are not actually mainstream in America. Not even close. And they probably never will be, as Americans (minus the target audience of teenage girls) don't take boy bands seriously regardless of their ethnicity. They're seen as an amusing curiosity from a bygone era, not as real artists. Americans are all about legitimacy, not how flashy you can make your song & dance. The chart success? That's their fans bulk buying and acting as Kpop fans do. They're being propped up by a fervent fanbase that punches above their weight, not by the general public. Your average American either hasn't heard of them or thinks of them as "that Chinese boy band the kids talk about."

Blackpink might have a better shot at mainstream success in the US, since they don't carry the baggage of being a boy band, but I doubt they truly break through either.

As a guy, I definitely put kpop boy groups in the group as western boy groups ala NSYNC, BSB, five, one direction etc and NOT with bands like Maroon 5 and Imagine Dragons.

And boy group music, western or kpop, just had never hit for me.

girlband/ girl doing pop music are usually more embraced than boyband/ boy doing pop music.

not just bts but the english speaking one like one direction, backstreetboys, nysnc, even the jonas brothers in their earlier days get a lot of pushback and hate. even justin bieber in his "idol" days get hate/trashed a lot for the same reason even though his music was good/popular.

bts just get an extra twist/ dig because asian men are often belittled/humiliated and emasculate socially everyday. asian women is in the top 2 of desirable ranking, while asian men was dead last for a long time. with the rise of kpop/asian entertainment there is some slight improvement but im not sure if that's enough to bump them off the last ranking.

having said that, not like the girls/girlband get it any easier. they have their own host of problems to deal with.

Tbh KPOP GGs aren’t really breaking any norm. They don’t challenge any existing societal standard.

BTS or other kpop BGs tbh do in fact challenge the toxic musicality that exists. They don’t fit the mould of the man’s man image that the west loves. This esp true for Asian men who have an up hill battle here because of that.

It is true that girl groups are more accessible, but creating a brand where they are recognized is a bit difficult. In Latam the BTS brand is too strong, there are series that name them in their dialogues, influencers that mention them... it is common that you can see adult men, young people and children listening to their music without prejudice. It's really hard to see girl groups mentioned.

Shut up bts are king and blackpink are queens and haters are trash

Quote from rukia24

It is true that girl groups are more accessible, but creating a brand where they are recognized is a bit difficult. In Latam the BTS brand is too strong, there are series that name them in their dialogues, influencers that mention them... it is common that you can see adult men, young people and children listening to their music without prejudice. It's really hard to see girl groups mentioned.

I think it's because BTS is the most popular group and an anomaly in Kpop overall. Even in my country, Kpop is unknown yet I still see BTS being used as a reference in TV or the media here talking about them. Even in radio, I haven't heard ANY songs from Kpop artists except BTS.

I see a lot of comments here (not you) are making it seems like BTS getting the treatment of boyband & kpop stigma makes them just a 'only for fandom' 'not for the gp' but BTS has a GLOBAL hit everywhere and is the MOST listened. Like I said, BTS is an anomaly. Also, even if they get these stigma, boybands are still a phenomenon in general. As we can see from the success of boybands compare to their GG counterparts.

BSB - Spice Girls

One Direction - Fifth Harmony/Little Mix

BTS - Blackpink/Twice

FVam64fXoAEe_Ep.jpg

Also, more hate=more success. BTS is leading the Kpop wave and is easily the most popular asian group outside the Kpop bubble, so people will always link Kpop into them stereotypes or not. And they kinda did everything in terms of global achievements, so more people will talk about them (hate or appreciation).

Quote from superyeah

Thread

Why does blackpink feel like they’re much more accepted in the US than BTS?

BTS have bigger fandom but it feels like Blackpink assimilated better. Discuss.

OP

Aug 28th 2022

OP, I think you mean "Why does it feel like Blackpink is more accepted in the U.S. than BTS?" That's probably why your repliers are confused a bit; they think you're saying Blackpink members themselves think they're more accepted in the U.S.

To answer your question, I sense this as well. Asian celebs in general have an uphill battle in regards to fitting in and being accepted, but the hill is steeper for male Asian celebs, especially those coming from a K-pop background. Male K-pop idols are ridiculed for not looking conventionally masculine enough; everything they do is scrutinized by many western men and women who aren't used to Asian men being portrayed positively.

Female K-pop idols sadly have their own battle because they're sexualized and fetishized in the West, but you might know how the West is when it comes to that. They have no problem pushing that objectification.

Statistically, Asian women are the most desired on western dating apps while it's the still opposite for Asian men despite there existing a niche for K-pop men.

In short, both struggle to assimilate, but in different ways.

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Bro you absolutely spilled here!! Love you for that.

And while I welcome discussion - unless you’re east Asian in a pre-dominantly white surrounding it will be difficult to relate..

East Asian men - kpop or not - are generally considered more feminine and less desirable. A korean male friend of mine was 25(!!!) when he got his first date (Minnesota) another Korean friend in Sweden is 30 and have never got a date cause he has directly been told girls don’t want to date none-masculine Asians

And for women - yea there definetly is an over sexualization and fetish towards Asian women (happened to me on countless occasions including sexual assault to me and the other Asian women in my village). There is plenty of scientific evidence of this notion.

And while people say it’s an over exaggeration take a look at this list of most searches on pornhub. There’s a slight patter there

But ofc there’s also the notion that gg are more easily accept since whatever if predominantly liked by girls/women are always deemed as having less values

Welcome to the lecture now divide into groups and discuss