"She dances and has energy so she must not be underweight" logic has me...

  • Listen, as a girl who has been starving herself on and off from the age of like 11 let me tell you something. Just because Jang Won-young dances and is active does not mean she is healthy or not underweight. I see this logic with lots of idols who are underweight but am using Jang Won-young as a recent example.


    Your body is capable of a lot more than you think. Personally, I have had days where I did manual labor for 13h with little to no food (a cookie or two max), and was fine. Days when I looked myself in the mirror and was like "how the hell did I not faint?"


    I am 24 and my body is starting to feel the effects of malnourishment but for the most part, I am fine. Jang Won-young is like 18, her body is at its peak (I mean in terms of vitality not physically) so she will be able to do intense schedules.


    It does not mean she is healthy nor that she is not underweight. Jang Won-young is underweight, that's just a fact. Now, this is not a discussion on whether we should tell Jang Won-young to eat more or whatever. There is no solution to this. We can send her support, and fight all the people saying they're "concerned" but in reality, are body shaming her but we can't make her eat. Pointing out that she is underweight won't help her either, especially if it comes from a critical perspective.


    My mom would do that all the time, pointing out how I had no boobs and no ass, it didn't make me eat it just made me ashamed. Truth is Jang Won-young is part of a society that places extreme value on looks and skinniness. We can't change that, as international kpop fans, our influence on kpop and Korean culture is slim to none.


    Ideally, I would ask that we just don't comment on idols' bodies and instead focus on skills and personality but that is not a realistic wish. We can't help Jang Won-young nor can we help all the other idols. However, there is something to be said about not normalizing crazy diets and being underweight. Kpops fanbase is mostly young kids, and they shouldn't think that being unnderweght is healthy or that crazy diets will make them prettier or that they need to have a 10-inch waist.


    I don't know what the answer to this is, I don't think there is one. What do you think?

  • As far as I know, there's 1 overweight idol and hundreds of underweight idols, yet most of the negative comments are aimed at people who gain 1kg or something like that, and not at those who are stick thin. The industry has a real problem with fatphobia and bodyshaming, and a horrible problem with eating disorders and their normalization.

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  • A lot of what they consider "overweight" we consider within the normal weight range. IVEs Liz is "fat" not cuz she has just puffy cheeks a little.

    여기가 극락


    If Liz is fat, I'm an elephant

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  • I was severely underweight between age 20-22 (been healthy for close to two years now). Barely ate. Had zero energy and constantly felt faint and weak. But if I needed to do something I could always manage. There’s always extra energy somewhere. I could be out a day hiking even when I was at my worst.


    The only time I actually fainted was once when I hadn’t eaten anything at all (drank water but consumed nothing else) in three days time. Then I fainted. That was my limit.


    But yes, dancing for a few minutes is far from impossible even when undernourished.

  • Reminding her that’s she’s underweight not gonna help her.

    I already said that in my post. There is nothing we can really do but send her support and defend her when we can. My post was about kpop in general, I just used her as an example cuz that's the current conversation. I said this in my post as well.

  • the one problem which kpop fans don't understand is that sometimes group just does 1 check-up on stage with camera crew, and then when they do recording they do choreo just 2-3 times and PD is happy

    we've already talked about it in different threads earlier on that having 10 minutes of excercises during doesn't even burn much calories :)

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  • The human body can actually survive for multiple weeks with no calories at all. It will however start to break apart where you have existing fat and muscle and if that isnt anywhere on your body, its whats keeping your organs, like heart, skin, brain, kidneys, uterus etc going and healthy.



    If your BMI is below a certain point it is just scientific fact that you are committing detrimental harm to your body and it WILL NEVER fully reverse.


    Similar to you, ive struggled with anorexia for 10 years now and honestly at this point in my life because of it i STILL have to work out a certain amount to keep my metabolism metabolising. I started to have bald patches. My head CONSTANTLY hurt from malnutrition, my body ached so badly, my sex life was completely changed, it was a lot. Im not blaming anybody for their circumstances nor for controlling their calories because its what they can control in their life, but i do think people should know the repercussions of doing it. Lastly my anorexia ONE MILLION percent was constantly spurred by Kpop.


    The IU Diet? Tried it. She can dance!

    Wendy’s? Tried it. She can dance!


    All of these idols can dance ON SCREEN we see them for 7 minutes a day, but that shows nothing in their real life.

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    all this time. . . .。・:*˚:✧。

  • my theory is wonyoung

    Wonyoung have fast metabolism and naturally slim person ,she has admit being big eater in izone even izone members said that. SHE LOVE EAT


    She is energy cause she is motived person and trying her best.


    Wonyoung had lost loss weight in ive cause she is overworked by starship .She revelead than sometime she forget eat cause busy schedules.


    The People should know wonyoung eat bit for digestion...there re People love slow eat and didn't gained weight.

  • It is not at all disputable that idols lead an unhealthy life, when it comes to diet.


    The problem is that vitality of youth hides many of the impacts, which reveals only in later years.


    Whether that's a price worth paying, how far and how much, we can only hope the idols, the parents, the agencies understand.


    Besides it is not just K-pop idols, read the stories behind the scenes by retired models about what all they endure to achieve success in the major fashion shows.

    Abuse is not just sexual abuse, diet, sleep deprivation, stress, constant scrutiny.. The job sounds like some kind of torture practised in Guantanamo Bay etc.


    The price for wealth is fame, of fame is beauty, of beauty is such pain.


    It is the case with life itself, just that jobs with extreme levels of fame, will require extreme price to be paid

  • How can Wonyoung do all the activities required of her if she truly does have an ED?

    Oh boy. You would be surprised at what stuff I would do with no food. I was a dishwasher on 13h shifts sometimes doing the work of 2 people with little to no food. Idk how but my body managed to pull through. When you're young your vitality will make up for it.


    I've got to say though, starving myself for most of my life is starting to show issues. My body is used to starvation so eating is becoming harder and harder. These kinds if things will destroy your body. You'll just feel the effects later. I hope this gave you some insight

  • none there's realistically nothing that can be done about it since pretty privilege and being skinny is the current beauty standard in most parts of the world and especially Asia...

  • First off, thanks for sharing your story and I hope you're continuing to get better.


    Part of the answer has been talked about in different stories of idols having to get an IV on set. That can include nutrients and liquids without a massive caloric load. Remember when Somi had to take that IV on a set or an interview or something? I also think we have to look at what she's actually doing. Ive's choreography is not as strenuous as groups like Itzy or NMIXX or another group with really intense cardio, where I think it would be much harder to do without fuel. It's not impossible but certainly scary.


    This is tough because I think no one wants to make her feel bad and send the spiral further, but at the same time, I think it's important to talk about for the impressionable teens who see that as an achievable goal with normal meals. Whether or not she is healthy or unhealthy, maybe it will spark a conversation to get someone else the help they need: EDs are so normalized amongst teenager (esp girls) that you can't even have a convo without everyone in the room having a story of their own or someone they know, so something that can help the convo?

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