I don't really get why having a Thai idol debuting is so accepted, but an Indian or Jordanian idol debuting would get confused looks. They are BOTH asian, they are BOTH not native korean speakers, so why is the reaction different to both of them? Because they don't "look" like what a stereotypical asian looks like? Say that outloud and you will understand how problematic that sounds, you are literally gatekeeping people by their eye-shape and color of their skin.
Now I'm not talking about knetz reactions because we know how homegenous they are, but I'm talking about Inetz. A lot of them are insisting that kpop be for east asians only and I find that problematic as hell. They think by "limiting" as East Asian they are not being overtly racist, because it's just semantics. Hell nah, can you imagine if Victoria Secret never added asian models because "Well, Victoria Secret is for white models only. That's how it started out as so we will keep it that way. Non white models are free to make their own industry ." That's messed up.
This is how racism lives, by hiding it between semantics and wordplay, and arbritary rules and naming. You guys know what you are doing.
Anyway this is me ranting cos it's frustrating as a "non eastern asian" having so much love and respect for the kpop communnity and realising slowly that a lot of the members in that community hide inconspicous racisms towards you. I'm not saying that my opinion is absolutely correct, I could be wrong. Just wanted to get it out so this is more of a rant and not a debate and I'm not going to respond. But anyone who disagrees is free to comment why. A reminder to stan Eunchae the smiling potato. Literally sat on the hull of a car so her unnies could sit comfortably in their seats. A pure goddess she is.
LE_SSERAFIM_Fearless_Eunchae_1.jpg
P.S btw the REVERSE goes for the same. Any asian should be able to debute in bollywood or likewise, provided they know the language. Nobody should be gatekeeped based on how they look. . The reason I'm using the reverse example is because of how much more global kpop is than bollywood, I expect people to be better when something is more global and not more likely to stick to narrowminded ideals.