I'm realizing now I'm probably wrong about Kpop being a representation of asians.

Honestly OP, I dont know what do you expect?

Kpop is not some ideology to save the world, They just wanna make money

They choose Japanese and Chinese trainees bc they bring in MORE MONEY

If you wanna see Vietnamese or Thai artists, then tone in to their pop scene? They have tons of great artists. Why do you only care about them if they debut in kpop? Just support them in their own native country?

Why do they have to represent Asians?

Representation is something that only minorities who live in diversified societies and countries care about and need to help preserve their identity and culture and lend it visibility and awareness. Representation is meaningless in homogenous societies.

Quote from quark12395

When people talk about seeing Asian representation in kpop... they are talking about in through the lens of their respective country, not in Korea. South Korea really doesn't seem to care about non-Korean representation in entertainment. But for people who are of Korean descent (or even Chinese/Japanese) living in other countries (like the US)... kpop getting coverage and not being treated as a joke is huge.

Yeah like do Vietnamese and Thai etc people even WANT representation in korea? And WHY WOULD THEY? why would anyone want representation in a whole different country that has nothing to do with them aside from being part of the same continent?

This is such a western concept that makes 0 sense in homogenous societies.

Well that was just never the goal of KPOP to put it simply.

Quote from Uni909

I do follow Tpop and Vpop, so that's not a issue here for me. It's just that I wished to see some other asian representation in Kpop outside the East-asian sphere. But there are thai Kpop idols at least.

But that counter productive

Koreans dont want to be Asian representations

They want to stand out

Most asians actually dont want to be lump together

They want people to recognize their difference

Quote from chounim

Yeah like do Vietnamese and Thai etc people even WANT representation in korea? And WHY WOULD THEY? why would anyone want representation in a whole different country that has nothing to do with them aside from being part of the same continent?

This is such a western concept that makes 0 sense in homogenous societies.

It’s another day of kpop forums thinking that Asia is one monolith country instead of a continent of vastly diverse countries (how many times I’ve written that sentence on this forum? I lost count now)

Why should one country represent a whole continent? Do these other countries even WANT to be represented by Korea ( I don’t think so)

For pedagogical comparison

- Thailand is about equally far from Korea, that Sweden is from Iran, do these countries have to represent each other? There is a way larger proportion of Iran immigrants in Sweden than Thai people in Korea, so maybe Sweden should be better at representing Iran?

- Or countries belonging to the same continent - Does Portugal have to represent Russia since it belong to the same continent?

Just some thoughts...

Quote from Demon_owl

It’s another day of kpop forums thinking that Asia is one monolith country instead of a continent of vastly diverse countries (how many times I’ve written that sentence on this forum? I lost count now)

Why should one country represent a whole continent? Do these other countries even WANT to be represented by Korea ( I don’t think so)

For pedagogical comparison

- Thailand is about equally far from Korea, that Sweden is from Iran, do these countries have to represent each other? There is a way larger proportion of Iran immigrants in Sweden than Thai people in Korea, so maybe Sweden should be better at representing Iran?

- Or countries belonging to the same continent - Does Portugal have to represent Russia since it belong to the same continent?

Just some thoughts...

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I think it's more of western fans looking at everything (kpop in this case) through western lenses where representation is a big part of minorities every day life. Sometimes I get the impression some people still think of "Asians" as a minority in kpop's context and that's why they even THINK about representation to begin with and then put pressure on kpop as a supposedly dominant force to achieve that representation. It's kinda hilarious when you think about it, but it's also infinitely sad.

Quote from chounim

I think it's more of western fans looking at everything (kpop in this case) through western lenses where representation is a big part of minorities every day life. Sometimes I get the impression some people still think of "Asians" as a minority in kpop's context and that's why they even THINK about representation to begin with and then put pressure on kpop as a supposedly dominant force to achieve that representation. It's kinda hilarious when you think about it, but it's also infinitely sad.

I think the way most western fans look at kpop and “Asia” is mostly shallow and even prejudice. Which becomes very contradictive when simultaneously getting upset when THEIR faves face racism, while at the same time engaging in the same behavior regarding other East Asian aspects.

It’s a mix of hillarious, mind-boggling and sad. It’s also a major reason why I’m fading out from this forum expect for some random freaky comments

interesting

Quote from chounim

Yeah like do Vietnamese and Thai etc people even WANT representation in korea? And WHY WOULD THEY? why would anyone want representation in a whole different country that has nothing to do with them aside from being part of the same continent?

This is such a western concept that makes 0 sense in homogenous societies.

I don’t see it as representation but like people want to go to successful entertainment industries and bring in more money. Like how Asian comes to America. Those Indians from India or Chinese from China aren’t looking for rep nor do the ppl from those countries but just prolly some pride of making it in a successful industry and ofc money for the artists.

However it will ofc have the consequence of being rep for the diaspora in a multi cultural country. Which isn’t really relevant for Korea.

If you want specific Asian rep there are huge ent industries in those respective countries to consume.

I have a feeling Americans or westerners see kpop as an extension of their own industries and apply those ideals. Which I suppose is the consequence of easy access to entertainment making everything feel much closer.

Not just "Koreans". But the beauty standards of korea

Quote from Demon_owl

I think the way most western fans look at kpop and “Asia” is mostly shallow and even prejudice. Which becomes very contradictive when simultaneously getting upset when THEIR faves face racism, while at the same time engaging in the same behavior regarding other East Asian aspects.

It’s a mix of hillarious, mind-boggling and sad. It’s also a major reason why I’m fading out from this forum expect for some random freaky comments

My eyes have rolled to the back of my head so many times after reading locals on TW lecturing Koreans on how to think and act. The neocolonial entitlement is mindboggling, the way these folks think the rest of the world must revolve around their own sensibilities and ideas of what is right and wrong.

And with TW Kpop stans specifically, i totally agree. How many times have fans trashed the entire Kpop industry, or called other idols "robots" and "manufactured clones" and all that other racialized language, meanwhile their own faves are LITERAL FREAKING KOREANS AND KPOP IDOLS THEMSELVES ffs.

yep, you are wrong.

its still kpop not apop.

lmao obviously. Kpop is not representing the whole Asian culture.

edit: They don't have to either. Kpop representing Korean culture is enough. If you want to know more about other Asian cultures, you could just learn from the country itself, not from Kpop.