ok, so warning: I think this is gonna be a long thread, divided into 2 posts, and it's not about any fandom at all, just my personal rant after seeing many things in this forum and outside of it.
I'll discuss 3 main points, but I apologize in advance for the possible messiness or repititiveness of some ideas, I didn't write this in an organized way, was basically just writing whatever crossed my mind, line after line. there's a short summary at the end of the 2nd post 
recently, some things have been bothering me in the kpop community:
1. looking down on idols
I'm gonna be honest and admit I've been partially guilty of this in the past. although idr myself ever being rude about it, deep inside I wasn't always as "open minded" as I am now, I mostly blame it on the way the industry works, but no industry is perfect I guess. I still think there are some major issues but I won't adress them now since it's another topic.
so back to the point, I noticed that some people here have a genuine hate towards idols; and no those users are not the inspiration behind this thread. you guys aren't that relevant and I am not obsessed. I was watching a chinese show and some hip hop artist there looked down on idols, so it reminded of all the instances we've seen before of both underground rappers being rude to idols, and western artists' fans doing so, plus even some kpop fans spreading their idol hate everywhere. and I guess that was added to all the frustrations I had before so I decided to rant about it all in one thread.
so since I derailed again lol, back to my point. I feel like it's really sad that many people writing hateful comments about artists have barely watched few seconds, or few minutes max of their work. ofc no one got time to dig through content of artists they aren't interested in, and everyone has the right to offer criticism. I think we can all agree on that. but when people start to act obsessed ? and act like they know everything about that idol's career, musical idendity and ambitions ? it's ridiculous. the more I think about it the more sad the situation seems to me, that it is possible for people to disregard someone's years of efforts, someone's genuine love for music, someone's several pieces of work, only to dismiss that person and judge them in a blink of an eye. it's a bit scary to know some people on the internet are ready to judge whether you can sing or not based on a few seconds clip taken when your vocal condition was in a bad state, can judge whether you can dance or not based on a clip that was a taken when you were probably feeling stiff, can judge whether you can perform well or not based on one clip of you not "doing enough", can judge whether your music sucks or not based on few seconds or few minutes of music they personally hate .... I guess it all comes with the fame and it's unavoidable, but it's a bit sad that it's become very normalized and people feel 0 guilt and 0 shame when they act hateful for no valid reason.
I struggled/hesitated a lot to find my own definition of an artist (in a musical context) tbh, at first I thought it should be someone capable of completing a stage or work on their own, whether it be composing a song, singing it, performing it .. (and I think that's still kind of similar the opinion I have rn). actually to be completely honest I thought of dancing as a nice addition for idols, but I didn't consider it enough since their main job is supposed to be 'singers'. (that being said I can totally respect dancers who don't sing as long as they don't label themselves as singers, and I think dancers deserve more recognition so I'm happy korean dancers started gaining some of it last year). I also thought singing/dancing following a strict guide without adding a personal touch couldn't be considered as artistry. and I probably still think the same way lol, but I think I've gained a new additional perspective.
[btw this paragraph was probs the most confusing, and that's exactly how it was meant to be, I'm still confused about it too, and I tried to write an honest version rather than an filtered nice ideal one]
so my final "new vision" of an artist that might be an unpopular one here, is that anyone who genuinely loves music and works hard to present art in any form can be considered one. whether I decide to admire them or not is a different matter, and it would depend on whether their style fits my taste or not. but I think the least I could do is not meddle with their business (aside from giving genuine criticism from time to time after thinking carefully about it, not just throwing random hate for the sake of it). ofc we'd never know who actually loves art/music and who doesn't, while it's obvious in some cases, it isn't clear enough in others, and some people might argue certain celebs are only in it for the fame. but I think that's my point here, we'll never know and it doesn't matter that much, if that celebrity considers themselves as artists and takes pride in their job then that's enough. they don't necessarly have to prove it to everyone, it would be difficult to please everyone anyway.
I just felt like it was really unfair to think you have the right to judge whether someone is an artist or not based on your own standards, and want to apply that personal standard universally, to the point you can't stand other people liking an artist you don't respect, and always feel the need to add your unwanted negative takes that you consider as the gospel truth.
also, most the haters or antis are usually the first to announce a controversy, which makes me wonder how ? if they follow the artist's content that much, how can they still have the same negative thoughts ? maybe it's just me but even though I've had some negative impressions of idols before, I've rarely disliked any of them after getting to know more about them (few exceptions would be mostly cause of their attitude)
I mean notice how majority of kpop stans think their faves are talented, nice, and passionate towards music. are they all somehow brainwashed ? probably not. is everyone completely right ? most likely not. then who's right ? ofc most of them would claim kpop sucks but only their faves are awesome, it's ridiculous tbh. if you don't know all idols individually, and if you haven't gone through all their discographies and extra content thoroughly, then how can you affirm with confidence that they have 0 appeal ? if that idol can bring happiness/comfort and entertainment to some people and you're not one of them, that's your business. won't change the fact they deserve their place and don't need your approval.
wich leads me to another point, how some fans love labelling others visual stans, fake stans, success stans, company stans, ... how do we know ? some people act like psychology majors. how would you know the exact reasons someone chose to stan their faves and who are you to decide how they should show their support ? (as long as they're not being rude to anyone ofc)
I forgot where I've seen this and it's a bit off topic but I'll say it, recently someone shaded fans for liking a certain company's producers, and trusting/stanning them or whatever. idc about the company argument, but i'll adress the producer part generally. now what I wanna ask is, can these people pick a struggle ? looking down on idols who can't make their music, looking down on fans who appreciate producers making good music. 
so unless someone is good at making music and performing it at the same time they don't have the right to put their work out there ? sounds like such a close minded opinion tbh, and I don't get how a music fan can feel this way. producing and performing are 2 different jobs, while it's perfect and great to master both, it shouldn't be a necessity. idk why some people are so pressed about fans liking idols who can't produce, or fans giving credit to producers who work behind the scenes and aknowledging they played a role in making music they enjoy listening to.
[character limit: continued in the next post]
#selfawarequeen
hope many ppl read it
