Are there people who shouldn't listen to kpop? (aka, should older people or males not listen to kpop?)

In my time as a kpop fan, I've seen more than a few comments about people being too old for kpop. I've also talked with some guys who have received flack for being a male who enjoys kpop. I've never understood this mindset. Why are people trying to gatekeep who can enjoy kpop? It's just a category of music. I won't even call it a genre, because it includes so many different genres and musical styles. I don't understand why people think you have to be a certain age or a certain gender to enjoy it. Do people do this with other types of music? Do you have to stop listening to R&B at a certain point? Rap? Can you be a guy and listen to showtunes? Be a girl and listen to death metal? Why not? Can't people just enjoy what they enjoy? I don't think I have ever heard anyone admonish someone for listening to American Top 40. Why is kpop treated differently?

Quote from zuzuhhaa

oli london should stop listening to kpop

Okay, lol, maybe him

Quote from centen

Um, people who don't enjoy kpop? Like don't subject yourself to stuff you don't like.

But that's the only category of people I can think of. I don't think anyone is too old to like pop music. Or too male to like listening to people sing.

oh, I didn't think about that. You know, i have on occasion run into someone discussion kpop who just does not seem to enjoy kpop at all. Like whyyyyyyyy. Instead of hanging around and bringing people down, why not find something that actually brings you joy and go discuss that with people?

Quote from YouChanDoThis

To add on top of what other people said, the people who are going to be all racist and xenophobic and be like: "oH tHoSe ChInEsE bOyS". Just no. Aside from that (and what the people above me already said), I agree with you. People should be allowed to listen to the music they want and not be condemned for it.

I have run into a few people who had weird race ideas considering they listen to kpop. I do not get that at all.

Quote from harambelives

North Koreans? Theyll get in trouble for that lol

It's so sad that they can actually get into life-threatening trouble for enjoying music. I know that some people actually try to infiltrate NK with pop culture from other countries so that those citizens can see what the outside world is like. The government tries so hard to convince the people that other countries are in terrible condition and that NK's system is the best. It's awful.

North Korea Is Executing People Over ‘Vicious Cancer’ K-Pop, Rights Group Warns

At least seven people have been put to death in the last decade for watching or distributing the South Korean music, according to the Transitional Justice…

www.thedailybeast.com

Quote from MY-Kwangya

People who bash it.

Fans like myself who are WAY way older than the general demographic who don't enjoy it much anymore. (I do get annoyed when people say I'm not too old for it. I am 54 and not a youngster and if I don't want to follow it anymore, that's my business).

As long as you still enjoy it, I don't think it matters whether you fit in the average demo. Besides, as kpop itself ages and develops a longer history and some of the more popular groups keep promoting, I think we'll see greater numbers of older fans. I personally can not wait to have more idols performing in their 30s. I would love to see more mature concepts as well. There's room for both young idols doing bright school concepts and older idols doing darker concepts with maybe more variety in subject matter. They don't always have to sing about love. They can sing about the life experiences they have attained.

Quote from YouChanDoThis

Yep. I'd have to look it up, but I think I heard seven North Koreans were killed in the past decade because they were caught listening to it. Publicly executed on top of that. Let me see if I can find the article.

North Korea Executes People for Watching K-Pop, Rights Group Says - The New York Times (nytimes.com)

Found it!

You were faster than me!

Quote from JiminieKookie

The only person who I think should stop listening to Kpop is that slimy London guy

that makes 3 votes for oli london lol

Quote from zuzuhhaa

Display Spoiler

on a serious note i read through your OP after commenting, and i genuinely that kpop is open to absolutely anyone that is going to appreciate and respect kpop for what it is. i feel like anyone that puts down another legitimate groups that works hard and hasn't done anything to get the dragged the way they do doesn't deserve to listen to kpop. someone like that doesn't deserve to enjoy the music their faves put out imo

it might be gatekeeping but we don't need the negativity.

I don't consider disliking trolls and toxicity to be gatekeeping. I'm more talking about looking down on fans for who they are and discriminating based on age, gender, race etc....

Quote from JiminieKookie

Pls ... that guy blocked me on Twitter and he is pathetic and ew ... everything about that guy is painfukll

Wait, wait. You can't just leave it at that. lol Why did he block you on Twitter? Also, why were you interacting with him on twitter in the first place? lol

Quote from zuzuhhaa

then in that case, i agree. anyone who tells anyone that they're too old for something (unless you're a 50 y/o brony no offense) is being unreasonable.

omg, I went to Comic Con and saw the brony culture up close. It is wild. lol But you know what? They're not hurting anyone. I say let them enjoy whatever brings them happiness. No skin off my back.

Quote from zuzuhhaa

idk adult men in general scare me.

funny world

yeah, i get it. they can be intimidating at your age, especially if they're doing something unusual

Quote from JiminieKookie

IDK when he became popular again but I think it was 2019, right? A few weeks later some Youtuber begun to get involved into sending him messages and shit and everyone comented they did the same and got blocked and the Youtuber was like "I wait till he blocks me lol" and he got blocked and than more people said they also sended crappy fan-art and got blocked and some people said they want to see it themself and said they would send crapy things they dre on paint xD and well thats how I got blocked cause I wanted to see if he really blocks everyone

And I guess he does lol

Quote from zuzuhhaa

idk, you just hear and can even go through a lot of disgusting shit. i never want to be in that type of situation.

True, but I think we should be careful to not judge people quickly and harshly because we fear something happening. That leads to people getting discriminated against just cuz they're different and that's not fair to them. Unless they are actually doing something harmful, indecent, or damaging to society, it's on us to manage our fears, not on them to change their behavior just to make us more comfortable.

Quote from ISaidISaid

Racists. Treating your Asian co worker like shit while fawning over oppar? How about no

It's so non-sensical, but that does happen and not just in kpop. I know of plenty of people who listen to Beyonce or admires Magic Johnson, but would be loathe to have a black family move into their neighborhood. Or how about when kpop idols themselves use parts of rap or r&b culture in their music/image, but look down on African Americans. That happens too. It's weird as heck.

Quote from centen

Exactly! I think some people are afraid of liking things. If I sit behind my wall and just sneer at everyone else for the stupid stuff they like, then I'm not having to risk looking stupid by liking things myself.

right? Maybe what they like is not liking things. Maybe they enjoy negativity. Whatever, that's fine. I enjoy griping sometimes with likeminded people. I just wish they would stop spreading it around when people are trying to be happy.

Quote from dummi

I guess people who dont like pop music, or people that dislike not understanding the songs they are listening to

I think I may have mislead people with the title. Maybe I should change it. I wasn't really looking for suggestions of people who shouldn't and that's kinda what this has become. It was really more about, why do people look down on some people for liking kpop just because they don't fit into the average demographic.

Quote from dummi

Ah well, I think people may find it childish since its mostly targeted towards a younger audience. Juvenile, maybe. I know many also just have internalized misogyny and since a lot of women enjoy kpop, they look down on it as "something little girls like".

While the target demo may be younger people, I don't think the music itself is childish.... well, not all of it. There may be some songs that sound more young, but there are plenty of other styles and concepts as well.

I do think that stuff women like tends to be looked down on as immature and that says a whole lot about our cultures.

Quote from YouChanDoThis

Neither do I. Why do you care which country the music is from as long as it sounds good?

Right, it's one thing if you don't enjoy listening to music in languages you don't understand. That's fine. But some people just flat out think that foreign music is innately "weird" for some reason.

What's even weirder is when kpop fans show they, outside of music, they are racist towards Asians!

Quote from horizonshard

awww, don't be sad.

Yes, we like you.