Girl bands join 'Corset-free movement'

By Park Jin-hai

In the recent live concert for an SBS music show, K-pop girl group Dreamcatcher's members threw away their high heels between songs and danced barefoot in their next song “Chase Me.”

Popular K-pop girl group Mamamoo took the stage wearing sweatshirts, easy pants and sneakers and sang “Waggy” on MBC's “Show! Music Core” earlier this month, while twelve-member girl group Loona's music video for their song “Butterfly” shows members in trouser suits with no facial expressions and intense dance choreography. Loona's music video also includes girls of other races and different body shapes and styles.

K-pop girl groups, which were previously almost all identical in terms of their image that pursued a sexualized girlish image, appear to now be thinking outside the box and trying to present their own images.

The ongoing sex video scandal involving K-pop stars Seungri, Jung Joon-young and other male celebrities was a turning point as it poses the biggest threat to the K-pop industry and taints the unrealistically clean and wholesome image presented by K-pop idols.

K-pop girl groups are now joining the “Corset-free movement”, departing from the norms that once swept the girl groups _ revealing clothes, high heels and thick makeup or Lolita―like school uniforms.

Kim Bo-mi, 17, said she became a fan of K-pop girl group Dreamcatcher, after watching the behind the scenes YouTube clip where members dump their high heels on stage. “Many girl groups wanting to look pretty have troubles when they wear high heels in their performance on stage. When I saw Dreamcatcher comfortably performing with no heels, I was happy to see that they are changing,” she said. Many other fans also posted supportive comments for the idol group.

Experts say the recent “feminism reboot” and “Corset-free movement” that have gathered popularity among young women in their teens and 20s have inspired the K-pop girl groups to revamp their images.

Sohn Hee-jung, a culture critic, says the current change is part of “marketable feminism.” “Those young female consumers, who are conscious of feminism, are crucial in the K-pop idol market, and they demand that their idols deserve gender-equality and human rights. Then the industry took note and acted,” she said.

“Women's changed perception has affected girl groups' on-stage performances,” agreed another critic Ha Jae-geun.

But, others point out that the change is not widespread in the industry, saying only a few girl bands are joining the movement. For instance, girl group CLC in their lyrics talked about rebelling against beauty standards singing “Red lip(s) No/ Earrings No/ High heels No/ Handbag No,” but their performance betrayed the lyrics, clad in sexy red and black outfits, wearing high heels, red lipstick and earrings. Mamamoo also in their performance for other songs appear in typical girl group costumes.

Some experts present that those scattered cases are still a meaningful beginning for a change in the K-pop industry. “Back four or five years ago, I couldn't have expected to see this kind of change that we are now seeing today in the K-pop scene. Going through these trials and errors, those making idols and those consuming idols could move in the right direction and induce more change,” said a culture critic Kim Yoon-ha.

Sohn points out the corset-free movement should develop and lead to improving Korea's labor environment for girl group members. “Only when consumers give careful thought to the female idols' working environment, will those oppressive attitudes applied to girl groups be changed,” she said.