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Fri, May 20, 2022 | 11:11
Business
Fair trade body bans sexualizing teen stars
청소년연예인 학습권보장, 과다노출 강요금지
Posted : 2011-06-17 16:25
Updated : 2011-06-17 16:25
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The popularity of boy- and girl- bands like Girls’ Generation is pushing K-pop to new heights, but there are also increasing concerns over the sexualization of young celebrities. / Korea Times file

By Kim Tong-hyung

Government officials are attempting to prevent the revealing styles of teenage pop idols as they warn against the media’s portrayal of young women as sex objects.

The Fair Trade Commission (FTC) Friday announced a new guideline for standard contract terms between production companies and artists, which include preventing underage singers from dressing in excessively sexual clothing. Management shouldn’t deprive the boys and girls in showbiz from their educational opportunities either, the FTC said, and needs to protect them from long working hours.

It bears further watching whether the proposed standards will result in any real improvement in the treatment of young artists. The FTC’s guideline is just that it is up to the management companies to either adopt the suggestions or simply ignore them.

And as for problems related to sexualizing young celebrities, the FTC avoided specifying how ``excessive’’ should be defined. And the guideline doesn’t say whether companies should seek the consent of singers and their parents or guardians over the use of overly-mature outfits. Nor does it mention cosmetic surgery.

``The existence of the standard contract terms will provide a base for young artists and their parents to fight back against management companies over sexualization and deprivation of school hours. The guideline also benefits entertainment agencies in resisting inappropriate demands from broadcasters,’’ said an official from the FTC’s consumer policy division, while admitting that the proposal is far from a solution.

``We believe that this guideline does have declaratory meaning as lawmakers continue to debate the specifics of a protection law on teenage entertainers that was first proposed in December last year,’’ she said.

The popularity of boy and girl bands has been driving the rapid growth of Korea’s pop industry, which enjoys immense popularity in Asia and has now set its sights on the United States and Europe. However, the boom has also been accompanied by mounting concern over the sexualization of young girls.

``No one would argue that the young entertainers should have their rights to study and rest protected. But there is no possible way to decide what is excessively sexual and what is not, especially when many of the bands are trained specifically for an international audience,’’ said a spokesman from one entertainment agency.

Last week’s successful Paris performance of Korean pop groups that included Girls’ Generation and Super Junior has the domestic media excited about a possible ``Western invasion,’’ but the journalistic response in Europe was mixed, voicing admiration and discomfort.

Le Monde, the influential French daily, observed that the K-pop stars were groomed as export items with support from a Korean government that is desperate to promote a young and dynamic image of the country. The newspaper also noted that Korean management companies haven’t been shy about having their young stars undergo plastic surgery.






청소년연예인 학습권보장, 과다노출 강요금지
앞으로 연예매니지먼트 회사들은 청소년 연예인에게 과도한 노출이나 선정적인 행위를 요구해서는 안되며 학습권, 휴식권과 같은 기본권을 보장해야 한다. 공정거래위원회는 17일 청소년 연예인들의 인권보장을 위해 이와같은 내용을 `대중문화예술인 표준전속 계약서'에 반영, 표준전속 계약서를 개정했다고 밝혔다. 개정된 계약서는 제18조에 아동ㆍ청소년 보호 조항을 신설, 1항에 연예매니지먼트 회사는 아동ㆍ청소년 연예인의 신체적ㆍ정신적 건강, 학습권, 인격권, 수면권, 휴식권, 자유선택권 등 기본적인 인권을 보장한다고 규정했다. 2항에서는 연예매니지먼트사가 연예매니지먼트 계약을 체결하는 경우 연예인의 연령을 확인하고 아동ㆍ청소년의 경우 영리 또는 흥행을 목적으로 과다노출 및 지나치게 선정적으로 표현하는 행위를 요구할 수 없다고 명시했다. 또 3항에는 연예매니지먼트사가 아동ㆍ청소년 연예인에게 과도한 시간에 걸쳐서 대중문화예술용역을 제공하게 할 수 없다고 규정했다. (연합뉴스)
Emailthkim@koreatimes.co.kr Article ListMore articles by this reporter
 
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