Is masculinity depicted differently in Korea than that in the West?
- Lacie Teesdale
- Nov 9, 2019
- 3 min read
What’s considered “masculine” throughout the world is different depending on the people you ask. In an article by Kirstin Younghee Song and Victoria Velding, “Transnational Masculinity in the Eyes of Local Beholders? Young Americans’ Perception of K-pop Masculinities”, using a survey they conducted, they state that college students in America perceived that K-pop band members lacked masculinity solely based on their body size, lack of facial hair, and “soft skin”. This finding resembles what the US stereotypically refers to as the Asian male image (2019). Westerns tend to think of masculinity as rough and burly men, such as Chris Hemsworth or Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson. The western standard of masculinity seems to be what is compared to other countries’ standards for what masculinity looks like, and how men should look like in general.
In the West, men are considered masculine if they have impressive muscles and facial hair. There are few variations to this stereotype, but the title typically stays acquainted with those traits. Koreans, on the other hand, have two main types of masculine men. Kkot mi nam (“good looking men like flowers”) and Jim seung dol (powerful men portrayed as “beasts”) (Byun, 2013). K-pop band members don’t usually use the same “concept” constantly. They use multiple different interpretations of masculinity based on the concept portrayed in their music (Song and Velding, 2019). Many scholars have categorized the fluidity between K-pop boy band’s “gender expressions” as “versatile masculinity” (Jung, 2011a), “transnational masculinity” (Jung, 2011b), “alternative masculinity” (Oh, 2015), and “overlapping masculinity” (Anderson, 2014).
Not all Koreans are even considered men when they reach adulthood. Most Korean males are considered boys until they leave for mandatory military service; when they finish their service and return, then and only then are they considered men. With military service hated by almost every young Korean man, society pushes service as a “constitutional duty” of every native male in Korea. If not completed, people wouldn’t see them as “real men”, and living in a time where masculinity is such a sensitive topic to said men, they feel required, not only by law but by judgment from others, to join the military. When they enlist then they are open targets to not only war but abuse from other soldiers in their bases. Hazing and abuse are common practices among the troops and are used to “toughen” them up. Unfortunately, this sometimes results in a discharge from service or a consequence even worse, suicide.
Masculinity is a tough subject to comprehend because there are so many different variations in what is considered and accepted as “masculine”. In reality, the topic isn’t as black and white as westerners tend to make it out to be because certain aspects have to be taken into consideration; culture and the historical upbringing of the country itself for just a few examples. Western standards are almost always the complete opposite of the Korean standards that are portrayed in the media and in everyday society, but that’s only because they aren’t the same culturally and they’ve been through many different obstacles and hardships that required different solutions and thought processes. So yes, in essence, masculinity is depicted very differently in Korea than that of in the west.
Anderson, Crystal. “That’s My Man! Overlapping Masculinities in Korean Popular Music.” The Korean wave: Korean popular culture in global context, edited by Yasue Kuwahara, (2014): 117-131.
Byun, J.H. A semilogic analysis on masculinity expressed in fashion and beauty images of male idols (Unpublished doctoral dissertation), (2013). Konkuk University, Seoul, South Korea
Jung, Sun. Korean masculinities and transcultural consumption: Yonsama, Rain, Oldboy, K-Pop idols, (2011a). Hong Kong: Hong Kong University Press
Jung, Sun. “K-pop beyond Asia: Performing trans-nationality, trans-industriality, and trans-textuality.” Korean Society for Journalism & Communication Studies, no. 8 (2011b): 99-129
Oh, Chuyun. “Queering spectatorship in K-pop: The androgynous male dancing body and the western female fandom.” Journal of Fandom Studies, no. 3 (2015): 59-78
Song, Kirsten Younghee and Victoria Velding. “Transnationality Masculinity in the Eyes of Local Beholders? Young Americans’ Preception of K-pop Masculinities.” Journal of Men’s Studies, (2019): 2-3
@all I think a common theme that we have kind of all talked about in an inherent divide, whether it be between genders, races, ethnicities, etc. I agree in thinking that it is very hard for people like our parents or people who aren't as exposed to things like Kpop as we are in order to understand and view things the way that we do. A lot of the things people think and say have been learned in society and in this current day, they are getting exposed to a lot more of it then they were before. It is my hopes that with more exposure of globalization and flow of transnational information, people will be more educated and versed…
@Mary No, I completely agree that the comparison of Western and Eastern artists being steeped in racism and xenophobia is definitely on-mark for a lot of people. I don't think you're reading too into it at all. Especially when you consider the comments that your mom made, for example, or similar comments I've heard from other American people, they tend to be diminutive and emasculating on the part of Asian men. I also loved your comment on how belittling men by calling them feminine is marking femininity in a negative fashion or an insult.
I do think that masculinity in K-pop (perhaps South Korea as a whole as well) compared to what most people in the West view as masculine, is very different. I often have to tell off my own mother because she constantly says, "he looks like a girl" when I talk about or watch something K-pop related. Not only is she saying that these men are apparently not "masculine enough" she's also saying looking feminine, being female is a bad thing (but that's a whole other topic). I do often think most people in the West think masculine men should look like Chris Hemsworth or Jason Momoa, but I do know that that is changing and like Lena said, it's harder…
I’ve always found the different “concepts” of different eras of a given group to be interesting. Before taking this class I had never heard of the types of masculinity in Korean society, even though I’ve been listening to K-Pop for around 10 years. It’s such an interesting concept.
I agree with Tori that I would hesitate to distinguish Eastern and Western societies as being inherently opposite. Especially considering the influence that Korea has had from the United States. Gender as a concept varies greatly based on region, religious, ethnic, socioeconomic, and other ideals. So while true that there is a major distinction between the East and West, collectivism and individualism, it’s difficult to name them as always opposing.
I also…
@Lacie I really like your exploration of the different types of Korean masculinity. It is indeed a very complicated subject with many levels of cultural influence forming it to what we see today. However, I would disagree with your assessment of Western masculinity, at least in part. Of course the traditional idea of masculinity is the muscular, bearded man who can provide and fight, but there is as much nuance in the western standards as there is in Korean which could have been explored and juxtaposed more. Western boybands offer a good example of this. One Direction, for instance, demonstrated a much softer, "boyish" image of masculinity where their manliness did not derive from their beards or muscles (which they…