Let Women Enjoy Kpop: Fandom Life in a Sexist World

      Sexism is defined as, "prejudice or discrimination based on sex, especially discrimination against women." Also "behavior, conditions, or attitudes that foster stereotypes of social roles based on sex." As I have mentioned in a prior post, ageism and sexism often go together or are intersectional when they are used to intimidate women. For example, I have never seen anyone tell a man in his 50's that he should give up his love of football and that he is too old to be a fan of his favorite player or team. I have seen women as young as 20 being told they are too old to be K-pop fans. Women expressing an interest in nearly anything have been taking to the internet to express disappointment at being harassed for the things they enjoy. Whether the hobbies they enjoy include cosplay, K-pop, gaming, being in a band, or even doll collecting, I have seen posts from women of many different ages and walks of life discussing being bullied for their interests. For the purpose of this post I want to look at sexism as it relates to (K-pop) ARMY and how ARMY is viewed as "crazy fans" sometimes vs how men are as sports fans in actuality.

     Whenever women take pleasure in anything, men often find a way to belittle that. It's almost as if women are not supposed to enjoy anything outside of taking care of home and family. Men are allowed to go and drink with the guys and tear up whole towns if they choose with minimal punishments given for such hooligan behavior while women are frowned upon for collecting K-pop photocards and cheering on their faves at concerts. I recently read a thread where a man was excited having attended a K-pop concert with his wife. He sounded like he had a great time and mentioned becoming a fan of the group afterward. Lots of women fawned over his comments because he's a man basically approving of something we enjoy and we see so much of the opposite of from men I guess they wanted to praise him for his reaction. It reminded me of when fathers do the same things mothers do but men get that swooning reaction from women for doing the bare minimum. I couldn't help noticing that every time the man posting got the chance he mentioned seeing "grown women and girls screaming." He uses this phrase several times throughout his thread and the more I saw it the more it rubbed me the wrong way. Grown men and boys scream at sporting events and cheer. Why is it surprising that "grown women and girls" would cheer for what we like as well? Who wants to sit at a quiet concert? I mean it has happened (BTS Seoul Permission To Dance concert 2022 but that was due to health restrictions during the pandemic, not because they didn't want to). Cheering shows support for the act and should not be frowned upon. Artists feed off of that positivity for energy. Several of them have mentioned how the crowd gets them pumped and gives them energy to continue when they are tired or not feeling well. Don't let people make you feel like a crazy fan for screaming for your favorites.

       One thing that happens in the U.S. sometimes when there are major sporting events is rioting. The media hesitates to call it that and often uses softer words for it like reveling and the offenders are called revelers or sports fans not usually rioters or the hooligans that they are. Once such riot happened in 2018 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania after the Philadelphia Eagles won the Superbowl. There was violence, property damage, and fires as thousands of fans took to the streets in celebration of a win. If they do this when they win, what happens when they lose? The same thing. Out of a couple thousand fans rioting and wreaking havoc on the city there were only about six arrests. This sort of thing happens when college teams play championships and during other sporting events as well. But men make fun of women for screaming at concerts.

     What happens after these big concerts and events where the biggest boy band in the world performs? Surely these women fans often labeled by the press as "crazy" or rabid get up to some crazy rabid fan behavior. Not surprisingly, that's not the case. BTS ARMY has been praised for keeping things clean and orderly when they go to concerts. Organizing lines in a way to make things smoother for fans and staff at entry when attending concerts, helping each other find lost belongings using social media, and cleaning up so well that one crew paid to clean had nothing left to do when they arrived to clean are things ARMY are known for doing. Last year at the Festa celebration for BTS's 10th Anniversary, between 300,000 and 750,000 people were in attendance at Hangang Park. BTS ARMY cleaned the entire venue after the event. Cleaning staff stated they arrived to work and the place was already cleaned. ARMY was also praised during Lollapalooza for being kind to staff at restaurants they visited and cleaning up their tables before leaving restaurants. They were not endangering people's lives or damaging property but keeping things clean, orderly, and respectful. Sounds like male sports fans could learn a lot from BTS ARMY instead of being so misogynistic and hyper critical. 

     Where have we seen these sports fans get critical of ARMY in particular? When Suga became the ambassador for the NBA, ARMY sent love and well wishes to Suga on the official social media pages for the NBA. It's best to comment on official social media accounts when brands announce ambassadors and endorsements as well as sharing because it draws attention to the brand. Liking and leaving positive comments on official brand pages increases reach and popularity of the post and the campaign. ARMY's comments praising Suga were met with "he looks like a girl," homophobic comments I won't repeat, and the ever creative "who?" They comment "who" to minimize a person's impact and belittle the artist.  More patient ARMYs turned some commenters into listeners by recommending songs and explaining details about Suga/Agust D. Some commenters attacked ARMY directly by making personal comments about ARMY directly. I just ignored the negative comments and left positive ones. The same thing happened in comment sections of FIFA during the World Cup when JungKook performed. Same scenario, ARMY leaving positive comments and soccer fans leaving mean comments just to get at ARMY. 

     The press also needs to check the way they speak when it comes to BTS ARMY. James Corden found out the hard way not to mess with ARMY (though he still did things that were shady after this incident and he's no longer doing The Late Late Show so...karma). On an episode when discussing BTS visiting the UN he made the comment that BTS ARMY were "15 year old girls." Now, some ARMYs are teenagers and younger and there's nothing wrong with that. The issue is the generalization of all of us as minor girls which, to men, gives them the right to brush off opinions and belittle the interests of all ARMYs because they see themselves as superior to these "15 year old girls."  ARMY is made up of people of all ages, genders, races and nationalities so we can't be put into a box and generalized. RM handled James and when James apologized RM stated that he "appreciated" the apology and that choice of words was important because he didn't say he accepted it. Accepting it would be something only we could do really because it was directed to ARMY. Accepting it would also be like forgiving him. I love RM and how he handles these situations with such grace. He always has ARMY's back and there are several clips all over the internet of interviewers calling fans crazy or asking what the craziest thing BTS has experienced with ARMY and RM corrects them every time. "Crazy," "hysterical,"  and "rabid" are terms that have often been associated with women as fans of one thing or another but mostly as fans of musicians and it is demeaning. 

     Sexist bullying behavior should always be called out anytime it is seen. I understand seeing it and blocking and ignoring to protect your peace when online. If we see comments directed towards other women (or men who are fanboys being bullied for being a part of our fandom) we should report the comments, block the person commenting, then leave something kind for the person being picked on. Press and media personalities should be called out publicly on their social media accounts if they are using that platform to come for us in a negative way. The situation with Corden was handled well because ARMY tanked his show ratings, he got called out by RM on live TV for it, and an ARMY yelled at him in public and it was caught on camera. They'll learn one day. Basically we need to stick together and support each other because we are a force and no one can and no one will take that away from us. We will enjoy what we love and support our seven guys from Korea.