Guest post by the band Baekma. KGC readers will know by now that I (Chelle) dislike the term Baekma,so I asked the band why they choose it and how they are using it to call attention to gender issues. Find the band on Facebook and listen to their music here.
“What’s the name of your band?” “Baekma.”
“Huh?” “BAEKMA!”
The name we chose for our band warrants many types of
responses. Foreigners or Korean women
must think we like galloping beautiful ponies when we explain the definition.
Korean men, however, are left with looks of surprise, shock or comical
amusement. These men almost always ask, “Do you know what that means?” as if we
weren’t privy to their dirty little secret. Well, we do know what it means and
we chose it to shock you, on purpose.
The phrase literally translates to ‘white horse’ taken from Chinese. A Korean male friend informed me that it
began a few decades ago as slang used to refer to the only Western women one
could find in Korea, Russian prostitutes working the streets of Itaewon. It evolved over time to mean any Western
woman. If this is the true origin, it’s
no wonder that the word implies sex. Mumbled drunkenly among chingus when a
wayguk woman passes them on the street at 4 am, or mentioned when a buddy
returns from a vacation abroad, this word is tossed around between Korean men
with curiosity: “What’s it like to ride the Baekma?” “Did you ride a Baekma on
your trip to Europe?”
After Korean men realize we are aware of the negative
connotations behind our name, we get responses like, “Why would you name your
band that?” or “That’s so sexual!”
First off, I suppose we WANTED to be controversial and
expose the stereotypes surrounding Western women. We started as an all-girl
Western band, coming together after mixed experiences playing in bands with all
boys. Besides feeling like we had more to prove since we were women in the
music scene, we wanted to confront and challenge the idea that Western women
are easy to get into bed or are only valuable in a sexual way. Just because a
woman is in charge of her own sexuality, doesn’t mean she is promiscuous or
dirty. Just because she has a nice set of legs or arms, doesn’t mean her wish
in life is to use them to please a man. Just because she prefers to decide how
she wants to look or act regardless of how a man says she should, doesn’t mean
she is less beautiful. It’s easy to get disheartened in Korea if you do not
fall into the limited impossible standard of beauty. We believe women shouldn’t
be seen as less talented, less driven, less intelligent, or weaker than a man
because cowardly men prefer it. It’s easy to get disheartened in Korea if you
are not used to or do not fall into the very narrow ideal of feminine beauty
within this culture. This standard is impossible to uphold without expensive
treatments, surgery and/or hours wasted on grooming. Also, many men seem to be
holding on the antiquated idea that women’s role in life is to serve them. Sam
Hammington, whether speaking from his own mind, or instructed by a producer, said
on the Global episode of Happy Together in 2013 that he married a Korean woman
because “Korean women are really good to men,” implying that Western women are
NOT because they “have their own lives”, “are never affectionate” and “never
act cute”. In one quick comment, he reduced Korean women’s existence and
demonized the concept of independent women in charge of their own lives. We
know that Korean women are tired of their stereotypes and expectations as much
as we are. We channeled our frustrations of living in this hyper-sexualized and
misogynist society into our music.
There hasn’t really been anyone providing a voice for the
foreign women community within the indie rock scene in Seoul. We feel we have a
unique perspective on gender issues as we compare progress here and abroad. We
hope our voices can support the movement towards gender equality and freedom of
women to choose what they want to become not only in Korea, but also worldwide.
So we are BaekMas. We are not offended by that word. We are
Baekmas. We act and dress how we want. We say what we feel and believe in. We
write songs about the shitty stuff we see happening to people around us that’s
sometimes based on gender. We sing about how we want the world to be. We will
probably disagree with you. We may even piss you off. We may or may not sleep
with you. But we will definitely make sweet love to your ear holes with our
synth dance pop rock.
"Inconvenient Truth" ("불편한진실"), a track performed by Korean male pop group Infinite, is a production embedded with misogynist messages and triggers for gender-based violence. The lyrics promote victim-blaming and gender oppression, while the music video depicts rape culture and undermines its severity. The video is currently being screened in all 31 venues of their world tour "One Great Step."
As much as misogyny in any form should immediately be confronted, there is great concern about the effects this will have on the thousands of fans who will attend these concerts, most of whom are female and in their critical years just before adulthood. As a pop culture product, it stunts efforts against gender inequality and violence by misinforming about sex, interpersonal relationships, and individual liberties. As a production undertaken by Infinite, young men whose voices thousands listen to, it is a betrayal to their obligation not only as role models, but as influential members of society.
The lyrics promote victim-blaming. Reprimanding a woman because of her decision to wear the clothes she chooses justifies that it is her fault she is attracting unwanted attention. This is wrong because it encourages the idea that the reason behind potential violence and abuse is because she is a woman; the acceptance that women will always be violated because they are women; that there is something inherently wrong with being a woman. This is not a healthy message. It steers the blame away from those who are truly responsible: the people who leer at her and the people who violate her. Some examples in reality include this case of an 11-year old Texan girl who was gang-raped and blamed; a 23-year old woman in India who was also gang-raped and continually shamed even after her death. In South Korea, a 29-year old woman who took her own life after being insulted by the court judge; and a 12-year old whose assailants have been excused from certain criminal laws because 'they thought the girl was older.' The ones who commit such horrid acts are sympathized with at the expense of their victim's dignity and self-worth; and the ones truly prosecuted are those who were hurt and abused. This is unfair.
The lyrics promote the assumption that women ought to fear men. The line “men are wolves” (”남자는 모두 늑대야”) is the center of this concern. To accept this as fact is extremely dangerous for a number of reasons. First, this is merely a gender construct and serves to strictly define what being a 'man' really means. Gender constructs buttress power inequalities between sexes because what a man is 'supposed to be' is often a more privileged and advantaged position than a woman. On an individual level, this encourages men to be forward in their approach, as it is an expression of their 'masculinity', even at the expense of a woman's comfort zone. At its extremity, it gives the go-ahead to sexual aggression. Second, men themselves are pressured by definitions of masculinity, thus such characterizations are very reductionist and dismissive of the myriad of ways men choose to express themselves. Third, because it is seen as part of ‘man’s nature’, it is rendered into something that can not be helped. It thus allows for women to be dictated by male-defined standards in how they should behave in society, completely disempowering them from carving out their own individualities. Fourth, it reiterates that the cause of rape and forms of sexual violence and harassment is because, again, a woman is a woman, not because a man violated her. Are women are the ones who need to ‘restrain themselves’ in this situation? This discourages proper prosecution against sexual aggressors, the real instigators of violence and abuse. Finally, as men are reduced to merely their sexual urges, women are desexualized. Women ought to be allowed to express their sexuality (responsibly and consensually) as much as men do; but instead they are discouraged as they are shamed, ridiculed, and automatically thrown under the threat of violence. Men are not told to think they are in danger of the opposite sex, but women are. Men have the agency and a voice that is heard when they fight against harm, but women don’t. This is unfair.
The music video not only depicts patriarchy and rape culture but undermines the severity of it. Rape culture describes our society today: the normalization and perpetuation of violence against women through images and language in advertising, music, movies, TV, books, politics, and personal, everyday life. It is so ubiquitous that we ourselves do not know we allow it to continue through our own experiences, through the words we say and the decisions we make. Portrayals of the Infinite members staring at the woman’s breasts and attempting to look up her dress to the backdrop of lyrics that put the responsibility for these behaviors in the hands of the woman alone - this is rape culture in action. The woman is not communicating any consent whatsoever to being stared at and eventually harassed. “But her clothes?” This communicates the flawed belief that all there is to a woman is her physical beauty, and that she is nothing but a object for men to gaze upon. This arbitrary deprivation of her liberty, the subjugation of her individuality to men, is violence. Furthermore, all of this placed in a humorous light that plays to the affection of Inspirits minimizes the gravity of this issue and impedes them from knowing how to properly identify abuse and violation. Rape culture and patriarchy is the reason why women feel inferior and constantly threatened out in public, and even in their own homes. It is the reason why women experience higher rates of sexual assault than men; why you see on your local news reports of rape incidents in which the victims are women; why a close male friend, acquaintance, or relative are among those who are likely to assault a woman. This is unfair.
We call upon not just the K-pop community but anyone who stands against any form of misogyny to sign this petition to request Infinite, Woollim Entertainment, production and management teams to 1) re-evaluate the concept and execution of "Inconvenient Truth"; 2) consider canceling screenings of "Inconvenient Truth" at upcoming world tour venues and plans for any official release; and 3) acknowledge and understand the reasons behind these requests. We wish not to pin ourselves against Infinite and Woollim Entertainment, but rather work with them as a community in sincere and mutual interest to foster genuine understanding of our plights as young men and women in today's society. Because we are all affected by the implications of a thriving rape culture, we strongly believe that this is a responsibility that requires as collective of an effort as possible.
This may be against one pop culture product, one of which may not be widely known. Regardless, celebrities and figures in entertainment have a voice many of us wish we had. The thousands of fans we are hoping they will feel obligated to enlighten equates to the thousands more these fans will influence at several points in their own lives. Our wish is that this petition be the rock that instigates that powerful ripple effect."
But... then they didn't offer an interpretation of the video, so we will!
Is this music video a fantasy of what we would really LIKE to do, but we will never do because we would shame ourselves? Does it mean that there is no real ‘gentleman’ on the South Korean dating scene? Is Psy once again poking fun at pretentious behaviors of the young and rich?
First, our Guide to Gentleman. We will attempt to decode the allusions and jokes you might be missing.
Guide to Psy’s Gentleman Music Video
The music video opens with Psy and a group of older men carrying shopping bags. We interpret this as a nod to consumerist dating, in particular the gifts that men will purchase for their dates.
0:24 Psy sits drinking coffee with three older ‘gentlemen’ while a woman dances in the background. Although the scene is set outside, we think this could be bringing to light the 다방 Dabang / 룸사롱 Room Salon commercialized sex industry.
0:44 Psy pushes a coffee cup into the face of his date. We think maybe Psy is also poking fun at the 된장녀 Bean Paste Girl attitude and men’s internal attitude toward women they perceive as being Bean Paste Girls.
0:59 This scene is shot in Seoul Library. Psy farts into his hand and rubs it in a student’s face. We think the scene is a prank pulled on the pretention of studying.
1:20 Who could be more pretentious than a bald man blow-drying his hair?
1:30: Even the waiter gets in on the action, exposing his inner disdain for pretentious customers in the fancy restaurant.
1:50 Ga In of Brown Eyed Girls turns the tables on Psy, knocking out his hair. The setting is interesting, they have a first date not in a fancy restaurant but at a포장마차, a common cheap pop-up sidewalk diner. This is why the noodle scene is so funny, rather than spaghetti at a fancy Italian restaurant, they slurp cheap noodles.
1:53 Psy dances and bites a roll of uncut 떡 rice cake. This is because this rice cake is used as slang or euphemism for sex because of the noise made by cutting the rice cake into slices for soup, and because in the old days it was made by hammering rice. Psy’s sexual innuendo is heavy in this scene, and he caps it by shaking explosive bottles of beer, not unlike many female Kpop stars in commercials.
The DANCE: This dance is sometimes referred to as 시건방 춤 and has an impertinent or cocky attitude, th e audience might feel judged as the dance looks down on them while they watch the dance.
UPDATE: In the closing scene, Psy is 'pole-dancing' at an intersection in Hallyu World. Professor 이택광 points out that he is ridiculing hallyu with satire:
Discussion: What significance can we attach to Psy's decision to perform traditionally female Kpop dance movements? I'm not quite sure what to make of it, but it puts me in mind of Roald Maliangkay's The Bra Boys of South Korea.
In 2012 social debate and political battles over domestic
violence, rape and gender equality repeatedly made headlines in both South
Korea and the United States. In Korea, the rape and murder of kidnapped woman
cast a spotlight on weak state and police enforcement of laws to protect
citizens. In the U.S., politicians debated whether or not to reauthorize the Violence
Against Women Act and a number of politicians embarrassed themselves into
election losses with absurd statements about rape. Most disturbingly, some states
cut their funding to domestic violence prevention and support programs.
Domestic Violence and Music 가정폭력과음악
Two powerful music videos portray domestic violence in 2012.
The vocalists Zia and P!nk highlight the complicated emotional and physical
space we navigate when confronting or recovering from domestic violence.
Domestic violence is a major
problem in contemporary society in Korea and the United States, and in regions
all over the world. When I read Choson Court rulings on domestic violence,
rape, adultery and spousal murder, I am reminded that centuries ago the legal
system did not recognize women’s rights and we appealed to the patriarchal rule
of the father or pre-modern state local officials to abide by virtues of
justice and morality and requested that they not abuse the people. There wasn’t
a strong social mindset that recognized the rights of women and children, nor adequate
tools of state to enforce human rights.
가정폭력은한국, 미국, 세계적으로커다란이슈이다.
조선시대에처를살해한사건자료를읽으면서현대사회의인권문제에대한제도가퇴보되어간다고생각됐다. . 옛날에우리나라는국가나경찰대신가장의도덕와공평성을통해그가정의삶의질이결정되었다.
이러한관습은힘없는사람들은자비를구해야했다.
For example, Choson royal court records include the case of Lee Geun-Bin. In this case a wife
was beaten to death with the heavy cast-iron style lid from a cookery. The case
shows obvious domestic violence. She may have been beaten not only by her
husband, but her father-in-law and brother-in-law whom lived in the same home. The
unnamed wife attempted to flee to her natal home, but she lost strength and
died. A pattern of violence had already existed in the home, but in those days
a wife was isolated from society and there were few opportunities for a wife to
appeal for help and the private home was ruled by the father. The Choson
records reveal a number of other cases in which wives were murdered by their
husbands, with rare and light punishments ordered by the royal court.
이군빈의 재판에 보면 실망스럽게도 너무나 명백한 가정 폭력이다.[1]그 자료에 따르면 “부자의 공초에, “부축하여
앉혔다”는 말로 미루어보면, 그녀가 힘이 빠져서 집에 다다르기 전에
인사불성명되었음을 알 수 있”다고 이군빈의 거짓말로 가정폭력의
사실 보여준다: “솥뚜껑으로 때렸다”고 말했다.[1]조선시대의
가부체제 아래에 있는 학대의 희생자들은 도움이 받는 것이 힘들었고 가장은 자신의 집안에서 왕처럼 통치했다.
However, we have since developed
state-managed systems to improve the enforcement and protection of the rights
of all people, such as police, courts and public education. In some regions,
there is not a functioning system to protect or enforce these rights and societies
still rely on patriarchal benevolence, for example when raped women or women
who have sex outside of marriage are murdered, so-called ‘honor killings’ by relatives to ‘preserve’
the family ‘honor’ that was supposedly tarnished by her ‘impurity.’
하지만 근대 국가 아래 우리는 국가관리의 인권, 경찰,
병원, 편파적이지 않은 재판, 사회 복지를
향상시킨 체제가 만들어졌다. 그러나 인권존중이 되지않는 몇몇 국가에서는 지금도 성폭행 피해자와 간통했던 여성이 명예살인이나 공개처형당하지만
전세계사회는
변화되고 있다.
현대 한국사회에서도 가정의 가부적인 계급 사회을 위해 발버둥 치고 있다. 작년의 속초 성폭행 사건에서 보면 효력 없는 경찰들이 가장[아부지]부터의 허가 없는 경우에집을 들러가지 않았고 여자가 살해 일어났다.
비단 그뿐 아니라 우리는 자주 가정 폭력을 무시했다.
Meanwhile, in the United States,
several states have already cut their budget for domestic violence programs,
and more will do so next year:
“Domestic violence calls are second only to
burglary for law enforcement. Police regard them as among the most dangerous in
terms of officer safety because of the violent emotions often in play when they
arrive at the scene. Arrests and prosecution are part of the picture, but only
a part. Victims need options, shelter, counseling, financial assistance, and
education. Victims who want desperately to leave violent domestic situations
without police intervention often need those resources even more. It is in this
context that states across America,
faced with mounting budget crises, are slashing domestic violence programs and
funding. The most widely reported has been the use of the Governor’s
veto pen in California. But
domestic violence prevention and service funding has also met the budget ax in
states like Massachusetts, Oklahoma,
Arizona, Missouri and others.”[2]
Worse, some states such as Kansas have cut response calls by
police, putting many people in danger of abuse and death from domestic
violence:
“Busted budgets have forced tough decisions by
governments and law enforcement officials nationwide, but the Shawnee County district attorney's move to
stop investigating domestic abuse and other misdemeanor cases has
angered victims' advocates who say austerity has gone too far.”[3]
In the United States, some conservative politicians call for
‘small government’ but the consequence could be a return to ‘rule by the father’
wherein women must once again plead for health and life, rather than know these
are enforced and protected rights.
미국에서 어느 지방 등에서 가정 폭력 예방하는 프로그램의 예산을 삭감했고 내년에
더 다른 지방에서도 예산을 절감하려고한다.
더군나 미국 캔자스나 다른 지역에서 예산절감때문에 가정폭력을 신고하여도 경찰은 출동할수 없고 도움을 받을 수 없게되었다.
집에서 가정 폭력 당하는따라서 시민들의 건강와 안전 위험에 직면해서 가정 폭력으로 부터 피살될 수 있다.
미국에서도 보수적인 사람들이 ‘작은 국가’가필요로 하다고 주장하고 있다. 가정폭력예방 예산 삭감이나 국가의인권에 관한 무관심은 그러나 이는가부장제의 통치로 되돌아가는 결과를 나을 것이다. 그래서 여성들이 다시
건강, 안보, 삶을 위해 가장에게 의지하고 무가치한 존재로 보일 것이다.
What does 19th century Paris
have in common with today’s Seoul?
What democratically seduces the common girls and noble ladies alike?
What simultaneously exploits and caters to your feverish desire?
The department store.
Although Emile Zola’s novel ‘Au Bonheur
des Dames’ is situated in 19th century Paris and borrows heavily
from the experience of managing the world’s first ever department store ‘Le Bon
Marche’,[1]
Zola’s revealing portrayal of Woman in the grips of a one sided love affair with
consumerism is as relevant to the ladies in Gangnam today as it was to the mass
consumption pioneers – les dames of the Rive Gauche at the turn of the century.[2]
The timing, as always, is everything.
When the book was published in 1883, Paris, and Europe as a whole was making
enormous strides towards modernisation and progress. Zola’s intention was to
capture this sentiment and to write “a poem of modern day activity.” The
department store is in fact instrumental in this quest because it is a material
product of the socio-economic transformation taking place at the time.
The department store is thus an emblem
of progress. The old ideas are declared bankrupt with the insolvency of each
family business and every time a draper’s shop closes its doors, it unravels
the threads holding together the very fabric of society. Yet Zola welcomes this
change, bids adieu to pessimism and proclaims that ‘this manure of misery was
necessary for the Paris of tomorrow.’
Was it for Seoul?
It may not be so easy to draw parallels
between the late 19th century Rive Gauche of Paris and the South
Bank of the Han River in the 1980’s, yet one commonality is undeniable – the
unrelenting march of modernisation.[3] Sure,
it’s not so easy to picture the agricultural wasteland that Gangnam once was
with PSY’s catchy lyrics blaring on every corner ridiculing the neighbourhood’s
lust for luxury, but as the pictures below show Gangnam had to go through an
extreme cosmetic make over before it became the metropolis that it is today. So
how do you go from straddling an ox to straddling a horse in an imitation of
the now infectiously popular dance move?
Contrasts of Gangnam
Well just as PSY’s lyrics suggest, it’s
all got to do with a sexy lady and although Zola would have been a touch more
poetic about it, in the end he’d agree that Woman is the muse of modernity. In
fact this is what Zola had to say about Octave Mouret, the founder of Ladies’
Paradise, who basically personifies the modern self made man.[4]
“Mouret’s sole passion
was the conquest of Woman. He wanted her to be queen in his shop; he had built
this temple for her in order to hold her at his mercy. His tactics were to
intoxicate her with amorous attention, to trade on her desires, and to exploit
her excitement.”[5]
So according to Emile Zola, the man (Mouret)
had to go out there and build a magnificently giant shop, stock it with
everything from ‘you can’t do without’ to ‘you will regret this purchase when
the visa bill comes in at the end of the month’ and finally force every other
shop on the block out of business so as to eliminate any sort of competition…
all so he could impress a girl? Maybe impress is too noble of a word because
I’m pretty sure ‘conquest’ means the same thing as it did a hundred years ago… so
did he manage to conquer the Parisian mademoiselles and mesdames?
Oh did he ever! In fact, he did it with
such gusto that the idea pretty soon caught on in other European capitals
eventually spreading to the United States.[6] It
seems there were in fact many men out there wanting to ‘intoxicate her with
amorous attention’ and to ‘trade on her desires.’ But here’s the bit where it
gets confusing. If the whole point was to create an environment where the Woman
could satisfy her insatiable craving[7] to spend
her husband’s hard earned cash, then why does Mouret fall in love with the one
woman who is described as holding ‘the powerful position of a woman who will
not yield’ and while we’re on the topic, why does PSY rap about the
superficiality of Gangnam ladies while at the same time quite literally shaking
with excitement over miss Hyuna who by and large is a made in Gangnam poster
child?
You already know the answer. It’s a
gender relations Catch 22 as old as time. It goes something like this. A man
changes the face of Parisian topography by building a shop so big it takes up
an entire district and stocks it with everything your heart desires, or
alternatively the man sings a song that becomes an international anthem. He’s
kinda hoping you’ll be impressed. But the minute you go and buy that revealing
little black dress from the mannequin in the shop window and seductively dance
to the beat of his song… he gets the clear signal that you’re interested in
him. This is also about the same time he loses interest in you. I’d wager that
the first cave man who discovered fire married the woman who accidently threw
the dirty dish water on the flame.
In the case of the Ladies Paradise, Zola
glorifies the character of Denise Baudu, who is the protagonist of the novel.
She is described as a humble virtuous woman who brings up two of her younger
brothers all on her own, evoking all sorts of Madonna comparisons. Even though
she works at the Ladies’ Paradise, she, unlike her more extravagant colleagues,
wears a simple silk dress and no accessories.
This demonstrates her refusal to be seduced by the luxuries Mouret and
his shop offers her. Professionally, Denise embraces the modern opportunities
and advances herself up the career ladder, yet personally she maintains the
same traditional social constructs that encourage her to remain chaste and
child-like prior to marriage. As the story goes, Baudu only agrees to marry
Mouret once he comes to understand that not the shop, nor its merchandise, nor
its profits will seduce Mademoiselle Baudu. Ironically and significantly, he
built the shop to seduce Woman, and in the end marries the Woman who refuses to
be seduced.
Meanwhile, the jury is still out on PSY.
Will he choose a woman who is an embodiment of Gangnam style or a woman more
like Denise Baudu who is not seduced by the glitzy Apgujeong Hyundai Department
store and its merchandise? Perhaps his lyrics can offer us a clue. Even though
PSY makes fun of Gangnam girls in his song, and asks them to be more sensible, at
the same time he asks them to choose him over guys with bulging muscles. So in
that sense, PSY is contradicting himself by critiquing the Gangnam girls’
luxury lifestyles, while at the same time putting them on a pedestal as
desirable girlfriends. Additionally, Hyuna’s response video[8] is
also very revealing about what’s on offer dating wise. Hyuna’s video is largely
a parody of the “aegyo” style that is so common place among young Korean women.
The best way I can describe “aegyo” is a child-like sexiness a girl plays up to
make herself more attractive to the opposite sex (think woman sucking on a
lolly pop making Bambi eyes at you while wearing a tartan print mini skirt). Although
I myself found Hyuna’s interpretation of “aegyo” (which by default encompasses
what it means to be a sexy Korean girl) quite refreshing, she nonetheless
failed to provide an alternative. Thus, although Hyuna may laugh at the “aegyo”
style, she spends the entire video clip imitating it. It would be braver if she
actually dropped the “aegyo” act altogether and offered her own version of a
sexy lady.
Having discussed the effects of
consumerism on the external environment in which the interplay between Man and
Woman takes place, let’s turn our attention to the inner working of the
consumerist machine – the department store. In Zola’s novel, the universe
inside the department store with all the sales clerks and their intrigues, the
customers and their attitudes, the managers and their ambitions serves as a
microcosm of the world outside its walls. Among the many observations, the key social
changes are: the women’s active participation in the work force, the creation
of the middle class, the democratic equality among the customers despite their
socio-economic backgrounds, the men’s absence from the large queues lining up
outside the department store but their visible presence inside as clerks, shop
assistants and eventually as managers.
Although a lot can be said about all
these social changes, the primary concern of this article is of course with the
women’s participation in the evolution of the department store. Thus, it is
helpful to have a read of T.S. Eliot’s poem aptly titled “In The Department
Store”, presumably written in 1915. Even though the poem is written only three
short decades after “The Ladies’ Paradise”, we can see significant changes in
how the Woman has been altered by the department store. Whereas Zola takes special
care to point out the youthful good looks of Mouret’s shop girls, T.S. Eliot
strips the Woman of her aloof femininity and paints her with the dimness of disappointment.
The
lady of the porcelain department
Smiles as the world through a set of false teeth.
She is business like and keeps a pencil in her hair
But behind her sharpened eyes take flight
The summer evenings in the park
And heated nights in second story dance halls.
Man’s life is powerless and brief and dark.
It is not possible for me to make her happy.
First of all, T.S. Eliot is correct to
point out that it is ‘a lady of the department store’ because today it is more
likely than not that it will indeed be a woman serving you. Not a man. At the
beginning of the department store history, as Zola shows us, it was the young
men who were the dominant group at The Ladies’ Paradise. The men had the
natural ability to flatter the female customers into making a purchase. Yet,
already by the time T.S. Eliot’s poem was published, the gender tables have
turned and the women replaced the men behind the counter.
Today, men have all but abandoned the
shop floor. On a recent trip to the Hyundai Department store in Apgujeong, I
didn’t see any male shop assistants, except for those selling men’s brand
clothing or men’s luxury watches. Where did all the men go? The simplest and
most probable explanation is that women, like in other professions, were fired
when discovered to be pregnant,[9] so
they lost their place in the career queue which allowed men to be promoted to
management roles. Men did. So it’s not that men disappeared from the retail
business, it’s just that they moved from the shop floor space into an office
space.
Consequently, today one finds that the
majority of the women working in the department store are middle aged. This is
because, as mentioned above, young working women eventually got pregnant. Lost
their jobs. Raised their kids. Then decided to get back into the work force.
But alas, the only jobs they were eligible for now in their 40’s with no work
experience for the last x amount of years, were part time or temporary roles,
like in … you guessed it, retail.[10].
However, the young female shop
assistants are present at the department store but they are usually confined to
the first floor in the non-Western branded cosmetics shops, like Face Shop,
Skin Food, Tony Moly. These girls are a special breed of shop assistants and
fit no previously mentioned stereotypes. Firstly, judging by her skimpy, leave
little to the imagination outfit, she is almost certainly modelled after a
member of a Kpop band. As you ascend up the escalator, you will no doubt notice
that it is strictly the cosmetics girls of the first floor who are so liberally
clad, while the rest of the women be it in the makeup department or ladies’
wear opt for modest grey or black uniforms.
Secondly, she is a polyglot with 20/20
vision. While you are distracted by all the free testers of Krispy Kreme donuts
and Activia yoghurt, she already spotted you, correctly identified your
nationality and prepared a welcome message which she will suddenly recite at
you as you walk past her shop unawares. Finally, she is a trained bodyguard.
Don’t be fooled by her ‘your wish is my command’ smile, because no amount of ‘I’m
just looking’ will deter her from shadowing your every move in the little cramped
store as you pick up a lip gloss only to watch her whip it out of your hands in
an attempt to help you apply it. The only proven method of retaliation is to
ask a question in English and breathe a sigh of relief as you watch the girl
run away giggling. In fact, you know that scene in Pretty Woman, when Julia
Roberts is denied service by a snotty shop assistant on Rodeo Drive? That would
never happen in Korea. For one, you wouldn’t be able to tell scantily dressed
Julia apart from the shop girls and two, they would have showered Julia with so
much attention that she would have most definitely maxed out all of Richard
Gere’s credit cards.
So in the end, is there a fundamental
difference between Zola’s Woman, T.S. Eliot’s ‘lady of the porcelain department’
and PSY’s sexy lady? Of course. Maybe even these differences mean more to you
than the similarities and I hope you share those opinions. Yet for me, the
message is in the commonality of the men’s dissatisfaction with the image they
created. Zola marries off his modern man, Mouret to the only woman in Paris who
has refused to dress herself in his fabrications of Woman; T.S. Eliot openly
expresses his powerlessness at the hands of consumerism which dimmed the lustre
of intimacy that has no place inside the walls of a departments store, and
finally PSY laughs at the social standard for women promoted by the Gangnam
brand. Are all these books and poems written and songs sung to simply confess
that the non-mass produced original Woman is far superior to the imitation
created with the help of consumerism?
[2] “Au Bonheur des Dames
“ was published in 1883.
[3] The construction of
Hyundai Department store in Apgujeong, which has since become their flagship
store, was finished in 1985
[4] The Ladies’ Paradise
was based on Le Bon Marche and Zola spent a lot of his time in Le Bon Marche
observing and researching the way the founder Aristide Boucicaut.ran his giant
shop. Also, Zola paid particular attention to the minutest detail from how many
emergency fire escapes the shop had to the intimate relationships among the
staff. Thus although the book is obviously fiction, it employs a lot of factual
information to truly encapsulate l’ambiance de l’époque.
[6] Harrod’s and
Selfridge’s in England and Macy’s in America just to name a few examples
[7] Interestingly enough,
kleptomania only came about around the same time as department stores. It is
proposed that the desire to own a thing becomes almost parallel to sexual
gratification where a woman simply succumbs to her urges.
[9] There is in fact an
example of this in Zola’s novel.
[10] This is a typical
scenario which has lead many women to accept unstable temporary positions which
largely did not pay well.
References:
Emile Zola "Au Bonheur des Dames" (English translation)
Ramazani, Vaheed K "Gender, War, and the Department Store: Zola's Au Bonheur des Dames", Substance, Issue 113 (Volume 36, Number 2), 2007, pp. 126-146
Melita Schaum, "Just Looking Glass": Class, Desire and the Consuming Vision in T.S. Eliot's "In the Department Store", University of Michigan-Dearborn.
I had heard of K.Will quite a few times but with an
overall lack of interest in Kpop, I didn't give him much of a fair chance. But
when The Kimchi Queen posted a link to the singer's most recently released music video, I decided to give it a
chance. K.Will’s music video is ground-breaking.
Homosexuality has, for (too) many years, been a
subject of controversy throughout the world. However, Korea has taken a
relatively unique stance for quite some time- Korean society largely just acts
like homosexuality doesn't exist. In a society where genders are separated
eagerly and early, where men - via their forced conscription into the army -
are pushed into all-male environments for nearly two years at a time, even acknowledging the fact that
homosexuality exists as an orientation could be awkward to many people. The
consequences of sex segregation go beyond gender discrimination, and may
obscure social dialog about homosexuality. As one friend put it, "It's not
gay when you do it because there are no women around."
But attitudes are changing and the Korean media, over
the course of the last decade, has finally begun to represent homosexuality
across its various mediums. Starting with the outing of popular actor Hong
Suk-cheon, the visibility of homosexuality went from invisible to camouflaged
and eventually to Blockbuster status.
Films in the early 2000s such as Bungee Jumping of
Their Own (2001) and Momento Mori (2001) often silenced the subjects of
homosexuality that they presented by claiming other realities about them- for
example, that the gay relationship wasn't really
gay because one man was actually a woman reborn into a man's body (oh, woe is
me!), or that the lesbian relationship was somehow an allegory for the
'otherness' of communism. What?
However, in 2006, homosexuality was increasingly
represented in larger volumes and huge
grossing films like The King and the Clown (2005)and later Frozen Flower (2008).
Homosexual relationships were openly portrayed in these films, a big step for a
society that still remained largely conservative toward accepting homosexuality.
Dramas such as Coffee Prince (2007), Personal Preference (2010) and Life is
Beautiful (2010) wrestled with the issues as well with the last even portraying
the grueling efforts of coming out to one's family and the trials that come
with it.
Starship Entertainment - K.Will
In the world of Kpop, however, there has been very
little progress. With Hallyu resulting in Korean media being exported to
countries that remain even more conservative, Korean pop companies appear to have
avoided much interaction with homosexuality and its presence in society.
K.Will's "Please Don't" music video features a very clear and
inarguable reference to homosexual love; this is a big game changer.
The issues that homosexuals in Korea face with regard
to societal and family pressure are no joke. Life is Beautiful also deals with these
issues and there is a telling episode in which the gay character Tae-sub's own
uncle calls him "mentally deficient" because of his homosexuality.
K.Will's video leaves the exact relationship of the two men ambiguous, but it
appears as if they lived together, and that the woman has not been around for
terribly long. Therefore, it is not a stretch to argue that the two men had
been involved with one another before one was pushed to marry, a story that parallels
what happens all too often in a country
that places such high value on filial piety.
All in all, I am both surprised and pleased by
K.Will's efforts and hope to see more progress like this in the world of Kpop.
What I was not
pleased with was the response of the website 'Seoulbeats' to the video.
In their article,
contributor Nicholasreviewsthe video and somehow either misses the
entire presence of homosexuality, or obliquely refers to the main actor's pain and
desire by writing simply that:
"The Music Video concludes with the
Heartbreak Maserati stationary amongst flowing traffic, as the “ideal” pairing
was shown..."
In fact, throughout the entire review there is no mention of
homosexuality, queerness,and the word 'gay' cannot be found at all. References
to the current drama "Reply Me 1997" abound in the article and the
comments, and this a drama well known for it's portrayal of a homosexual
relationship, yet somehow the author completely forgets that K.Will's video is
an ode to unfulfilled gay love. I immediately left this comment at Seoulbeats:
"How can you write an article on this video without even using the
word 'gay'? This is a big step for South Korea and you've completely ignored
what are actually some very big social ramifications. This video is the story
of a gay couple that was broke up when one of them decided to marry a woman.
That is a huge social issue in Korea and one that is very real. By not even
mentioning the homosexual content (and instead only obliquely referencing it as
"the ideal pairing") you're erasing something that should be
discussed. This is a huge oversight and overall poor journalism."
This review could be an opportunity to discuss the changing landscape of
Korean culture and the opening up of sexuality in such a conservative country.
Especially after Seoulbeat’s great coverage and discussion of Gain's solorelease "Bloom"I was very surprised to see how the K.Will Please Don’t review failed to cover
an important issue in any society today.
Instead of bringing the issue at hand to the
forefront, the writer has instead erased the presence of homosexuality and K.Will’s
voice. Surely someone who writes for a Kpop website is aware of how rare these
opportunities are and how this can signify a shift in society. Yet they choose
to participate in the silencing of homosexuals and this is by no means
acceptable.
In a society where people of alternative sexualities
already have little voice, representation or rights (homosexuality is still
classified as a mental disorder), taking away any opportunity to be treated as
equals is unequivocally wrong. Social progress is made by the airing of these
issues and silencing someone's voice or their identity is akin to shaming them
for that identity.
I do not ask that every writer discussing homosexual
content in Korean media be a fan; air your opinion when possible as openly as
you'd like. Post openly about how homosexual content is ruining society- I
don't care. It is everyone's right to express the opinions that they hold. What
is not acceptable is when a Staff Writer speaks on behalf of “a dedicated groupof writers who are interested in the larger picture in pop. Seoulbeats is an ongoing project of discussion and dissection”and chooses to deny the existence of a group, for
whatever reason that may be.
